Extinction Events
Teacher Resources
Driving Question: How do extinction events change the complexity of life on Earth?
Asteroid impacts, volcanic eruptions, and disease outbreaks can have dramatic consequences for life in the biosphere. Explore the causes and impacts of extinction events.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe how Earth’s processes can lead to extinction events.
- Evaluate how extinction events change life on Earth.
Vocab Terms:
- asteroid
- biosphere
- de-extinction
- extinction
- photosynthesis
Opener: Extinction Events
To teach this lesson step, refer to page 2 of the Lesson 3.4 Teaching Guide.
Earth has survived five mass extinctions. Could you help it survive a sixth? Plan your strategy to save life on our planet!
What Causes Extinction Events?
To teach this lesson step, refer to page 3 of the Lesson 3.4 Teaching Guide.
Check out our Video Guide for suggestions on incorporating videos in the classroom.
What led to the extinction of the dinosaurs? How did life survive when over 90% of all species died 250 million years ago? Explore the causes of extinction events in this video and activity.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you watch
Look for answers to these questions:
- What causes mass extinction events?
- What do many people think led to the extinction of the dinosaurs?
- How did the extinction of the dinosaurs help mammals thrive?
- What is causing the sixth mass extinction event?
After you watch
Respond to this question: What might be two ideas or innovations that could help curb the sixth mass extinction event?
There have been six mass extinction events in the almost 4 billion years that life has been on Earth. How did they happen?
Re-Creating Life
To teach this lesson step, refer to page 4 of the Lesson 3.4 Teaching Guide.
Curious about how other teachers facilitate debates in their classroom. Check out this discussion in the OER Project Teacher Community.
You might think the movie Jurassic Park was pure fiction, but with modern technology, there’s some truth in the concept of de-extinction. The idea is a source of debate for scientists—and now you have to choose a side!
Closer: Extinction Events
To teach this lesson step, refer to page 5 of the Lesson 3.4 Teaching Guide.
Get an idea of how other teachers use Unit Notebooks by checking out this thread in the OER Project Teacher Community.
From the earliest life-forms deep in the ocean to the evolution—and sometimes extinction—of life on Earth, life has changed a great deal over the course of this unit. Take some time now to gather your thoughts.
De-Extinction
There is still so much that we don’t know about life on Earth, but new scientific breakthroughs might just solve those mysteries.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you listen
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you listen
Look for answers to these questions:
- What movie triggered Michael Archer’s interest in de-extinction as a possible way to bring animals back to life that humans made extinct?
- Why was Archer’s first attempt at bringing back the Tasmanian Tiger unsuccessful?
- Why was the medical world “going nuts” when knowledge about the gastric-brooding frog’s unique way of giving birth was discovered?
- What types of extinct species did Archer discover at the Riversleigh World Heritage site?
After you listen
Respond to this question: What types of paleontology mysteries would you like to see solved?