Writing prompts – chapter 11. Write 200 words on one of the following five writing prompts (just select 1)
1. Describe the progression of the understanding of the End Cretaceous extinction (Section 11-5 and Section 11-6): History
Hypotheses of the cause of the extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/24138638.pdf
Discovery of the asteroid impact
Discovery of the flood basalt event
Research efforts to isolate effects from the flood basalt and asteroid impact on the extinction event
Research efforts to link the flood basalt event to the asteroid impact
2. Describe the progression of mammal evolution in the Mesozoic Era (Sections 11-2 to 11-4): Natural Science.
3. Describe the controversy surrounding the proposal that a catastrophic event such as an asteroid caused the elimination of the dinosaurs. Why did many scientists feel that this violated the principle of uniformitarianism (Section 11-5): Perspective of a Natural Scientist.
4. Based on the videos in Section 11-3, describe how scientists analyze fossils to chart the progression of mammal evolution in the Mesozoic Era: Science
5. Evaluate the fine tuning of the End Cretaceous extinction with respect to the elimination of the dinosaurs and the survival of a few mammals. Is there any reason to think that this was not a completely natural event? What do you think is the possibility that there was divine intervention such as diverting the asteroid to a specific location on earth (Section 11-5, 11-6, 11-7, Section 11E (optional))? Metaphysics.