April 28th Discussion Questions

Discussion questions Apr 28

http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/alien/alien_evolution.html

1. What hook does the author use to capture your attention?
The author takes the reader somewhere they have never been: another planet.

2. How could you adapt this hook in your own case study?
We can create a story or image of a creature similar to T. Rex and describe that chronicles his daily life. We can ask the audience what this organism resembles and what they think it evolved from based on its stature.

3. Answer the questions at the end of Part I and Part II of this case study.
You have two days before you and your colleagues must decide the fate of this planet and the hundreds of people who are waiting to re-colonize it. Before you come to any conclusions, however, you need to find out exactly what happened on this planet, why it happened, and what the future possibilities are. Start with sources on Earth's Late Precambrian, aka "Vendian" or "Ediacaran" period, and the Cambrian period (543 to 510 million years ago). By the time you return to class to solve this case, you will need to know:

• What was the Late Pre-Cambrian environments like on Earth? it probably somewhat like mars. Gases prevailed, litle oxygen, oceans probably looked very different from how we see them today.
• What were the Ediacaran organisms like and how were they adapted to their environment? Ediacaran organisms were probably small and varied in size and appearance.
  
• How is Earth's Precambrian similar to P-L5's initial environment and organisms? They describe rapid changes occurring such as water levels; there was fresh air; descriptions of small organisms that showed signs of predation. These are all similar images to Earth's Precambrian era.
• What was the "Cambrian Explosion"? Cambrian explosion involved the rapid evolution of organisms about 530 mya.
  
• How did the environment and organisms change and adapt during the "Cambrian Explosion"? Radiation adaptability allowed for growing variations and diversity of organisms.
• What causes lead into the "Cambrian Explosion"? Chemical and physical changes: higher levels of oxygen in the atmosphere and ocean; retreat of glaciers.
  
• Could any of those Earth conditions have been mimicked on P-L5? How? Yes, because the description of their experience resemble the Cambrian changes that occurred on earth. It seems they landed during the explosion.
  
• Assuming that this alien planet was going through an Alien "Cambrian Explosion" that mimicked Earth, what do you think will happen next? They will start to see variations in animals, and greener environments because PSN can take place.
  
  

Zimmer 2010, Lighting the Cambrian fuse

1. What hook does the author use to capture your attention?
The hook the author appears to be using is by challenging the reader’s knowledge about when animals bloomed: Was it really in the Cambrian era that animals became rapidly abundant? Rather they suggest that animals evolved.

2. How could you adapt this hook in your own case study?
On the subject of T. Rex, it can be a useful hook to challenge the audience’s idea of how fast he really ran.

3. Compare Zimmer’s hook to the one Tobias used in “Alien Explosion” in a table. Both hooks are useful for different reasons. Which approach do you prefer for your case study? Why?

• Zimmer is more informative in his introduction, in which he lays out the basic facts of the Cambrian era and potential causes.
• "Alien Evolution" creates a story about the Cambrian explosion: he invites the reader to use their imagination by using descriptions of what it might have looked liked in the Cambrian period.
• I would like to use both hooks in my case study because I think they are simultaneously imperative to capture the attention of the audience. I have to assume that my audience knows nothing about my study so utilizing these methods will work to make the topic cohesive while making it adventurous.
  

4. What is a phylogeny? (you’ll probably have to look the word up on the Internet)
According to wikipedia, phylogeny is the study of organisms and their relatedness to ancestors/descendants. This is used to classify diversity among organisms, Taxonomy.

5. Over what time frame did the Cambrian Explosion occur?
According to the Zimmer, the Cambrian explosion occurred around 530 mya. This was determined based on the study of particular fossils.

6. Why was the Cambrian Explosion so remarkable?
This was an extraordinary event because it demonstrates rapid animal evolution largely due to adaptive radiation. The evolution resulted in greater variation and diversity among species.

7. Outline some of the triggers that might have led to the Cambrian Explosion.

• glacial retreats
• increase in oxygen levels in oceans and atmosphere
• chemical changes in oceans