1.
Big Bang Theory: the earliest event in widely held scientific model of the origin of the known
universe.
2.
fossil record: the collection of preserved organisms or their traces stored in the lithosphere providing an image of past life and conditions on Earth
3.
geologic time: the period of time that include the physical formation of Earth through present time.
4.
invertebrates: organisms that do not have a backbone
5.
mass extinction: loss of a majority of species due to a rare catastrophic event
6.
multicellular: composed of many cells, each having a specific function
7.
plate tectonics: theory used to describe the movement of Earth's crustal plates
8.
principle of superposition: concept that in an undisturbed rock sequence, more recent rock layers are deposited on top of older rock layers
9.
radioactive dating: the estimation of age of an object by comparison of the ratios of appropriate isotopes with known rates of decay
10.
radioactive decay: change over time in an atom due to loss of atomic particles and/or energy
11.
relative dating: the use of cross-comparisons of rock layers to establish older and younger geologic layers
12.
unicellular: generally, primitive organisms that remain one-celled and do not differentiate
13.
vertebrates: those animals that possess an internal skeleton