| A | B |
|---|
| Plain | flat or gently rolling land with low relief |
| Atmosphere | mixture of gases that surrounds Earth |
| Lithosphere | solid, rocky outer layer of Earth |
| Landform Region | large area of land where the topography is similar |
| Relief | difference in elevation between the highest and the lowest part of an area |
| Biosphere | all living things |
| Hydrosphere | Earth’s oceans, lakes, rivers, and ice |
| Elevation | height above seas level of a point on Earth’s surface |
| Topography | shape of the land |
| Plateau | landform that has high elevation and a fairly level surface |
| Evolution | descent with modification, or species that have changed over time and lead to new species |
| Theory | explanation of facts and observations that has been tested many times |
| DNA | genetic material |
| Mutation | changes in the DNA or genetic material of an organism |
| Homologous | when body parts of different organisms are similar in structure or anatomy |
| Sedimentary rock | the kind of rock formed from layers of mud and sand where most fossils are found |
| Igneous Rock | rock formed from high temperatures and which normally contain radioactive elements used in dating the sedimentary rock layers |
| Fossil Record | all the biological evidence of life in Earth’s history that scientists have collected |
| Eohippus | known as the “dawn horse” an ancient relative to the modern-day horse |
| Adaptation | change that increase an organism’s chances of survival |
| Extinct | a group of organisms that has died out and no longer exists |
| Migration | moving from one area or region to another |
| Survival of the Fittest | another way of saying natural selection |
| Camouflage | ability to blend in or hide within the background environment |
| Punctuated Equilibrium | evolution of organisms that abruptly happens after it seemingly slows or stops |
| Marsupial | type of pouched animal found almost exclusively in Australia |
| Isolation | when some members of a species are separated from the rest of their kind for long periods of time |
| Genetic Analysis | using the DNA of organisms to compare them |
| Anatomy | the study of the physical structure of living things |
| Variations | slight difference in all members of a species |
| Galapagos Islands | The islands 600 miles west of South America where Darwin developed the concept of natural selection from his observation of the organisms |
| Overproduction | having more offspring than the environment can support |
| Petrified Fossil | fossils where minerals replace the organism |
| Preserved Remains Fossils | parts or whole organisms (dried, frozen, in tar, or in amber) that remain preserved |
| Molds and Casts Fossils | a negative and positive copy of the shape of an organism |
| Carbon Films or Carbonization Fossils | thin coating of organic material from the original organism that fossilizes |
| Trace Fossils | imprints from the footprints, trails, or burrows of an organism |
| Law of Superposition | In sedimentary rock, the oldest layer is on the bottom while the youngest layer is on the top. |
| Unconformities | when new rock layers are layered over a much older rock layer beneath it |
| Index Fossil | the fossil of an organism with an established age and used worldwide to date sedimentary rock |
| Radioactive Dating | used to date igneous rock and based on the half-life of radioactive elements |
| Geologic Time Scale | a record of the life forms and geologic events in Earth’s history |
| Mass Extinction | major geologic period when large numbers of species dies off |
| Endemic Species | species found only in this region and no where else |
| Invasive Species | species not native to the region |
| Plate Tectonics | theory that describes the geologic forces on the Earth’s surface that account for sea floor spreading, continental “drift,” and geologic activity |
| Continental Drift | “theory” that the continents drift or move on Earth’s surface |
| Pangea | one massive joined landform or continent in Earth’s past |
| Relative age (of rock) | rock's age compared to the ages of other rocks |
| Absolute age (of rock) | actual number of years since the rock formed |
| Adaptive Radiation | process by which many different species develop from a common ancestor |
| Mutation | a genetic change in the DNA of an organism that can be helpful, neutral, or harmful |
| Charles Darwin | naturalist that developed the concept of Natural Selection |
| Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck | developed the theory of evolution based on the anatomy or structure; developed the "family tree" |
| Alfred Wallace | British biologist that prompted Darwin and co-presented with him the theory of evolution |
| Stephen Jay Gould & Niles Eldridge | their idea of "punctuated equilibrium" states that a species may change very little or not at all for a long period of time and then have a sudden or rapid change, resulting in a new species |
| Extrusion | lava that hardens on the surface (igneous rock containing radioactive elements) 120 myo,  |
| Intrusion | hot magma that pushes through other layers of rock, then cools and hardens into a mass of igneous rock (80 myo), |
| Relative Age of Sedimentary Layers, | Oldest A to Youngest E |
| Fault | crack with a shift in the layers |
