Blog Post #2: Favorite Projects

For our first officially assigned presentation, I think everyone did quite well, and with practice, we will only become better. However, out of all the projects presented, my top three would have to have been the humorous dinosaur-chicken related project, Mariana's Trench, and the presentation on the evolution of the human species. 

The dinosaur-chicken project not only related the chickens and dinosaurs to one another, providing evidence for how and why the two species are closer related to each other than many other organisms, but also engaged the audience through humor and jokes. The image of the "dancing dinosaurs" at the beginning of the presentation immediately captured the audience's attention, and allowed the presenter's to share their information with an already alert group of students. During the presentation, the two presenters kept straight faces all the way until the end of their project even though they included jokes throughout...skill. They successfully kept the crowd entertained, while also educating the audience about the relationship between dinosaurs and chickens. My favorite part of their project was the ending, by far. They concluded with their "Dinosources" and finally cracked, unable to retain a straight face any longer. 

Mariana's Trench is incredibly mesmerizing to me already. The presenters of this project seemed engaged in their topic as well, and exhibited a thorough understanding of knowledge on the subject. I was able to easily follow along with their presentation and learn new, interesting facts about the underwater wonder. The presenters also included a comical and cute video of the well-known Sebastian, from The Little Mermaid, singing about the Mariana's trench to the tune from "Under the Sea." He elaborated in song on the various fishes that can be found in the trench, their appearances, and why and how they are able to survive in the depths they live in.

Finally, the evolution of human species presentation was fascinating. I learned a lot more about our growth over time and the development of our species into what it is today. The fact that we are still continuing to evolve and change amazes me. Honestly, I had not realized that humans had looked so incredibly different years and years ago. The only human specie I was aware of that appeared similar to us were neanderthals. It is incredible to see the maturation of humans over time, and the subtle or harsh changes between the different varieties. 

It was entertaining to view the different presentations of our class. Everyone had their own unique style and presented different pieces of fascinating information relating to our geographic world. "Practice makes perfect," and I am eager to see the projects presented at the end of the school year.      

Blog Post #1: The Kraken

The kraken is an ancient and mythical sea creature resembling a giant squid-like beast. It can be seen through
the stories of many sailors at sea, and has been passed down for generations as a myth. However, with recent evidence and elaboration on previous knowledge, the debate on the existence of the kraken has been brought back to life.

The legendary kraken was not only known to attack ships at sea, but large sperm whales. Sperm whales dove to depths of around 3,000 feet in search of giant squids to eat. Despite their size, the whales did not always win the mighty battle. Sucker-like markings have been found on the whales that are much larger than those of any known squid. However, scars grow as the whale grows, so the size of the mysterious creature is not definite. Nevertheless, horn beaks and squid-like arms have been found in the stomach contents of sperm whales and are much larger than any known squid identified by humans.

Researchers in Nevada, as of 2013, have discovered fossil evidence of the beak of an ancient squid- or octopus-like creature. The researchers have also found a bizarre arrangement of an Ichthyosaur Shonisaurus Popularis's bones. Professor McMenamin, the main individual responsible for bringing the mystery of the kraken back to life, found signs of a 45 foot Ichthyosaur at Nevada's Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park.The ichthyosaur is an ancient dolphin-like marine reptile, thought to be common prey of the kraken. The way the bones were arranged relates to the way octopuses play and toy with the bones of their prey post consuming them.

The rocks that the prey bones were found in, upon further inspection by Professor McMenamin, were claimed to have been from much deeper ocean sediments than previously predicted. This means they are much older than originally anticipated and could have been from the same time period as the kraken in its prime. The kraken would have existed around the Ordovician time period along with similar cephalopods.

Recent fossil evidence and knowledge of the geological time scale help to prove the legitimacy of this mysterious monster. Battle scars left on sperm whales and the contents of their last meals provides scientists with the evidence that giant squid-like creatures not only exist, but also fight with these mighty whales.