Wendy Threatt’s fourth-grade class learned about keystone species extinction by conducting research, hosting a guest speaker, and watching a video about a wildlife photographer. Students demonstrated their learning by creating keystone arches to identify connections between animals in an ecosystem. Continue reading Educator Spotlight: Examining the Impact of Keystone Species
GEOGRAPHY Had the asteroid struck a different location, the outcome might have been very different. (BBC) Zoom in on the Chicxulub impact crater, ground zero for the demise of the dinosaurs. Discussion Ideas How did an asteroid, comet, or other space rock lead to the demise of the dinosaurs? The impactor didn’t directly cause any extinctions. Instead, it induced a “global winter” (sometimes called an … Continue reading Dinosaur Asteroid Hit the ‘Worst Possible Place’
SCIENCE A new study indicates a small breeding population may have doomed the last woolly mammoths, a theory that could change how we think about conservation efforts today. (Christian Science Monitor) Should we resurrect the woollies? How would we maintain the genetic diversity that is crucial to healthy populations? Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit, including today’s … Continue reading Sad Last Stand of the Woolly Mammoth
We’re in the middle of one of the biggest mass extinctions the world has ever seen. There have been five previous major mass extinctions, when more than 75% of all species on Earth vanished. Think about that for a second . . . three-quarters of life on this planet died. Five times. This list includes pictures of iconic species that went extinct during the five major … Continue reading #TeachNatGeo: The Big Six Extinctions (one is happening right now)
SCIENCE Dodos, best known for being dead and, well, dumb, may not have been total doofuses. (Washington Post) Use our resources to catch up on other bird-brains. Scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit. Discussion Ideas The name of the new research paper is “The first endocast of the extinct dodo.” What is an endocast? An endocast is an … Continue reading Were Dodos as Dumb as They Looked?
