Abstract

The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, which occurred 66 mya, caused the mass extinction of nearly 75% of the plant and animal species on Earth. This event is marked by a thin layer of sediment which can be found throughout the world in marine and terrestrial rocks. The boundary clay shows high levels of iridium, which is rare on Earth but abundant in asteroids.
Central Question: What evidence exists for the extinction of the dinosaurs and 75% of all animal and plant species at the end of the Cretaceous Period?
Learning Outcome #1: Investigate the patterns in fossil data over time that aid in the discovery of significant events in Earth's history.
Learning Outcome #2: Investigate the global patterns in chemical composition data over time that aid in the discovery of significant events in Earth's history.
Learning Outcome #3: Determine the size of the impact crater, using the global patterns of iridium in the rock record, to search for the location of the impact potentially responsible for changes to the environment.
Learning Outcome #4: Investigate the global patterns of living organisms, before and after the KPg boundary, to identify the significant changes to life on Earth.

Context

Activity is used in 10th Grade Earth Science Class. I use the lesson during our Geological History Unit at the end of the unit.

Why It Works

Activity includes various teaching strategies and gives educators a wide variety of resources. While using the lesson you have the opportunity to use it as whole or separate the sections for your classroom. To insure effectiveness, Infiniscope has tested the lesson in classes across the US.

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