Assignment

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Science

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In this assignment you are going to watch a video from the BBC. David Attenborough's First Life. This is the second part of the series and picks up at the beginning of the Cambrian. Make sure you read through the assignment file and understand the questions before you begin watching the video.

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Geology 1203 Earth history Assignment- first life The Paleozoic Era represents over 300 million years of Earth's history during which the planet underwent major changes both tectonic and evolutionary. The early part of the Paleozoic is marked by the appearance of complex animals in the oceans, an event known as the Cambrian Explosion. Several critical fossil locations related to this time happen to be located in Canada. In this assignment we are going to take a look at some of these strange and bizarre creatures. The BBC has produced a very good documentary on early life on Earth. It is narrated by David Attenborough and consists of two episodes. The first is called Arrival and the second Conquest. This is the official site for the series - unfortunately you cannot stream the video from the site, but it does provide some other useful information and images. http://firstlifeseries.com/ What do I do? Watch the second episode - Conquest - of the documentary First Life, it picks up at the Cambrian Period, the earliest period in the Paleozoic Era, and answer the following questions. The video is divided into 5 clips and the links are in the weekly folder. (make sure you watch them in the correct order) It also can be found on YouTube but is often mislabeled or missing parts so just be sure that you are watching the correct episode. The questions are listed in the order they will be covered in the program. You should read each one carefully and make sure you understand what is being asked before watching the program. Submit the answers to the 26 questions - make sure you do not mix up the order. You do not need to repeat the questions, just use the question numbers. Questions: So let's get everyone oriented and check that you are watching the correct video. After the introduction there will be the title screen like to the right. Then there will be an image of the Earth and the narrator (David Attenborough) describes how far back in time we are looking at and the conditions of the planet. 1. How many millions of years ago does the story start? 2. Where does all the life exist at this time? The first location we go to is this famous fossil site in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. 3. How old are the rocks (in millions of years)? 4. What is the common name used for this rock unit? (not where they are but what they call it) 5. What type of environment were these sediments deposited in? (e.g. desert, ocean, river, etc) Next we are shown fossils preserved in the shale - one of the first animated reconstructions we see is that of a creature called Opabinia. 6. How many eyes did it have? Among the many strange creatures found in these rocks is one that David Attenborough called “the Mona Lisa”. It was the first big predator of the Cambrian Seas. 7. What is it's name? (do the best you can with the spelling) 8. How big did some of them grow? Next we move to Australia. We are shown a modern creature from the Great Barrier Reef that appears to have a very similar body structure to the predator from the Cambrian. 9. Its called Mantis Shrimp but the fishermen have another name for it. What is it? Back at the Rocky Mountains David Attenborough discusses the arrival of predators with Dr. Jean-Bernard Caron from the Royal Ontario Museum and how it sparked a kind of “arms race” between animal life. 10. What major event do they suggest may be related to the competition between predator and prey? The next location is North Africa (Morocco) where there are numerous fossil excavations. 11. What is the name for the arthropods that they are extracting here? 12. How many millions of years after the Burgess Shales were the rocks in this area deposited? 13. What feature, besides their exoskeleton, gave Trilobites such an evolutionary advantage? Some of these arthropods reached almost a metre in size. We are told that the large size may have been in response to the temperature. 14. Where did David Attenbourgh say Africa was located at the time? The next location we visit is Scotland. 15. What is the name of the large marine arthropod that we see here? 16. How large did some of these creatures grow? 17. How many millions of years ago did these arthropods become the dominant creature around? Until this point animal life was confined to water but we start to look at how life moved to land. 18. What did animals have to develop in order to live on land? Back to Australia where we see a modern creature very similar to a fossil from the Burgess Shale. It is described as a living fossil. Its scientific name is Peripatus, but it is also called a Velvet Worm. 19. It has tiny little holes along its flanks that allowed it to do what? Although Peripatus was one of the first creatures to move onto land it has remained almost unchanged. 20. What is it lacking that prevented it from increasing in size? Back to Scotland where we see some stumps that look like trees but are related to modern plants called Horsetails. 21. What affect does David Attenborough say the plants had on the atmosphere? 22. Arthropods are believed to be the first creatures to colonize the land during the Carboniferous. We see a reconstruction of a large millipede-like creature. What is it called? 23. How big did some of them get? During the Carboniferous arthropods not only grew large but also developed wings. 24. What was the name of the largest flying arthropod ever to have existed? 25. What condition of the Carboniferous Period allowed the life forms to reach such large sizes? Summing it all up. 26. In this last question I want you to write one or two paragraphs that sums up your understanding of the this part of the documentary and the changes in conditions on Earth during the time covered. By conditions I mean the temperature, oxygen levels, position of the continents, etc. But just what you are told in the video - I do not want you searching the internet. This is just for you to show me that you understand what David Attenbourgh was explaining (and that it is just not one person watching and everyone else copying their answers. So it is not an in depth exposé on the Paleozoic - just a couple of paragraphs showing your understanding of the video.
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Explanation & Answer

Here is the complete assignment ;)

Geology 1203 Earth history

Assignment- first life
The Paleozoic Era represents over 300 million years of Earth's history during which the planet underwent
major changes both tectonic and evolutionary. The early part of the Paleozoic is marked by the appearance
of complex animals in the oceans, an event known as the Cambrian Explosion. Several critical fossil locations
related to this time happen to be located in Canada. In this assignment we are going to take a look at some of
these strange and bizarre creatures.
The BBC has produced a very good documentary on early life on Earth. It is narrated by David Attenborough
and consists of two episodes. The first is called Arrival and the second Conquest.
This is the official site for the series - unfortunately you cannot stream the video from the site, but it does
provide some other useful information and images.

http://firstlifeseries.com/
What do I do?
Watch the second episode - Conquest - of the documentary First Life, it picks up at the Cambrian Period, the
earliest period in the Paleozoic Era, and answer the following questions. The video is divided into 5 clips and
the links are in the weekly folder. (make sure you watch them in the correct order)
It also can be found on YouTube but is often mislabeled or missing parts so just be sure that you are watching
the correct episode.
The questions are listed in the order they will be covered in the program. You should read each one carefully and
make sure you understand what is being asked before watching the program.
Submit the answers to the 26 questions - make sure you do not mix up the order. You do not need to repeat the
questions, just use the question numbers.

Questions:
So let's get everyone oriented and check that you are
watching the correct video. After the introduction
there will be ...


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