Are We Headed for a Mass Extinction?

Transcription

1 Jackson Academy of Math and Music Summer reading Assignment 7th grade Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton Prewriting Assignment Read the following short article from Junior Scholastic : Are We Headed for a Mass Extinction? (like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs) Something was killing the frogs of Central America and fast. One of the first people to notice was Karen Lips, an American studying amphibians in a rainforest there. In 1993, she was shocked to discover that dozens of frogs had vanished from her research site in Costa Rica. When she moved to Panama to continue her research, she found that the frogs were dying there too. And no one could explain why. By 2006, whatever was killing the frogs had swept across central Panama. Within a few years, dozens of amphibians had disappeared from the wild, including the Panamanian golden frog, famous for being so toxic that the poison on the skin of just one could kill 1,000 mice. The recent demise of the frog and other amphibians in Central America is part of a larger phenomenon that s being called the Sixth Extinction. Today, extinction rates among nearly all groups of plants and animals are soaring. A century from now, pandas, tigers, and rhinos may only exist in zoos. Scientists say that within this century, 20 to 50 percent of all plant and animal species might disappear. Under normal circumstances, species rarely become extinct, Scientists estimate that one amphibian species disappears every 1,000 years. But sometimes, the world changes very suddenly. In those rare moments, species disappear much more quickly.

2 These events are known as mass extinctions and scientists say we may be headed for another one. Who s to Blame? Over the past half billion years, there have been five major mass extinction. Scientists say the most recent occurred 65 million years ago, when an asteroid traveling at 25,000 miles per hour hit Earth. The six mile wide asteroid exploded on contact, wiping out 75 percent of all species, including dinosaurs. But this time, a giant asteroid isn t to blame. People are, most scientists agree. Because of human activity, Earth is now changing very fast. How are we doing this? One way is by moving species around the globe. Before boats (and then planes) were invented, it was almost impossible for a land species to cross an ocean or a marine species to cross a continent. But today, as global trade and travel increased, so too has the number of accidental imports. Moving species around can have serious consequences: New species can become invasive and drive native species into extinction. Scientists finally figured out that a fungal disease that had arrived with non native frogs was killing the amphibians in Central America. Another way people are changing the planet is by cutting down forests and burning fossil fuels, such as oil and coal. That has lead to a buildup of carbon dioxide and other gasses that trap heat in the atmosphere, causing temperatures to warm up. The changing temperatures force species to adapt to new climates or move to cooler habitats. If neither of those strategies works, the species will die out. Hope for the Future But the news isn t all grim. Scientists are trying to reverse the trend by working to protect endangered animals and plants. Other scientists are trying to bring extinct species back to life. Also, millions of people work with or donate money to environmental groups, such as the World Wildlife Fund, that are protecting endangered species.

3 But if there is a Sixth Extinction, scientists predict that millions of years from now, Earth would likely be inhabited only by the descendants of those creatures that survive and there s no guarantee that we will be among them. Homo sapiens might not only be the agent of the Sixth Extinction, says anthropologist Richard Leakey, but also risks being one of its victims. Elizabeth Kolbert YES It s Our Responsibility Michael Archer is a paleontologist at the University of New South Wales in Australia. He says humans have a moral responsibility to bring back certain extinct species because it s our fault many of them died out. Archer is leading the team that s trying to bring back the gastric brooding frog, which died out in the 1980s because of habitat loss and pollution. If we are the reason those species went extinct, then we have an obligation to use technology, if we can, to de extinct them, he tells JS. Reversing extinction might also benefit ailing ecosystems. The extinct Shasta ground sloth once lived in what is now the southwestern United States. The cow sized sloth helped disperse the seeds of the Joshua tree, which could die out as a result of the animal s absence, says Chris Clarke, who is writing a book on the desert tree. Resurrecting the Shasta ground sloth could help save the tree and the many animals that rely on it for food and shelter, including jackrabbits and ground squirrels, says Clarke. Stewart Brand is the co founder of Revive & Restore, a California organization that supports de extinction research. He says that resurrected animals would be beacons of hope. Their reappearance would excite people and inspire them to support the conservation of existing species, he says. Of course, bringing extinct animals back to life would just be really cool, says Hank Greely and Jacob Sherkow of Stanford University in California.

4 This may be the biggest attraction and possibly the biggest benefit of de extinction, they wrote in a recent paper in Science magazine. It would surely be very cool to see a living woolly mammoth. NO It s Unethical Brian Switek, a writer for National Geographic, says long gone species would have a hard time fitting into the modern world. The northern grasslands, which the woolly mammoth inhabited thousands of years ago, have been replaced by forests and tundra. To bring back a species that no longer has a place in the world would be irresponsible, he writes. Should we really strive to bring back an animal that might only exist in zoos? Other experts say that reintroducing extinct species could upset today s ecosystems. One leading candidate for resurrection is the Smilodon, a ferocious 600 pound sabertoothed cat that hunted large animals, including horses, camels, and bison, in the western United States. If Smilodon were returned to the wild, those animals would be in danger, some experts say. David Ehrenfeld, a biology professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, says de extinction research diverts money and attention from current conservation projects. Tens of thousands of species are in decline or on the verge of extinction because of overhunting, climate change, pollution, and habitat loss. Ehrenfeld worries that if scientists can bring back extinct animals, no one will care about keeping endangered species from becoming extinct in the first place. One of the most threatened species is the African elephant. To satisfy a large demand for ivory in Asia, poachers killed more than 100,000 elephants from 2010 to 2013m according to a new study led by researchers at Colorado State University. Brave conservationists are risking their lives to protect dwindling populations of elephants from armed poachers, says Ehrenfeld. And we re talking about bringing back the woolly mammoth? Choose any 1 of the following and answer using words:

