| Term | Definition |
|---|
| fossil | the preserved remains or traces of living things |
| paleontologist | a scientist who studies fossils to learn about organisms that lived long ago |
| sedimentary rock | the type of rock that is made of hardened sediment |
| petrified fossil | a fossil in which minerals replace all or part of an organism |
| mold | a fossil formed when an organism buried in sediment dissolves, leaving a hollow area |
| cast | a fossil that is a copy of an organism's shape, formed when minerals seep into a mold |
| carbon film | a type of fossil consisting of an extremely thin coating of carbon on rock |
| trace fossil | a type of fossil that provides evidence of the activities of ancient organisms |
| scientific theory | a well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observations |
| evolution | the process by which all the different kinds of living things have changed over time |
| extinct | describes a type of organism that no longer exists anywhere on Earth |
| 6 major fossil types | molds, trace fossils, petrified remains, casts, preserved remains, carbon films |
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