Fossil Day

     We started out the class by receiving our tests back. I did a lot better than what I was expecting. We then reviewed all of the multiple choice to make sure that everyone understood what they did wrong. Other than a few clumsy mistakes, I pretty much knew everything. I just need to make sure that I pay more attention to every detail of the question and the answers, and not just see that the first part of the answer sounds right, and move on without reading the rest of the answer thoroughly.

     The rest of the class we talked about the subjects that chapter 1, 2, and 11 of Your Inner Fish covered. We learned about how plate tectonics affects where a fossil will be found. For example, the fossil of a fish that might have existed in a tropical area near the equator may be found in places as far as the Arctic, because the plates might have shifted dramatically since that animal died.

Plate Tectonics

     We learned about how Tiktaalik adapted to better suit its environment, and how its changes included having a neck, a wrist and arm that allowed to do push-ups, a flat head, eyes on the top of its head, an expanded ribcage, and many more adaptations. This adaptions allowed it to survive by helping it protect itself, and hunt its prey better.

Tiktaalik Adapted To Survive

     We learned that the sequence of a wrist is similar in many different animals, due to the fact that they have common ancestors that held this trait.
     

We reviewed the basic idea that the older rocks are on the bottom, and the newer rocks are on the top.

At the end of class, we took a little trip over to the Alf Museum, and took a look at Tiktaalik. We discussed his features in the museum, then came back to the classroom and discussed them some more.