Media project: Articles on new research about events in the history of life, Mesozoic or Paleozoic Eras

History of Life

Due at the start of class on Tuesday, Dec 10^th, 2002.

Please look at the directions for finding articles for the previous Media article. See also the “History of Life announcement” email in which some confusing issues were discussed and clarified. I would like you to follow the same directions, but choose an article on a research topic from the second half of the semester, that is, the Mesozoic or Paleozoic Eras (Media Project 1 was focused on the Cenozoic Era). The answer the questions below. As before, turn in both copies of the papers you read and the completed questions.

I will give you back your Media Project #1 assignments on Dec 3, just after the Thanksgiving Break.

Please answer the following concisely. I am not looking for long comprehensive explanations, but for short insightful answers that show you get the main point. There isn’t one “right” answer. There are numerous sources of literature and numerous ways to answer each question, so I don’t expect to see any identical papers.

Questions:

1. In one sentence, what is the most important major new finding expressed in the original article? [Think big – thousands of new species of fossil animals are found and described every year, and countless billions of fossils are found in various contexts….so why did these fossils (or other information) make the news?]

2. In one sentence, why was it surprising or important?

3. In one or a few sentences, what is the basis for the discovery? That is, what is the age and locality of the fossils? Is the discovery a new fossil find, or re-interpretation of fossils that had been previously described?

4. Most scientific discoveries, even important ones, are not reported in popular media. Why do you suppose this particular scientific discovery was shared with the lay public?

5. Contrast the original article and the popular media articles. Did you find any apparent errors in the popular media articles?

6. Who funded the research? [look in the acknowledgments of the original article; it may or may not say]

7. Suggest an interesting, soluble question that might be pursued in the future that stems from this particular research.

What to turn in:

Your answers typed on standard letter-sized paper, with your name and the topic of the papers written at the top.

Copies of each of the three articles stapled to your answers.