Paleontology ›  Unit 3

Unit 3 The Triassic

Life rebuilds after the Great Dying on one hot supercontinent, crocodile relatives rule, and the first dinosaurs appear on the sidelines. Ends with you deciding whether dinosaurs won by being better or luckier.

🕐 10 class days🅰️ 4 Activities🅿️ 2 Projects🅱️ 1 Problem
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The Path Through Unit 3

A new dinosaur documentary opens its Triassic episode with one line: dinosaurs were destined to rule. The producer wants it fact-checked before it airs. Read the full case →
3.1A world rebuilding4 days
PProject🕐 2 class days

P3.1.3  Mapping Pangaea

Place real Triassic fossil sites on a map of Pangaea, then use the rocks found there (red beds, salt deposits, coal) to sketch the supercontinent's climate belts. The dots are easy to plot; explaining why certain animals show up only in certain belts is the real task.

Turn in: Annotated Pangaea map + climate belt keyOpen →
3.2The first dinosaurs4 days
PProject🕐 2 class days

P3.2.3  Build the Family Tree

Score eight Triassic animals, from Coelophysis and Herrerasaurus to a phytosaur and an aetosaur, on a set of skeletal traits. Use your character matrix to build a cladogram and show exactly where the dinosaurs branch off.

Turn in: Character matrix + cladogram with the dinosaur branch labeledOpen →
3.3Unit problem2 days
BProblem🕐 2 class days

B3.3.1  Better or Luckier?

A documentary claims dinosaurs were destined to rule. Using diversity counts for dinosaurs and crocodile relatives across the Triassic, a timeline of the eruptions at its end, and what you know about how each group moved and grew, decide whether dinosaurs won because they were better, luckier, or both. Rewrite the narration and defend it.

Turn in: Revised narration script + supporting graph and evidence briefOpen →