Building on plate tectonics (p. 162-165), Friday’s class will focus on Age of the Earth,
speciation over geological time & Mass extinctions: pp. 166-168.
To prepare for the class (it will be fun!), please
(a) read the text, especially p.166-168. We will mention tectonic events, eg, breakup
of Gondwana from ca. 200m years ago.
(b) See the Attached "timeline of life-forms" and make sense of what it is
showing. We will stretch out a 45m rope, at start at the "start of the Earth, 4.5 billion
years ago. Each cm of rope will represent 1 million years of geological history. 1m 100 MYA (million years ago)
(c) Each student will represent a form of life, to appear on the time-line. Please read
up a bit on the life form you will represent. I will bring a paper with its name. If you
can dress up to look like it, that would be great!
: Archaea / Bacteria
: Sponges
: Crustacea
: Seaweed / algae
: Spiders
: Insects
: Mosses
: Ferns
: Conifer trees
: Flowering plants
: Molluscs
: Sharks
: Amphibians
: Reptiles
: Birds
: Mammals
Alistair: Early hominids (I am proud to be a primate)
Someone to point out Gondwana split stages:
See the Figures on p.168: maybe your life-form experienced a mass extinction? (eg,
Dinosaurs, Triassic, 200 MYA). Make a note of when each of these happened Please make a strenuous effort to arrive in the Høegh as soon as possible (ie,
transform more sugar / ATP energy than you usually would when you walk there).
Alistair.