Dinosaurs and You

Earth is always changing. From the Big Bang, the Earth has come a long way to what it is now. Take the dinosaurs for example. They lived during the Mesozoic era, spanning approximately 185 million years. During the era, the world was a lot more different. In the beginning, the land did not look like what it is now. All the land masses were once together as a supercontinent knows as Pangaea. Throughout the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods of the Mesozoic era, the land masses began to move. The Mesozoic was also a time of climatic and evolutionary change. Dinosaurs and the environment began to evolve until the era ended 65 a million years ago.

                                                                                                                      

The Mesozoic era is divided into three periods: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous.

In the Triassic period, the climate was very dry. As the world was one supercontinent, in the interior there were very hot summers and cold winters. Along the coastlines, the temperature was much more regulated due to the proximity of bodies of water. As for life, there was very small plant life and animal included amphibians, small reptiles, mammals and dinosaurs (e.g. Coelophysis).

 Coelophysis

During the Jurassic period, the supercontinent Pangaea split into two landmasses. This created more coastlines to change the global climate from dry and hot to warm and humid (i.e. deserts became rainforests). It was a time where dinosaurs reached their prime as a diversified group of animals. From theropods (carnivores like Allosaurus) to the sauropods (herbivores like Barosaurus), dinosaurs became the dominant vertebrates of the Earth. Dinosaurs also took to the oceans (e.g. ichthyosaurs) and the skies (e.g. pteranodons) during this period.

 Allosaurus

Barosaurus

A Pteranodon

The land masses in the Cretaceous period kept on splitting. This in turn made the Cretaceous world have a relatively warm climate and high ocean levels. On land, mammals and insects began to diversify with the dinosaurs as well (Tyrannosaurus). Sharks and fish began to replace the ichthyosaurs and other marine dinosaurs. Birds also began to appear.

 Tyrannosaurus Rex

At the end of the Mesozoic era (about 65 million years ago), there was a mass extinction of life on the earth. Most scientists today agree that a massive asteroid impacted the Earth at what is known as the Chicxulub crater in Mexico. The event caused ash to block sunlight so that photosynthesis would not occur. This along with other climate change brought the extinction of the dinosaurs. However, in the end, the birds (evolved from dinosaurs) and mammals along with the sharks, crocodiles, and other animals survived that still walk among us today.

Video Worksheet: The Cove

1. Who is the main “Defender of dolphins in the documentary and why did he become so involved with trying to save dolphins?

Ric O’Barry is the main defender of dolphins in the documentary. One of the dolphins that he trained became so depressed that she committed suicide by closing her blowhole to suffocate. She died in his arm. Finally seeing that the captivity and training of dolphins was cruel he dedicated his life to stop cruelty to dolphins.

11. What is the main point of this movie?

The main point of this movie was to uncover and record what was happening in the cove and release it to the media for everyone in the world to see.

13. Biomagnification occurs with many pollutants present in organisms of living things. Explain what this means.

Biomagnification occurs when pollutants are first introduced into an ecosystem. Primary consumers consume plants that have been tainted with the pollutants. This in turn affects the other consumers of the food chain and food web as they eat the primary consumers, increased accumulated pollutants in their bodies.

21. The two divers who are part of the crew experience something horrible when they first see the cove. What happens?

They witness a baby dolphin who has escaped the cove while sustaining wounds and swimming towards them. However, the wounds were too severe and the dolphin died.

23. If you go to Marineland are you contributing to the dolphin slaughter? Explain why or why not.

Yes, if you go to Marineland you are contributing to the dolphin slaughter.This is because Marineland needs dolphins. So cities such as Taiji sell them to Marineland. During this process, not all the dolphins are chosen to become entertainers. Some of the dolphins that have been captured by fisherman are also killed for their meat to be sold in Japan. So as long as people go to Marineland (i.e. showing demand for dolphin entertainment), Marineland and other similar amusement parks will have a demand for dolphins and the supplier will sell the dolphins and kill them as well.