Stories from the Fossil Record

• Geological change and biological evolution are linked.
• Tectonic plate movement has affected the evolution and distribution of living things.
• Living things have had a major influence on the composition of the atmosphere and on the surface of the land.
• Mass extinctions occur.
• All organisms, including humans, retain evidence of their evolutionary history.
• The fossil record documents the biodiversity of the past.
• The fossil record contains transitional forms.
• We can learn about the natural world using our senses and extensions of our senses.
• Scientific ideas are developed through reasoning.
• Science does not prove or conclude; science is always a work in progress.
• Scientists use fossils (including sequences of fossils showing gradual change over time) to learn about past life.
• Scientists use the geographic distribution of fossils and living things to learn about the history of life.

• Evidence for Evolution
• Geologic Time
• History of Life