Relative dating places rock layers and their fossils into a temporal sequence.

Index fossils are distinctive fossils used to establish and compare the relative ages of rock layers and the fossils they contain.
half-life is the time required for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay.

Punctuated equilibrium is the term used to describe equilibrium that is interrupted by brief periods of more rapid change. 

adaptive radiation, an evolutionary process by which a single species or a small group of species evolves over a relatively short time into several different forms that live in different ways.
Coevolution process by which two species evolve in response to changes in each other over time.
Adaptive radiation is a rapid increase in the number of species with a common ancestor, characterized by great ecological and morphological diversity.
gradualism is a theory that assumes large morphological changes in organisms occur via a number of smaller step over a number of years.
 evolution is the change in the characteristics of a species over several generations and relies on the process of natural selection.

Sexual reproduction increases genetic diversity because it is the mix of 2 parents that results in its own traits not a exact replica.
    2. Explain why the fossil record is an incomplete recording of the history of life. 
For it to be complete every organism would have to be in the record and that will never happen because not every organism will turn into a fossil.
    3. Know the basic divisions of the geologic time scale from larger to smaller.
The basics of the geological time scale is eons (largest), eras, periods, epochs, and ages (smallest).
     4. Describe the necessary conditions for a clade to survive.
For a clade to survive there has to be no change in the environment so it never has to evolve.