Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Week 11 (March 19 - 25, 2015)
As your final comments to our class blog, I am hoping you will share what you found interesting about your study of dinosaurs this quarter. Was there one particular discovery that you were not expecting, maybe something that profoundly changed your thinking or that you couldn't wait to share with others? Or maybe some very specific detail stood out as the most bizarre thing you had ever heard! If you are a movie fan, will you be watching the "Jurassic World" movie in a different way? If you visit natural history museums, will you be particularly interested in checking on certain features of the dinosaur exhibit? And do you have any words for young dinosaur enthusiasts who might want to know what "real dinosaurs" are about? Thanks for these thoughts and all your comments during the past 11 weeks! Dr. B.
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I think that this class has been really eye opening. I have learned more about dinosaurs than I thought I would, and have also enjoyed all of it. The first big realization I had was when we learned that dinosaurs werent just prehistoric creatures--there is specificity in what actually makes a dinosaur. I actually told all of my friends what a dinosaur is and isnt, and have really enjoyed telling them that birds are the closest living relatives. I actually saw a lady wearing a bird skull as a necklace and started asking her if she knew she was wearing a dinosaur around her neck. I remember being at a bar and seeing all of the glasses stacked on top of one another in a row and telling my friends it looked like a dental battery! I also am really interested in the future accomplishments in the way of dinosaur cloning. In all, this has been a wonderful class. Thanks Dr. B!
It is really hard to put a stamp on any one particular thing I learned this quarter beings I have learned a tremendous amount of information! I am going to see "Jurassic World" for sure, and will totally be able to view it in a light that would have never been possible. An interesting fact I was able to share with friends is that dinosaurs DID indeed have feathers (at least some of them). We were out to dinner one night when a friend stated, "scientists don't even know if dinosaurs had feathers or not!" Luckily I was able to tell her that there has actually been evidence of feathers and that they DO know. That was pretty cool. I also found the different types of teeth and chewing habits to be rather interesting. The specialized chewing abilities of some groups were really quite amazing. it has been a great quarter and a great experience all around. Thanks Dr. B!
I came into this class with minimal knowledge about dinosaurs, hoping that I would learn something. Well, I learned a great deal about more than just dinosaurs, but also about paleontology and paleobiology, the fluidity of science and how miraculous it is that people dedicate their whole lives and careers to studying something as small as blood vessels in the bone of a t-rex, simply because of the possibilities of our imaginations. I'm humbled by the amount of work and education in multiple fields it takes to pursue paleontology. In short, I've learned more than I could ever hope and will hold onto the magic of this science as I move forward.
This course has been very interesting and I have a learned about dinosaurs; the only thing I knew about dinosaurs was that there were movies about them, Land Before Time and Jurassic Park and that if the non-avian dinosaurs lived today it would be frightening. I recently watched Jurassic Park and the whole time I was like, “That isn’t right. They couldn’t do that”; it was very cool to be able to pick out the things that were true and those that were made up. I cannot wait to watch Jurassic World and see how they portrayed all of the dinosaurs.
This class has taught me a lot about dinosaurs, I didn’t know that they had feathers and I always found it strange that we considered birds to be dinosaurs, but now I know why we do. I also found it fascinating that there are so many fossils found every year, I never knew; I always assumed it would make big news, but it doesn’t, which is sad. Lastly, learning that only some of the dinosaurs had cheeks was very fascinating for me, again I assumed they all had them, so learning about why some did and some didn’t was one of the things that really caught my attention this quarter. Thank you Dr. B. for a fun class.
First of all, my boyfriend hates me for taking this class because I don't let him "enjoy dinosaurs" anymore! From telling him how the jeep in Jurassic Park could have easily outrun the T-Rex, to the fact that Velociraptors had the brainpower of maybe a chicken, not a highly sophisticated wolf pack, and telling him that Plesiosaurs and other aquatic reptiles are not dinosaurs, there have been a lot of misconceptions I've "ruined" for him!
One of the more surprising things for me was that we haven't been able to extract any dino DNA yet! I thought for sure dinosaur clones were only failing because we don't have good cloning technology--not because we can't get any DNA yet! I've also really enjoyed learning about how dinosaurs evolved into birds. I knew that birds were considered dinosaurs, and that they were related, but I never knew exactly how it happened. Thanks so much for an awesome class, Dr. B!
Was there one particular discovery that you were not expecting, maybe something that profoundly changed your thinking or that you couldn't wait to share with others?
Learning how important the JAW was for evolving dinosaurs. It was something that you never think about when it comes to the evolvulution of chewing. How large dinosaurs used there back tails to go for the forage on top of tree. Something you see in the first Jurassic Park movie. Basicily things you see dinosaurs do in movies that are either false or actually true.
If you are a movie fan, will you be watching the "Jurassic World" movie in a different way?
Yes, I’m a huge Juarrasic park fan, since the first one. I still remember very vividly seeing the second one. I will definitely be watching for inaccuracies of Hollywood.
If you visit natural history museums, will you be particularly interested in checking on certain features of the dinosaur exhibit?
Yes for sure, while doing my ‘virtual tour’ it made me want to see a lot of what I was seeing in person. Seeing everything in general.
And do you have any words for young dinosaur enthusiasts who might want to know what "real dinosaurs" are about?
You really have to look at time and our earth differently. Beware of the injustices of Hollywood and never stop learning about what the past was like.
I would like to start of by saying thank you to Dr. B for all the knowledge you have passed down to us. I will forever look at the Jurassic Park movies in a new way. So, again, thank you for that.
