Activity- What Killed the Dinosaurs-1

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Jan 9, 2024

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Activity: What Killed the Dinosaurs? One of the great, unsolved mysteries in science is the disappearance of the dinosaurs. In this activity, you will study the environment of the Cretaceous period and look for clues as to what may have caused the extinction . You also will compare current hypotheses about extinction and decide which ones seem most plausible. Procedure Part A: Reconstructing the Past 1. Visit the University of California Museum of Paleontology Web Geological Time Machine . Your first task is to see what the environment looked like 70 million years ago (MYA). Click on "Cretaceous" and learn more about the environment during this time period (146 to 65 MYA) by selecting stratigraphy (rock layers), ancient life, localities (places where fossils have been found), and tectonics (study of the earth's crust). Pretend you are standing on Earth 70 MYA. Write a PARAGRAPH (5-6 sentences) journal entry about what you see. It appears to me that there are many flowering plants invading the environment. The plants have created a niche for themselves in the damper climates. The forests look very similar to the ones that we have now. They have many colors and are very full. Everything looks like it has radiated into a new habitat. 2. Return to the UCMP Web Geological Time Machine and select the Paleocene period, the first period in the Cenozoic Era. Write another journal entry (PARAGRAPH 5-6 SENTENCES) to compare the environment to that of 70 million years ago. How has the habitat changed? What do you think caused the dinosaur extinction? Did it happen suddenly or gradually? Did all dinosaurs become extinct or just individual species? This is what scientists are trying to find out. This was considered as the age of mammals and was divided into two categories. This era was about 66 million years ago from today, and most animals were very similar to the ones that we have now in our world.The Cenozoic era signposts are colored yellow. Part B: Several Possible Explanations 1. Now you will investigate the different hypotheses that scientists have formulated to solve the mystery of dinosaur extinction. Visit the What Killed the Dinosaurs? and explore four hypotheses about dinosaur extinction. Record them on the TABLE BELOW You may want to think of your own hypothesis. Find evidence that supports and refutes each hypothesis and record it on the form. HYPOTHESIS EVIDENCE Dinosaurs were becoming The fossil record

instinct because they were failing to adapt to their environment. Volcanic eruptions caused the dinosaurs to go extinct because of the large-scale climate change. shows that for the first 175 million years of their existence, dinosaurs took on a huge variety of forms as the environment changed and new species evolved that were suited to these new conditions. Dinosaurs that failed to adapt went extinct. 2. Pick the hypothesis you think has the best supporting evidence. Here are some tips: Criteria for Choosing the Best Explanation A scientific explanation is best if it meets the most criteria: a. It matches the data from a fair test. (A fair test is an observation or experiment that challenges the validity of a hypothesis. It can support two or more of the alternative possibilities and does not have the same basis as any of the alternative solutions.) b. It is confirmed by multiple independent fair tests.

c. Initially conflicting data can be shown to agree. d. The fair test that supports it is particularly strong. e. There are no conflicting lines of scientific evidence. f. The alternatives are seriously defective conceptually. g. The overall weight of evidence is greatly in its favor. The hypothesis that I think is the best would be first one. (Adapted with permission from Craig Nelson's page on Fair Tests , Evolution and the Natures of Science Institutes Web site.) Record your hypothesis and the accompanying evidence on the TABLE BELLOW. You may want to visit some of the resources listed below to gather more evidence. HYPOTHESIS Dinosaurs were becoming instinct because they were failing to adapt to their environment. EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS HYPOTHESIS

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The fossil record shows that for the first 175 million years of their existence, dinosaurs took on a huge variety of forms as the environment changed and new species evolved that were suited to these new conditions. Dinosaurs that failed to adapt went extinct. EVIDENCE THAT REFUTES HYPOTHESIS The exact nature of this catastrophic event is still open to scientific debate. Evidence suggests that an asteroid was the main culprit that made this huge impact. • DinoBuzz UCal Berkeley's site on Current Topics Concerning Dinosaurs will introduce you to the debate over the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs. It discusses the complications that prevent scientists from solving this mystery and provides background on current theories . You might enjoy reading the invalid hypotheses, such as "hay fever killed the dinosaurs." • Dinosaur Extinction This very readable site offers background information on dinosaur extinction, the K-T asteroid theory, other K-T extinction theories, and methods used to study extinctions. The section called "studying extinctions," includes a paragraph about radioisotope dating for those interested in one of the current processes used to date fossils. 3. Answer the following questions:

• How do scientists use the scientific process to try to figure out why the dinosaurs became extinct? They try to compare their data and see what they could do by changing and updating their new findings. • Could there be more than one answer? Yes, there could be more than one answer because we never really knew what happened back then. • Is a new hypothesis called for? It is possible yes. • What do you think it will take to find out? I think a lot of evidence will need to be found and a lot of experiments must be done. • Can we ever really know? I don’t think we can ever really know since we weren’t present back then.

Activity- What Killed the Dinosaurs-1

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