Description

Objectives: Students completing this module will be able to:

1. Access and evaluate data from the fossil record to identify and study major events in the history of life;
2. Explain how science is a non-linear process of investigation.

Introduction

Biodiversity, the range and diversity of life, is critical to the healthy functioning of both individual ecosystems and the biosphere. Understanding how global biodiversity has changed throughout the Earth’s history is an important contribution of paleobiology to the biological sciences. By studying the fossil record, paleobiologists can determine how the diversity of different taxonomic groups has changed over hundreds of millions of years, and how global change may drive major shifts in global biodiversity.

In this lab, we will be making and testing hypotheses about how the biodiversity of groups of organisms may vary through time. To keep track of our scientific process, we will be using the How Science Works interactive from the University of California Museum of Paleontology.

Notes

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