HW - 1/6/12

This weekend's homework is to complete the questions associated with CW 51 and get the permission slip for next week's field trip signed. See the space below for resources.

CW 51: "A Whale of a Tale" Analysis Questions

Answer ALL of the following questions to the best of your ability and in COMPLETE SENTENCES. Be SPECIFIC and EXPLAIN YOURSELF.

1. Review: What is natural selection?

2. Which whale ancestor (which card) do you think made the first ‘jump’ or transition from land to water? Explain your answer using evidence from the cards you observed.

3. What do you think happened to the species in cards B (basilosaurs) and M (mesonychids)? (You can see them on the “Whale Evolutionary Tree.”)

4. Which fossil organism in whale evolution do you think was the first to live mostly in water? Explain your reasoning using evidence from the cards.

5. Describe how natural selection explains the changes in the skeletons as they change their habitat from land to water. (There is a lot of space here because you are expected to write a lot for this answer . . . at least 3 – 5 sentences. Be specific and explain yourself.)

Challenge: 6. Examine the paraxonians at the bottom of the “Whale Evolutionary Tree.” What do you think are some examples of organisms that descended to the left from the ancestor paraxonians (hoofed land animals) on the diagram of the tree?


The link below connects to a .pdf file containing scanned images of fossil cards (M, T, O, B, K, A and D), the "Whale Fossil Chart" and the "Whale Evolutionary Tree."

Whale Fossil Cards and Charts