5 1. Do you think that de extinction will benefit our society and environment as it is today? Why or why not? Support your answer with evidence from the text. 2. What do you think is the cause of extinction? What can YOU do to fix that? Why? 3. Do you think that conservationists should focus more on protecting already endangered species, or on bringing back extinct species? Why? Support your answer with evidence from the text. 4. Should scientists bring back extinct animals? Will it help our ecosystem, or destroy it? Why? Why not? 5. Pretend for a moment that scientist can extract dinosaur DNA from other materials and can start to clone dinosaurs. What do you think are the benefits to being able to recreate dinosaurs from the Jurassic period? What do you think are the disadvantages? Do you think a real Jurassic Park should be constructed if dinosaur cloning is possible? Explain.

6 Text Dependent Questions: 1st & 2nd Iterations 1. What does the word raptor mean? 2. Who is Mike Bowman and what happens to his daughter? 3. What do the doctors think bit Tina? 4. What does Tina notice about the lizard s footprints? 5. What does Alice Levin say about the lizard? 6. Who is Alan Grant? Why is he invited to Jurassic Park? 7. Who is Ellie Sattler? Why is she invited to Jurassic Park? 8. Who owns Jurassic Park? 9. Who is Dr. Ian Malcom and why is he invited to Jurassic Park? 10. How is Dr. Grant connected to the Hammond Foundation? 11. Why is the Environmental Protection Agency investigating John Hammond? 12. Why does Alice Levin call Dr. Grant? 13. Why is Jurassic Park not the same as a zoo? 14. Where do the scientists get the dinosaur DNA? 15. Why does Dr. Malcolm say the park is an accident waiting to happen? 3rd Iteration 1. What is the significance of the number 238?

7 2. What is the significance of the number 292? 3. Why is the eggshell that Dr. Grant found so important? 4. What reason is given for not integrating the raptors into the park? 5. Why is Dr. Sattler so concerned about the plants selected for the park? 6. How, according to Dr. Grant, does the ability to clone dinosaurs change everything in his field? 7. What is version 4.4 and why do Wu and Hammond argue about it? 8. Why is Muldoon worried about the Velciraptors and the Dilophosaurs? 9. What does Nedry steal and who is he stealing it for? 10. Where is Dr. Sattler when the power goes out? 4th Iteration 1. What s wrong with the fences in the T Rex paddock? 2. What species of dinosaur attacked and killed Nedry? 3. What is the lysine dependency in connection with the park? 4. What is the visual system of dinosaurs attuned to? 5. What specifically happened to Ed Regis? 6. Which adult is with Lex and Tim in the park? 7. What happened to Dr. Malcolm? 8. How does Muldoon know Tim is still alive? 9. What is the white rabbit that Nedry left?

8 10. What did Tim and Lex see on the boat going to the mainland? 11. What is The Malcolm Effect? 12. Who is Ralph? 13. How does Arnold clear the computer system s memory? 14. What does Grant use to try to get back to the lodge? 15. What distracts the T Rex from attacking the raft? 5th, 6th, & 7th Iterations 1. What is the aviary intended to be used to for? Why was it not used? 2. What distracts the poisonous dinosaurs from attacking the Dr. Grant and the children when they were in the raft going down stream? 3. Why does Arnold tell Muldoon and Gennaro to be gentle with the vicious T Rex? 4. When Dr. Grant tranquilizes the raptor in the tunnel, what did he discover about the raptor? Why was this finding significant? 5. What does the children trick the raptor into doing in order to save their own lives? 6. What saves the children when they are locked out of the control room with 2 raptors in pursuit? 7. When Tim and Lex tries to distract the adult raptors with a baby raptor, what happened? 8. How does Dr. Grant escape 3 raptors in a room? 9. What does Malcolm try to to Hammond about life and adaptation? 10.What is the significance of frog DNA?

9 11.How does Hammond feel about Jurassic Park near the end of the story? 12.How does Hammond break his ankle? 13.How does Hammond die? 14.What does Dr. Grant realize what the raptors are doing when he and his team find the raptor nest? 15.What was Dr. Grant s answer when the Costa Rican soldier asks him who was in charge? 16.What unusual behavior in some unknown animals does Marty Guitierrez report to Dr. Grant at the end of the story?

10 Post Reading Assignment 1) Choose two of the themes below and explain the author s perspective on each theme. Cite specific examples from the book that support your answer. a. Dangers of biotechnology and computer technology b. The alliance between biotech scientist and commercial interest c. The practice of molecular biology d. Dangers of having only one person who understands how a computer system works 2) Choose any of the 5 iterations and create a comic book. Please consider the use of the following when planning and producing the comic. a. Plot b. Main Events c. Major & Minor Characters d. Vocabulary used in the Novel e. Dialogue