Extinction event

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/extinction-event

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is an extinction event?An extinction event is when many species disappear quickly and suddenly, causing a big drop in the number of living kinds on Earth.
2. Why do mass extinction events happen?They happen because big changes like asteroid hits, huge volcano eruptions, or fast climate shifts upset the planet and make it hard for many species to survive.

Background Extinction Rate: The natural rate at which species are lost over geological time, independent of major catastrophic events.
Phanerozoic Eon: The current geologic eon, spanning from about 541 million years ago to the present, characterized by abundant animal and plant life.
Adaptive Radiation: The rapid diversification of a lineage of organisms into new forms, particularly when a change in the environment makes new resources available, creates new challenges, or opens new environmental niches.