Wednesday November 28, 2012

1. WednesdayNovember 28, 2012 (The Phanerozoic Eon: The Mesozoic Era – The Age of Reptiles)

2. The Launch Pad Wednesday, 11/28/12 The beginning of the Cambrian Period marks an important event in animal evolution, the appearance of organisms with __________________. wings cells shells and other hard parts vertebrae none of the above

3. Announcements Happy Make Your Own Head Day!

4. Announcements If you would like to keep your Solar Interior Poster, please remove it from the hallway before close of school today.

6. Recent Events in Science 'Pac-Man' Moons: Cassini Finds a Video Gamers' Paradise at Saturn Read All About It! www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121126151127.htm You could call this "Pac-Man, the Sequel." Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have spotted a second feature shaped like the 1980s video game icon in the Saturn system, this time on the moon Tethys. (The first was found on Mimas in 2010). The pattern appears in thermal data obtained by Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer, with warmer areas making up the Pac-Man shape.

8. The Phanerozoic Eon The Mesozoic Era • The supercontinent of Pangaea existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, forming about 300 million years ago.

9. The Phanerozoic Eon The Mesozoic Era Pangaea began to rift around 200 million years ago, first forming the two continents of Laurasia and Gondwana. Laurasia included most of the landmasses which make up today's continents of the Northern Hemisphere, chiefly North American continent, Baltica, Siberia, Kazakhstania, and the North China and East China cratons. Gondwana was the southern-most of two and included most of the landmasses in today's Southern Hemisphere, including Antarctica, South America, Africa,Madagascar and the Australian continent, as well as the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian subcontinent, which have now moved entirely into the Northern Hemisphere.

10. The Phanerozoic Eon The Mesozoic Era Early in the Mesozoic Era, much of present-day North America was above sea level, but by the middle Mesozoic, seas invaded the western regions of the continent.

11. The Phanerozoic Eon The Mesozoic Era As Pangaea continued its rift, the westward-moving North American plate began to override the Pacific plate. This resulted in crustal deformation along the entire western margin of North America. The Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains were formed at this time.

12. The Phanerozoic Eon The Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era was known as the “Age of Reptiles.” Reptiles became the dominant land animals.

13. The Phanerozoic Eon The first reptiles were small, but evolved rapidly, particularly the dinosaurs.

14. The Phanerozoic Eon • large carnivorous dinosaurs such as Allosaurus Diversity of reptiles included: • large herbivorous dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus • Pterosaurs or flying reptiles • Archaeopteryx, the predecessor of modern birds

15. Archaeopteryx fossil Archaeopteryx fossil

16. Ichthyosaur Fossil, a marine reptile

17. Dinosaur Tracks

18. The Phanerozoic Eon The Mesozoic The early Mesozoic Era consisted of the Triassic Period.

19. The Phanerozoic Eon The Mesozoic The middle Mesozoic Era consisted of the Jurassic Period.

20. The Phanerozoic Eon The Mesozoic The late Mesozoic Era consisted of the Cretaceous Period.

21. The Phanerozoic Eon • About 65 Mya, at the close of the Mesozoic Era, an impactor with an estimated diameter of 6.2 miles struck the Earth near the present-day Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. • The impact delivered an estimated energy equivalent of 100 teratons (100 trillion tons) of TNT. • By contrast, the most powerful man-made explosive device ever detonated, the Tsar Bomba, had a yield of only 50 megatons ( 50 million tons) of TNT. • This makes the Chicxulub impact 2 million times more powerful. • Even the most energetic known volcanic eruption, which released approximately 240 gigatons(240 billions tons) of TNT and created the La Garita Caldera, was substantially less powerful than the Chicxulub impact. www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qJPTjMnwNk

22. The Phanerozoic Eon As a result of the Chicxulub impact, many reptile groups became extinct. A few types survived, including the turtles, snakes, and lizards.

23. The Phanerozoic Eon The elimination of the dinosaurs and other reptiles cleared the way for the rise of the mammals, who, up to this point, had consisted of small, hole-dwelling creatures.

24. Worksheet The Phanerozoic Eon: The Mesozoic Era – The Age of Reptiles