Discussion Questions May 10

1. The hook in this case study is a good one. It is about a reporter who is stuck in the middle of a hurricane reporting the weather. The wind and the rain cause her to lose consciousness, and somehow travel through time in the future when the climate in the Northwest is much warmer and more tropical. It’s a pretty cool theme and definitely caught my attention which made me want to keep reading.

2. We could adapt this hook style into our own case study by creating a fictional narrative that includes the necessary facts we want to convey.

3. Activity 2: What is the difference between global warming and climate change?

Learning objectives: Distinguish between global warming and climate change; Evaluate data presented in a table to explain why a certain region can get colder even as the globe as a whole becomes warmer.

Global Warming: The increase in overall surface temperature of the earth and atmosphere (IPCC 2007).

Climate Change: Climate is the average of daily weather, thus a changing climate will be an effect of changing weather (Gutro 2005).

Sentence containing climate, weather, climate variability, global climate change, global cooling, and global warming:

Climate is a direct result of the weather. The weather is a daily, or short term phenomenon, while climate is long term. Since the weather is highly variable on a short term basis, this means that there is climate variability as well. The result of the variability of the climate can be understood as global climate change, which include both global cooling and global warming (Carnell and Price, figure 2.1, pg. 10).

Activity 3: A Tropical Future?

Learning objectives: Summarize some of the methods paleoclimatologists use to reconstruct ancient climates; Describe the global climate of the Eocene; Practice finding, graphing, and interpreting scientific data.

Some of the methods paleoclimatologists use to reconstruct ancient climates are: taking sediment core samples from the ocean floor, radiometrically date them, and observe the levels of gasses trapped in the material; also, they look at fossils to see what plants and animals were in the area (Carnell and Price, 11).

The global climate during the Eocene was hot and humid, and very tropical. The planet was full of vast forests and plant life (Carnell and Price, 11).

1. The trend in CO2 I just graphed is definitely going up.
2. This graph compared to figure 2.3 in the IPCC Report (IPCC 2007) is much more compact, so it doesn't seem nearly as bad as the IPCC graph.
3. In 1850, the industrial revolution was beginning to gain steam.
4. Despite a steady upward trend since 1850, CO2 levels predicted for 2100 are nowhere near Eocene levels. Still, this graph is essential to scientists' argument that we urgently need to reduce CO2 emissions now because the rate of change is happening at unprecedented speed, and if we don't change, then in as short as 140 years, the amount of CO2 and other greenhouses gasses emitted in the atmosphere as a result of human activity could quadruple (Carnell and Price, 11).

4. This case study is a model for the one we are writing because it is a good example of how a creative story can very effectively get the message across. I'd emulate the creative parts, basically having fun with the narrative, which makes the learning process more enjoyable. I'd probably make it a bit shorter, though.

Discussion Questions 4-28, Cont.

1. Zimmer captures the reader's attention immediately, with a very effective title. "Lighting the Cambrian Fuse" evokes the feeling of something about to explode, like fireworks. When I read it I thought of lighting the fuse of a pack of fireworks, and the explosions that go with it. The title makes the reader (I did, anyway) want to know what it was that lit the "Cambrian Fuse."

2. Relating to our case study, this method is a good example of how important an introductory title can be. A good one makes the reader genuinely interested in hearing more, but a bad one can cause the reader to not really care, and not pay attention.

3. While Zimmer's method is more straight-forward non-fiction, Tobias uses more creativity in his hook. Honestly I'm not sure which approach I prefer as of now, because I want to have a better grasp on our topic to be able to present it in the most interesting and effective way.

4. A phylogeny is the study of the evolution of one specific organism or group of organisms. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/phylogeny+

5. The Cambrian Explosion occurred between about 540 and 500 million years ago (Zimmer, 226, 227).

6. The Cambrian Explosion was so remarkable because it gives strong evidence to the theory of evolution on a large scale, and it was the first time symmetrical fossils were found, which are believed to be some of our oldest ancestors. http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/levinton.html

7. Some triggers that might have led to the Cambrian Explosion were genetic innovations, environmental factors, and ecological interactions. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20074549

Discussion Questions 4/28

1. In "Alien Evolution," Shoshana Tobias hooks the reader's interest by creating a story about a fictional planet set several years in the future. Through the character of Jay, the reader is taken vicariously on an expedition to the foreign planet to determine its habitability.

2. This method could be used in our own case study by presenting a fun story but at the same time using facts and figures to back it up. It is not often you see science presented in this fashion, but I think it's a refreshing change of pace. It is definitely something to consider.

