Science Brochure

Penguins

Penguins cannot fly due to their tiny wings and huge bodies. Penguins are heavier than the heaviest flying birds. Penguins do not have hollow bones unlike most flying birds which adds to their weight. Most flying birds have hollow bones to be lightweight. Also, flying birds have curved wings while penguins have straight wings(like flippers). Curved wings keep the flying birds aloft and keeps air under it's wings while straight  wings are more suitable underwater where they can be used as propellers. If ever a penguin attempted to fly, it's wings would need to flap 35 times every second. A penguin cannot generate that much energy at once.

Flying is not suitable for penguins because they eat fish that live deep down in the depths of the ocean. Flying would not be an advantage to help them fish.

Fossil Description Because Of Area In Rock(based on the book: Prentice Hall, Earth Science pg 322)

Number 1
Site 1:
A: Ammonite and Trilobite
B: Shells, Ammonite and Fish
C: Layer of extrusive rock
D: Dinosaur and plants
E: Layer of Extrusive rock
F: Dinosaur, Plants and Birds
G: Mammals, Plants and Birds

Site 2:
V: Layer of intrusive rock
W: Shells, Ammonite and Fish
X: Layer of extrusive rock
Y: Dinosaurs, Birds and Plants
Z: Mammals, Birds and Plants

Analyze ad Conclude: Site 1
Number 1:
Layers A and B in the book (Earth Science on page 322) show that the land it is demonstrating used to be covered with tons of water.  My proof is that fish and ammonites lived there (both of these creatures live in deep bodies of water).  In layer D, the water must have dried up or “moved” somewhere else because there are dinosaur footprints (that means it lived on land) and plant/ tree leaves. This means that throughout time, the water must have evaporated or found a pathway leading it somewhere else which allowed land animals and plants to grow. But, there were still some swamps or maybe lakes because without them, fossilization would not occur.

Number 2:
Layer A is the oldest. I know because it is farther away from the surface which means many other layers of rock were created on top of it. I also know because the organism fossils in that layer have been extinct for millions of years.

Number 3:
Layer G formed the most recently. I know because it is nearest to the surface and has not been covered by another layer. Also, the fossils of the animal types are similar to most of the animals that are living today.



Number 4:
I believe there are no fossils in layers C and E because the lava (extrusion) melts anything in its way so no fossils could form because they got molten and became hot lava and then cooled AS A ROCK.

Number 5:
The types of fossils located in layer F are those of land and flying organisms. They are the fossils of dinosaurs, plants and birds.

Number 6: Site 2
Layer B might have formed at the same time as layer W because both have the exact fossil (fish, shells…) in the representation.

Number 7:
There is a gap in the middle of Site 2 (between layers X and Y). I believe that is so because there is where there are 2 layers of difference between it and site 1. Maybe during that period of time, no animal could survive in that are so they moved to another are or there were no nearby swamps or lakes to allow fossilization to happen.

Number 8:

Intrusion V is older than layer Y. My prediction is that the process of magma cooling (intrusion) started during the time of layer W but ended near the end of the Y layer.





Number 9:
In the beginning, Site 2 was covered with an immense amount of water. For some reason, there was less water in the area so the sea creatures to start dying. There was enough water for fossilization to happen. Then another group of species started to live there but a volcano must have erupted and killed them all. The corpses melted and became one with the lava and soon cooled to become hard rock. Then, another group of species started to live in this area. These were land and flying creatures. The same process happens for these organisms. The land becomes unsuitable for the organisms to live in and they die but the geography is suitable for fossilization. This process will continue repeating itself for millions of years onward.

Fossilization

Chain of Events

Animal dies and falls into swamp Animal is covered by silt or mud Fine mud blocks out oxygen for decomposing bacteria Decomposition is very slow, taking thousands of years Fossil forms

For a fossil to be created, the body should be near a swamp, lake… First an animal dies and sinks to the bottom of the lake. Then layers of silt and/or mud start to cover the body. Soon the whole body will get completely covered and the mud will block oxygen from entering or reaching the body. The body cannot be decomposed because no bacteria can reach the body. That is because bacteria survives only where there is oxygen. The body becomes a fossil. After many years of weathering and erosion, the fossil will reach the surface and paleontologists will examine it.