Lower Jurassic

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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/lower-jurassic

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 the geological setting?Early stages of Pangaea breakup, formation of the Central Atlantic Ocean
2. What is the dominant marine fauna?Ichthyosaurs, early plesiosaurs, ammonites, belemnites
3. What happened during the Lower Jurassic period?It was a time of recovery after a big extinction, with warm seas and dinosaurs growing big.
4. Why did dinosaurs become so big in the Lower Jurassic?New plant life like ferns, cycads, and conifers gave plenty of food, and dinosaurs adapted to eat them.

Mesozoic Era: The geological era spanning from about 252 to 66 million years ago, often called the 'Age of Reptiles'.
Saurischia: A major order of dinosaurs, including theropods and sauropods, characterized by a lizard-like hip structure.
Plate Tectonics: The scientific theory describing the large-scale motion of Earth's lithosphere, responsible for continental drift and mountain formation.