Building a dinosaur from a chicken?

For the final blog post of the year, I thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of building a dinosaur.  Last week The Washington Post ran an article about turning bird beaks back into dinosaur bones.  How cool is that!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/13/turning-back-evolution-scientists-turn-bird-beaks-into-dinosaur-bones/

Attached to the article is an awesome TED talk.  For this week I want you to watch the TED talk below:

What do you think?  Write a paragraph (at least 5 sentences) about what you think after watching this video.  Here are some questions to get you started, but I really want you to craft a thoughtful response about your gut reaction to the video.  When you were little did you dream of being a paleontologist and having a pet dinosaur?  (I have read my sons countless books about little boys with pet dinosaurs.  Heck, isn't Clifford, the big red dog, similar to a giant dinosaur?)  Do you like the explanation of Jurassic Park?  Have you read the book Jurassic Park or seen the movie?  Is it possible?  In class we discussed evidence of evolution, what did you think of the fossil evidence?  Did you like how they were able to extract dinosaur cells from the fossils?  Would you want to be part of the scientific research expedition?  My favorite part is when Jack Horner talks about the gene modification and shows the embryological evidence.  This video is a great way to reinforce the evidence of evolution lab we did last week.  What would we do with a Chicken-o-saurus?    

On the "boat" again

I am so excited to start talking about Evolution this week.  One of the first things that we will discuss will be Charles Darwin and the HMS Beagle.

Below I am going to attach a link to the homepage of The HMS Beagle Project.  Check out this awesome website.  Peruse through the project and the voyages.

http://www.hmsbeagleproject.org/

Next check out this awesome Google Street View tour of the Galapagos Islands.  I can only imagine what Charles Darwin thought when he first saw these islands off the coast of South America.

https://www.google.com/maps/views/streetview/galapagos-islands?gl=us

You have a couple of options for this week:

A.  Write about the HMS Beagle Project.  Around-the-world sailing would be a unique experience with the new HMS Beagle.  Would you want to volunteer to be one of the scientists aboard the new HMS Beagle?  Why?  What would you want to study:  atmospheric science, biodiversity, climate change, ecology, geology, ocean science, plant science, taxonomy, or DNA barcoding?  Why?  How would you convince the board that you should be the scientist to go?

B.  Write about the Google Street View.  Check out the link in the upper right hand corner where it says "About This Place."  What were the endemic species that the tour showed you that are found no where else in the world?  What did you think?  What makes them different from sea lions, birds, turtles and organisms found on North America?  Did you like the 360 degree tour?  Why?  Watch the video clip:  Join a Modern Day Mapping Expedition.  What did you think?