Mass Extinction - Solving the Dinosaur Mystery
Next Generation Science Standards
- MS-ESS2-2 Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth's surface at varying time and spatial scales.
- MS-LS4-1 Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
- MS-LS4-2 Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.
- MS-ESS1-4 Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old history.
Mass Extinction - Solving the Dinosaur Mystery
This Smithsonian Science How learning collection, from Q?rius at the National Museum of Natural History, is part of a distance learning program at https://naturalhistory.si.edu/... This collection focuses on the end-Cretaceous extinction event that included dinosaurs. Targeted at middle schoolers, the collection invites students into an authentic understanding of the evidence for and causes of the mass extinction. Paleobotanist Dr. Kirk Johnson is featured as an expert explainer. The collection includes an interactive webcast video with discussion questions, cross-cutting activities, an independent project, and other resources for teachers and students.
Key Terms:
paleontology, dinosaur, fossil record, mass extinction, asteroid, Cretaceous period, K-T boundary
Key Concepts:
- Extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous
- Causes of mass extinction events
- Interpreting ecosystem changes through fossils
- Reconstructing ancient environments
- Technology used by paleontologists