EarthViewer: Mass Extinctions Click & Learn

Student Worksheet

INTRODUCTION
At least five times in Earth’s past, the vast majority of plant and animal species have been annihilated in a
geologic instant. What triggered these dramatic events, and what might they tell us about the fate of our world?
What do we know about Earth’s past history, and what does science tell us about the coevolution of Earth’s
systems and life?

ABOUT THIS WORKSHEET

Students will use two BioInteractive resources to explore the science of mass extinctions: Mass Extinction: Life at
the Brink, a feature film available on the BioInteractive Films to Inspire webpage, and EarthViewer, an app that
can be launched or installed from downloadable files on the EarthViewer resource webpage.

ENGAGE AND EXPLORE

1. On the Films to Inspire webpage, locate the film Mass Extinction: Life at the Brink and watch the
introduction to the film, (0:00 – 1:55).
2. Turn to a partner and share any questions this brief film clip generates in your mind. Record your ideas as
instructed by your teacher.
3. Launch and explore the features of EarthViewer:
 Click, hold, and drag to rotate the planet.
 Click, hold, and drag down the horizontal silver slider on the timeline; watch what happens to the planet
and the data indicators as you move backward and forward in time.
 Position the silver timeline slider at 0 MYA (top of the timeline). Click on the left "play" button at the
bottom of the timeline; watch what happens. When the silver bar stops at the bottom, click on the right
"play" button and watch again.
 Position the silver timeline slider at 0 MYA. Click on "Charts" at the bottom of the screen. Choose a
chart. Now click on the left "play" button at the bottom of the timeline. Watch what happens on your
chosen chart as the slider moves down the timeline.
 Click "pause" before the slider reaches the bottom of the timeline. Note that your chosen chart will
show a demarcation in the data for that point in time.
 Close your chart in EarthViewer by clicking on the "X" in the upper right-hand corner.
4. Make sure the timeline displays 0–540 million years and then click on "View" at the bottom of the screen;
turn on "Mass Extinctions." Click "View" again to minimize the menu.
5. Note the five yellow triangles that appear on the right side of the timeline. These correspond to mass
extinctions.

6. Gather data: Drag the slider to the Ordovician extinction, 440 MYA. Use the EarthViewer features to fill in
the following chart. For Biodiversity, you will need to move the slider carefully and record the number of

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 Click & Learn
Earth Viewer: Mass Extinctions Student Worksheet
marine genera present just before and just after the extinction event. Gather data in the same manner for
the remaining four mass extinctions.
What was Earth's Biodiversity
surface like? Avg. (# of genera
Landmasses? Surface just before &
Mass Proportion of land Temp., O2 CO2 Day just after
Extinction MYA to water? °C (%) (ppm) Length Luminosity extinction)
the Earth's climate was warm and wet, with
1368 - 899
Ordovician 443 15.4 c 18.4 4671 21.8 hour 95.5 %
sea levels 1,970 feet
 two supercontinents, Gondwana and Euramerica.

Devonian 360 These vast landmasses lay relatively near each

16.3 c 29.2 3298 22.3 hours 96.92 833.3 - 914

other in a single hemisphere

Permian 255
all the world's landmasses were joined into a
17.6 26.4 571 22.7 97.82 1172-293
single continent that spread from pole to pole
environment during the Triassic was as varied as it is today,
Triassic 200with large swathes of forests, dry deserts and open14.9 20.4 1349 23 98.24 520 - 768
prairies.

Cretaceous 65
polar regions were free of continental ice
15.9 22.7 856 23.7 99.48 2222 - 1401
sheets, their land instead covered by fores

Present 0 many different climates 14.5 21 392 24 100 2470

and 7 continents
a. Do any patterns and correlations emerge from your chart? Does any of the data suggest an explanation
for the occurrence of mass extinctions?
and after most of the mass extinction the surface temperature changes and the O2 and CO2 amount vary because of the
mass extinction

b. Calculate the biodiversity loss in each extinction and report in terms of percent.

Ordovician Devonian Permian Triassic Cretaceous

% of Genera
.57 .35 .56 .47 .40
Lost

c. What questions do you now have about mass extinctions?

How did mass extinctions affect our DNA and our ability to breath

ELABORATE, PART 1
● Return to EarthViewer. Move the slider down to "Cretaceous extinction" and click on the link. Read the
information about this extinction (formally known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene or sometimes the
Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction).
● The information tells you that "overwhelming evidence suggests that the extinction was caused by a 10-km-
diameter asteroid that struck Earth." Suggest at least three lines of evidence that might have led scientists to
this conclusion. Discuss your predictions with your table partner and record your ideas in the space below.

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 Click & Learn
Earth Viewer: Mass Extinctions Student Worksheet
● Together with your class, continue watching the film, Mass Extinction: Life at the Brink (1:55 -21:00). As you
watch, record the kinds of scientific evidence that support the asteroid impact hypothesis.
the dinosaur died very fast and there is a crater

● How does your predicted evidence compare with the actual evidence used to support the asteroid impact
hypothesis?
the fossil records show that dinosaurs went extinct suddenly. so it is more likely to be a sudden event than volcanoes or
climate change there is a huge crater called the Chicxulub crater

ELABORATE, PART 2
● Return to EarthViewer. Move the slider down to "Permian extinction" and click on the link. Read the
information about this extinction (formally known as the Permian-Triassic extinction).
● The information tells you that "it is thought that massive eruptions of Siberian volcanoes caused
catastrophic global warming, ocean acidification, and widespread lack of oxygen in the oceans." Predict
what kinds of evidence might have led scientists to this conclusion. What kind of evidence would suggest the
existence of volcanoes? What kinds of evidence might suggest global warming, ocean acidification, or lack of
oxygen in the oceans? Discuss your predictions with your table partner and record your ideas in the space
below. different levels of Ph.D. of the water from a long time ago and glaciers melting

● Why do you think that scientists do NOT hypothesize that an asteroid impact caused the Permian-Triassic
extinction? Discuss your thoughts with your table partner and record your ideas in the space below.
because some people thought that geologists did not believe that major catastrophes
contributed to the extinction of dinosaurs.

● Together with your class, continue watching the film, Mass Extinction: Life at the Brink (21:00-37:00). As you
watch, record the answers to the two questions above.

Did not watch the video

● How does your predicted evidence compare with the actual evidence used to support the massive eruption
hypothesis?

yes they for the most part match up

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