Sorry for the late post students. I had some internet access problems. Please complete this for Extra Credit and turn in by Friday December 2nd.

Heartburn Extra Credit: Try not to get it during Thanksgiving!

Aids Cases

Ways to Transmit Aids

Events of the Immune Response

Weekly Syllabus 11/14 - 11/18

Weekly Syllabus

Extra Credit Post 11/4 - 11/11

Our 6 Kingdoms!

A cladogram shows the evolutionary relationships among organisms

The Hierarchy of Classification (remember our mnemonic device)

How we Classify Humans

1^st Period Bio Antarctic Webquest

2^nd Period Bio Antarctic Webquest

3^rd Period Bio Antarctic Webquest

When done with Webquest you can play Science Games Here

The Fossils of Antarctica

Introduction

Two hundred million years ago, all of the continents on Earth were joined in one large supercontinent scientists call Pangaea. The formation of Pangaea dried up many shallow seas, which led to the evolution of new species on land. This is the time during which mammals first began to appear. During the Mesozoic Era, around 190 million years ago, Pangaea began to break up into the continents that we see today.

A German scientist named Alfred Wegener proposed that all of the continents once had been joined in a supercontinent that he called Pangaea. He suggested that Pangaea began to break apart millions of years ago, and that the continents continued to move until they reached their present locations. He called his hypothesis continental drift. Today, Wegener’s hypothesis is known as the theory of plate tectonics. Wegener was the first scientist to base his hypothesis on more than the fit of the continents. He collected data on rock formations, fossils, and climates to support his hypothesis. Wegener found the same rock formations and fossils in Africa, South America, and Antarctica. Some of the fossils were of species that grew in only one type of climate, yet the fossils were found on continents with differing climates. How could there be fossils of tropical and temperate climate species in Antarctica, a continent that is permanently covered with ice and snow? Have any fossils been found in Antarctica that can support Wegener’s hypothesis, and thus, the theory of plate tectonics?

Task

Your job in this WebQuest is to discover what fossils have been found in Antarctica, and to identify how those fossils either support or disprove Wegener’s hypothesis and the theory of plate tectonics. You will have to find out what kinds of fossils have been found in Antarctica. You will have to discover how to interpret the meaning of these fossils as indicators of the climate that once prevailed in Antarctica. Finally, you will answer a set of questions about the fossils of Antarctica to demonstrate what you have learned.

Resources

Look at the web sites given here to answer the questions on your webquest.

• New Dinosaur Finds In Antarctica Paint Fuller Picture of Past Ecosystem. Visit this site to learn why the discovery of a hadrosaur, a duck-billed dinosaur, in Antarctica is an important clue to the climate of the continent 66 to 67 million years ago.

• Antarctic Dinosaurs. At this site you can learn more about the first dinosaur fossils found in Antarctica, including a Late Cretaceous ankylosaur found on James Ross Island in 1986. Scroll down to find out why so few dinosaur fossils have been found on this continent.

• Fossils From Mesozoic Era Antarctica. Go to this site for a brief discussion of continental drift (now called plate tectonics) and how it affected Antarctica. There is a good map of Antarctica here. Scroll down to see an interactive graphic of continental drift with a key to the continents. Continue to scroll down to see a list of fossils found in Antarctica.

• When Dinosaurs Roamed Antarctica… Visit this site to read about dinosaur and reptile fossils found in the Transantarctic Mountains. These fossils are from the middle Jurassic, about 175 million years ago.

• The Lost World Discovered? At this site you can read an overview of the fossils found in Antarctica from the first expeditions to the present. This site includes a short history of human presence on Antarctica as well.

• Secrets of the Ice: Antarctica in the Past. Visit this site to learn about the geologic history of Antarctica. Scroll down to see an interactive graphic of the breakup of Gondwanaland and the subsequent movement of Antarctica to its present location.

• Antarctic Summer - Fossils in Antarctica This report by ABC News Online discusses the issues surrounding fossils that were found in Antarctica in 1978. Read the report to learn what types of fossils were found and what is being done to preserve the exposed fossils that still exist.

Hibernation Extra Credit