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What the Quarry Held is a free printable Grade 3 science worksheet on comparing fossil organisms with living ones to infer a past environment, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 3-LS4-1. It prints 7 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 4 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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What the Quarry Held

3-LS4-1

NameDate

Read the record, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

What the Quarry Held

A list of fossils found in one rock layer at a quarry, from the museum's record card. FOSSILS IN ONE LAYER Ammonites ............ 24 Sea urchins .......... 11 Fish scales .......... 7 Fern fronds .......... 0 Land animal bones .... 0 The rock is a fine gray limestone.

  1. 1. Why record what was NOT found as well as what was?
  2. 2. How many ammonites were found?
  3. 3. What would you expect in a layer that was once a forest?
  4. 4. What kinds of living thing are in this layer?
2.Fossil coral is found on a hillside far from the sea. What does that suggest?
  • A.The coral walked there
  • B.The land was once under a warm shallow sea
  • C.Coral grows on hills
3.Fossil sea urchins look almost like living ones. What can you say about how they lived?
  • A.They lived in deserts
  • B.They probably lived on the sea floor, as living ones do
  • C.They lived in the air
4.Why compare a fossil with a living organism?
  • A.A living relative shows how the fossil organism probably lived
  • B.To make the fossil heavier
  • C.To see which is older
5.Mammoth bones are found with thick woolly hair. How was a mammoth unlike a living elephant?
  • A.It had thick hair for a much colder climate
  • B.It lived in the sea
  • C.It could fly
6.A layer has fossils of fish but no land animals. What was this place like then?
  • A.It was a forest
  • B.It was a dry desert
  • C.It was under water
7.A fossil fern is found in a cold, dry place today. What does it suggest about the past?
  • A.The place was once warm and wet enough for ferns
  • B.The fossil was carried there yesterday
  • C.Ferns like cold deserts

LessonPrint · 3-LS4-1 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What the Quarry Held

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The absence of land bones and fern fronds is part of the evidence. 2. 24 ammonites. 3. Fern fronds and land animal bones rather than sea urchins. 4. Sea creatures: ammonites, sea urchins and fish.
  2. 2.The land was once under a warm shallow sea
  3. 3.They probably lived on the sea floor, as living ones do
  4. 4.A living relative shows how the fossil organism probably lived
  5. 5.It had thick hair for a much colder climate
  6. 6.It was under water
  7. 7.The place was once warm and wet enough for ferns

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 3-LS4-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.