Classroom Resources

This activity explores the concepts and research presented in the short film Out of the Ashes: Dawn of the Age of Mammals, which explores how life on Earth recovered after a major asteroid impact.

This activity supports concepts covered in the short film The Day the Mesozoic Died. Students analyze graphs and data on pollen grains and fern spores to form a picture of the living landscape before and after the mass extinction that marked the end of the age of the dinosaurs.

This activity allows students to calculate the mass, size, and kinetic energy of an asteroid that struck Earth 66 million years ago, based on the total abundance of iridium in a sediment layer. It supports concepts presented in the short film The Day the Mesozoic Died.

In this activity, students identify and explain the evidence presented in the short film The Day the Mesozoic Died that led to the discovery that an asteroid struck Earth about 66 million years ago, causing a mass extinction.

This activity allows students to analyze the chemical data that led researchers to conclude that a layer of clay at the boundary between the Cretaceous and Paleogene rock layers (the K-Pg boundary) contained an extraordinary concentration of iridium. It supports concepts presented in the short film The Day the Mesozoic Died.

This activity explores the research described in the short film The Day the Mesozoic Died. The film traces the uncovering of key clues revealing that an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago, triggering a mass extinction.

This activity supports concepts covered in the short filmThe Day the Mesozoic Died by replicating observations and measurements made by researchers of fossilized protists, called foraminifera (or forams), below and above the K-T boundary.