Module/Week 7
Dinosaurs
Laboratory & Media Piece
Dinosaurs Objective
Create original media that tells the story of dinosaurs and how they relate to the fossil record and current life on Earth.
Most people are intrigued with dinosaurs but may not be able to recount the story we know about dinosaur origin and demise. This media piece is a chance to synthesize understandings.
Assignment (due Sunday on Canvas)
Dinosaurs are introduced on the Phanerozoic webpage:
Dinosaurs
Many people know pieces of the dinosaur story, this is your chance to create a synthesis of what the dinosaurs were, the evidence used to tell their story, and how they relate to life on earth today. For this media piece, use at least two different types of media (photos, sketches, captions, creative writing, paragraphs, video, comic, etc.).
Include in your Dinosaurs media piece:
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The origin of dinosaurs, including: their ancestral animals and an example of the earliest known dinosaur Genus;
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Two examples of large reptiles that were not dinosaurs, but overlapped with some dinosaur species (Pterosaurs, Plesiosaurs, +).
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Characteristics and examples of the main dinosaur groups: ornithischians, saurischians (including sauropods & theropods).
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Examples of the types of evidence used to study dinosaurs. This can include teeth, claws (or talons), coprolites, tracks, fossilized bone.
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The origins of modern birds.
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Description of possible cause of the dinosaur mass extinction.