3. Part 1:

1. The Late Pre-Cambrian environment was a time when Earth was going through rapid and major changes, both in its physical and chemical composition (Zimmer, 229). It was at this time that oxygen levels began to drastically rise (Zimmer, 229), setting up the conditions for the massive expansion of life to take place.

2. Ediacaran organisms were similar to invertebrates, and are believed to have evolved on their own. http://www.paleoportal.org/index.php?globalnav=fossil_gallery&sectionnav=taxon&taxon_id=131

3. Earth's Pre-Cambrian is similar to P-L5's initial environment and organisms because the oxygen level was very low (5%), just like it was on Earth during the time period.

4. The "Cambrian Explosion" is when the levels of oxygen on Earth increased, which led to a drastic increase in life and biodiversity on the planet.

Discussion Questions 4/26

Leslie:

1. To capture reader attention, Leslie begins the article by posing a powerful hypothetical question, and forces the reader to contemplate what life would be like if photosynthesis didn't exist.

2. This could be used in my own case study by following suit and posing a question of the same magnitude, only applied to our topic (Australopithecus Anamensis). One such question could be "Are we direct ancestors of Austrolopithecus Anamensis?

3. Photosynthesis is the process of plants using the light and energy from the sun and transforming it from carbon-monoxide into oxygen.

4. Photosynthesis makes the Earth livable for our ecosystem by supplying the atmosphere with oxygen, which is used as energy to create and sustain the millions of life forms on the planet. Photosynthesis and the oxygen it produces is also responsible for creating the ozone layer, which protects living organisms from the harmful effects of UV rays.

5. The chemical that was the basis of the earliest photosynthesizing microbes was hydrogen sulfide. The chemical that is the basis of most photosynthesizing organisms alive today is water.

6. In photosynthesis, chlorophyll is one of many different substances that absorb light, which is vital in the process. It is also responsible for giving plants their green color.

7. The great oxidation event was a major milestone in the fossil record. About 2.4 billion years ago, scientists first notice a high level of consistent and abundant oxygen in the earth's atmosphere. It is recognized in the fossil record by its red colored sediment that resembles rust.

-Source: Leslie, Mitch. On the Origins of Photosynthesis. Science, Vol. 323. March 6, 2009.

Zimmer:

1. The hook Zimmer uses to capture the reader's attention is to point out the idea that humans and toadstools have more similarities than one might realize.

2. I could adapt this style of introduction into my own case study by pointing out the (controversial) fact that the species Australopithecus Anamensis and humans are more alike than different. Of course, the goal then would be to defend my claim through solid and credible empirical research.

3. Eukaryotes are all living organisms that have a nucleus that manufactures mitochondria.

4. Mitochondria are the components of the cell that function as communication networks to pass along various information about genes or DNA. They evolved by turning bacteria into information that eukaryotes could use.

5. The "hydrogen hypothesis" posits that mitochondria originated as bacteria that consumed carbon and released hydrogen atoms.

6. The three domain hypothesis states that life is essentially divided into three separate branches: eukaryotes, bacteria, and archaea. The eocyte hypothesis states life is only essentially divided into two branches: bacteria and archaea, with eocytes being the ancestors of the eukaryotes.

Source: Zimmer, Carl. "On the Origins of Eukaryotes." Science. Vol. 325. August 7, 2009.

Fossil Discovery

The discovery I found is from Chad in 2002 by Michel Brunet. The name is Sahelanthropus tchadensis.

1. This discovery is exciting because it has the potential to change our understanding of the earliest beginnings of humans.

2. This discovery has changed our understanding of evolution because the features are more human than scientists would have imagined for a fossil as old as it is. It changes our understanding of biodiversity by potentially adding another branch to our history.

3. This organism is reported to have lived 6 to 7 million years ago.

4. The fossil was found in Chad.

5. The information presented in the newspaper article was mostly a rough overview of the journal article. The journal article is extremely detailed and is obviously meant for academics, while the newspaper article is for the general public.

6. I did a few google searches, and actually found a religious site that used the discovery to (in their opinion) disprove evolution.

7. I found the original scientific paper via wikipedia.

8. The main differences are that the journal article is strictly fact, and doesn't pose questions, whereas the newspaper article poses interesting questions pertaining to the discovery. This is probably because it is a completely different medium.

9. Yes, I trust the information presented in the papers. The journal article is much more informative than the newspaper article, but that's not to say the newspaper article is not reliable, it's just different.

10. Since the two are completely different, and serve different purposes, it is difficult to compare biases. I guess you could say the newspaper is biased toward a less educated reader.