Are we in a modern mass extinction?
(View Complete Item Description)A lab activity evaluating the hypothesis that Earth's biosphere is currently undergoing a mass extinction, the so-called "sixth extinction." Students practice quantitative skills by calculating extinction percentages and rates in recent history using real-world data from the work of Ceballos et al. (2015). Then, they integrate modern and fossil data to see whether recent extinctions more closely resemble a mass extinction or the background rate of extinction in the fossil record. In the process, students critically examine sources of error and uncertainty and reflect on how to resolve them.
Material Type: Activity/Lab
