Fossils, Art and Culture (L12)

Question 1

What are the 2 types of Fossils that we focus on?

Answer 1

Body Fossils and Trace Fossils

Question 2

What is the diff between trace fossils and body fossils

Answer 2

trace fossils record the activities of ancient organisms

whereas body fossils tell us things about the anatomy of organism, trace fossils provide evidence of activity or behaviour

Question 3

For a Trilobite, how can we see their legs even though its never preserved?

Answer 3

we can see the walking trace, produved when the trilobite was walking on firm mud on the sea floor

Question 4

What are the 4 fundamental shapes and patterns in nature?

Answer 4

the Planispiral
the Helix
the Hexagon
Fractals

Question 5

Basic Planispiral Shape

Answer 5

is a spiral in a single plane (2d spiral)

Question 6

What is a planispiral useful for to diff organisms?

Answer 6

a spiral is good for packing volume into a compact shape

a cone is a nice compact package that is easier to carry and less likely to damage

gives armour

Question 7

Helix

Answer 7

a lop-sided or “stretched-out” spiral

Question 8

What is a helix useful for?

Answer 8

provides structural stability, compactness and springiness

for DNA double helix, allows the molecule to be more easily replicated by unzipping and making strands for each side

Question 9

Hexagon

Answer 9

based on boundaries meeting at an angle of 120 degrees

seen in honeycombs, dinosaur skin, and etc

Question 10

How is Hexagon advantageous?

Answer 10

maximizes the number of round UNits

maximizes the surface area for feeding

it also maximizes the structural integrity of a material

Question 11

Fractals

Answer 11

a geometrial shape or pattern made up of multiple identical parts, each of which resemble the overall pattern

ex., snowflake

Question 12

Cantors Bar Set

Answer 12

an example to deomstrate the self-similar nature of a fractal by creating a process of a shape followed by a smaller version of the same shapes

Question 13

When was the complexity of fractals fully realized?

Answer 13

when computers became powerful enough to allow for the calculation of huge number sets