Download Assignment Preview Title: Mass Extinctions and the Fossil Record

Assignment Preview
Title: Mass Extinctions and the Fossil Record
Source Material:
Below are links to web pages with information about the different mass extinctions
in the geologic record.
Use your textbook and class notes as sources for additional information.
Source Material Resources:
Mass Extinctions Web Page - assignment resource
URL: http://hannover.park.org/Canada/Museum/extinction/extincmenu.html
Writing Prompt:
Write a short essay that compares the Permo-Triassic (Permo is short for Permian)
mass extinction with the Cretaceous-Tertiary (Tertiary is the beginning of the
Cenozoic) mass extinction.
Include information about the magnitude of the extinction events. Make sure that
you describe the groups of organisms that were affected by the event.
Discuss the cause(s) of each the extinction event. Compare the different causes. Be
sure to explain how the cause impacted the different groups of organisms.
During your discussion of the extinctions you must include some of the organisms
that never recovered from the extinction.
Make sure that you write an essay and not just a list of facts.