The lesson that I found myself particularly interested in was the relative dating of rocks and fossils. I never understood how someone could give the exact date of one rock and not the other. It was never clear to me how the whole "dating" process went but now having a better understanding of isotopes, with the unstable "parent" isotopes and the stable "daughter" isotopes plus the rate of decay. After learning this early in the quarter, I was more open to receive all this new information about Dinosaurs and when they lived.
I always heard stories about dinosaurs being related to birds and this class finally confirmed that for me. I have always been fascinated with Dinosaurs ever sense I was young and taking this class was a dream come true. One of the facts I was very interested in over the past 11 weeks that I thought was really interesting was about how paleontologist find dinosaurs and how hard it is to dig them up and the process of taking care of them and bringing them back to the lab. Will I watch Jurassic park the same way as i did before? I think I will because i have a love for that movie series ever sense I was little and I want to appreciate the story of the new film no matter if it isn't 100% Biologically correct.
What I will do on my summer vacation:
1.) Rewatch Jurassic Park trilogy.
2.) Go see Jurassic World.
3.) Go to the Field Museum in Chicago.
4.) Plan a trip to Calgary.
Yep, I think I've figured out my plans. I've learned a heck of a lot in this class and I've rediscovered my inner-child wonder on dinosaurs. What has stuck out the most with me is that dinosaurs aren't just action-packed ferocious beasts; they actually have thoughts and feelings! I won't ever look at a dinosaur as a one-dimensional creature again. Not only that but I've enjoyed reading about where these dinosaurs roamed and what types of climate affected them in where they chose to live. I view this as a foreshadowing on where humans choose to live and how changes in climate could potential affect those decisions. Thanks, Dr. B!
i did not have any knowledge about dinosaur before taking this class, and I have learnt a lot in this quarter. From how to search the fossils to the physiology of the dinosaur. I am surprised that the palentologist were able to find so much information about dinosaur only from the fossils that were deposited ages ago. They were able to find out the the climate and the lifestyle without any written record. The paleontologists are capable to find out a lot more than i expected. Before I came to class, I only know dinosaur are extinct. In fact we still have many avian dinosaur, birds living with us. The course was great and informative, I enjoy it a lot.
Overall this class has been very informative. There was a lot I didn't know about dinosaurs as well as geology previous to taking this course. I think what will continuously shock me and I can't wait to share with others is that dinosaurs are still alive to this day! Non-avian and avian dinosaurs is definitely the most challenging thing for people I know around me, such as family members, to digest! It was useful and challenging to learn about cladograms. I was also shocked when I learned on our trip at the museum and later in the textbook that there is still some sort of preserved organic matter from dinosaurs after cutting open the bone!
This class has allowed me to gain the knowledge of another perspective on evolution and how dinosaurs are a part of it. Being transparent about it I still have my same view on it but I am open to the possibility. I also have a new appreciation for the different names of the dinosaurs and the specific group characteristics. I use to be intimidated by even trying to say them let alone spell them (laughs) but just this week I realized that I can not only say many of them but I can write them with the correct spelling, without looking. I was encouraged to take this class and didn't have any idea of what to expect but I am definitely glad I have been a part of this journey. Maybe when it's over I won't have any more dreams with some type of dinosaur in it. *smiles*.....
Thank you for a great quarter Dr. B. I was one of the students that did not know anything about Dinosaurs, except what I saw in movies and TV shows. This class definitely changed my thinking when it comes to these creatures. One of the most eye opening AH HA moments was learning that birds are closely related to the Dinosaur.
My thoughts and ideas around Movies and Museums are definitely going to be different when it comes to dinosaurs. If I am ever out hiking and notice something that could be a fossil, I will know what to do, or at least I will know where to go for more help.
This class really opened up my eyes to the fact that we are still learning about dinosaurs. I hadn't realized how many changes there have been since I first learned of dinosaurs. Even the names of some dinosaurs have changed. The amount of information we can glean from bones is extensive and continues to further our knowledge. I realized while researching for our homework that what we know today could change tomorrow. The fascination and excitement is contagious and I will be looking at the land differently hoping that I may spot signs of a dinosaur. It will also be interesting to see how my viewpoint has changed when I watch Jurassic Park again. I've enjoyed learning how dinosaurs evolved becoming the birds of today.
Thank you Dr. B!
I for sure will watch all the Jurassic park movies again and look for errors, or even for things they got right. I loved finding so much new stuff about dinosaurs having feathers, especially the tyrannosaur from China. I did not expect that the similarities between non avian dinosaurs and modern birds would be at the level that it's at, because it's a pretty clear picture that dinosaurs became the birds of today.
I would tell a young enthusiast to go online, look things up, talk to other enthusiasts, there is so much out there to discover. Be optimistic and driven.
I didn't expect to of learned how little I actually knew about dinosaurs, and how many "facts" were actually just theories. It's interesting although we just spent 11 weeks learning about these creatures, they're still so mysterious. I definitely will be a bit more skeptical of the portrayal of dinosaurs from now on!
The biggest “take home” for me was that we are learning new things almost every day. Not just from new unearthed fossils, but from fossils discovered 35-50 years ago. Thanks to 3d rendering/modeling more and more discovery’s will be announced without the cost of travel and expedition. I also was very surprised to find out that even though we know so much more than we did even 10 years ago, we still can’t even determine the sex or acquire a dna strain. It’s almost like we have hardly scratched the surface (pun intended)
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