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Introduction: The movie, Jurassic Park (1993), displays a fictional theme park filled with dinosaurs
created with the technology of genetic engineering and cloning. This movie is both entertaining
and educational, provided it is viewed with a critical lens that can separate fact from fiction. One
major question associated with this movie is whether or not a real Jurassic Park can ever be
created. As of 2013, twenty years after the production of the original movie, there still is no real
theme park that has genetically engineered dinosaurs despite great interest and efforts on the part
of scientists and researchers to do so. Dr. Alan Grant, a major character in the movie, was based on
a real paleontologist by the name of Jack Horner. For an idea of the actual work that Horner is
currently doing regarding dinosaurs, visit the website below to view a 60 Minutes segment about
his work that aired on television in 2009. Mr. Horner explains his work and his vision for the
likelihood of recreating dinosaurs using genetic engineering technology.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5658449n
Instructions for basic movie questions: As you watch the video, respond to the questions below
that will focus you on the important science content you are responsible for learning as a middle or
high school student. Note that these questions are general questions that should be answered
correctly by any student who is paying close attention to the movie. In depth questions that
require more thought will come later in this assignment.
1. Amber is tree sap that has been preserved for millions of years. This preserved tree sap is an
example of a ________________________.
2. In the second scene, the workers are mining for _____________.
3. Dr. Grant, from the movie, is said to be an expert ________________________.
4. Dinosaurs have long been believed to be genetically related to reptiles due to their
resemblance in physical appearance. However, research suggests otherwise. Dr. Grant
shared his beliefs about this idea in the movie and stated that he believed dinosaurs were
most closely genetically related to ___________.
5. The movie describes how the DNA found inside the preserved mosquito body was used to
create the dinosaurs in the park. DNA is known as the ______________________ for life.
6. Fossilized tree sap is called _____________.
7. The scientists that work at the theme park have designed a way to prevent the dinosaurs
from breeding. They did this by making sure all of the dinosaurs were __________________.
8. The researchers at Jurassic Park explain to the visiting scientists that they used a frog DNA
to fill in the gaps of missing dinosaur DNA. In this way, they were using ancestral DNA from
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Name ___________________________ Video Worksheet – Jurassic Park Period _____
one organism to make a complete genetic copy of an extinct organism. This technique is
considered ___________________ __________________.
9. According to Dr. Malcolm (the chaos theory mathematician in the black leather jacket),
“Dinosaurs had their shot and ____________________ selected them for extinction. This
effectively describes the process of natural _______________________.
10. The first dinosaur seen by the team in the helicopter when they landed on the island was a
__________________________.
11. Natural selection works in nature when some organisms are selected to survive and
____________________ while other organisms die and do not pass on their DNA to future
generations.
12. Dr. Sattler examines the dung (feces) of a dinosaur in the movie. She was looking for West
Indian lilac, which is described as a ___________ plant native to the region.
13. The sick dinosaur Dr. Sattler examined was the ________________________ species.
14. During the scenes where the Tyrannosaurus Rex is chasing some of the characters, Dr. Grant
instructs everyone to remain still because the T. Rex vision is based on ___________
______________ and movement.
15. The island Jurassic Park was built on was identified as an island off the coast of
____________ ___________.
16. Dr. Hammond shared that the Tyrannosaurus Rex can run as fast ____ miles per hour.
17. The scientists in the movie explain that large samples of ______ can be found in a drop of
blood from any organism.
18. The scientists extract dinosaur DNA from the blood of a fossilized mosquito. The DNA
sequences in the blood were incomplete, so the scientists used the DNA from a
___________ to fill in the gaps of missing DNA.
19. The first half of the movie explains and shows how they create the eggs that hatch the
dinosaurs for the park exhibits. The species of dinosaur shown in these scenes was the
____________________.
20. In the movie, the park workers feed the velociraptors ___________ ______.
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Name ___________________________ Video Worksheet – Jurassic Park Period _____
21. To demonstrate the intelligence of the velociraptor, a scene in the movie shows how these
dinosaurs attacked the ______________ __________ only once.
22. The word “raptor” literally translates to __________ __ ___________. This suggests a key
link between dinosaurs and avian (bird) species.
23. The vehicles used in the Jurassic Park theme park were powered by
_____________________.
24. The first dinosaur on the tour, the Dilophosaurus, killed its prey by using a __________
______________.
25. During the scene where the T. Rex is chasing them, the lawyer hides inside the
______________________.
26. Malcolm, the mathematician in the movie, describes his belief in a theory known as
____________ theory. This theory explains how random events in the present can have
drastic but undeterminable effects on the future.
27. Timmy finds some special viewing goggles in the back of the truck; this piece of technology
was actually ____________ ______________ goggles.
28. The T. Rex vision is based on detecting _____________________ in its prey. Therefore, if
prey remains _______________ there is less of a chance of being eaten by T. Rex.
29. Dr. Grant, Timmy, and Lex spent the night in a __________ to be safe from attacks by T. Rex.
30. While staying safe in three, Dr. Grant, Timmy, and Lex saw a ________________________
come to eat the _____________ of the tree. This dinosaur was an ____________________.
31. At one point in the movie, they discover broken dinosaur ______ _____________ that reveal
evidence that the dinosaurs were breeding. It was explained that because frog DNA was
used and amphibians (such as frogs) can exhibit (show) the ability to change _______
depending on certain environmental factors.
32. The park workers explain how they have removed the ability to produce the amino acid
_____________ from the dinosaur DNA. This was a method of control to help prevent the
dinosaurs from being able to ____________________ outside of the theme park.
33. Tim was located on the _______________ ___________ when the power was reset. He was
trying to climb over it to _________________to the other side.
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Name ___________________________ Video Worksheet – Jurassic Park Period _____
Instructions for in‐depth movie questions: After watching and responding to the basic movie
questions, it is appropriate to consider some of the scientific and ethical issues surrounding the
technology and events presented in the movie. The questions that follow will explore your
opinions and require you to create thoughtful responses to questions that do not necessarily have
one right answer. These questions are the type of questions that will challenge your skills as a
student and hopefully help you grow into a better thinker.
1. Do you think recreating dinosaurs like in Jurassic park is possible? _________ Explain with a
few sentences your response to the question:
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. If you were in charge, would you recreate dinosaurs if you could? ________ Explain with a
few sentences your response to the question and respond in terms of the ethics of this:
Define ethics: _________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Ian Malcolm was the mathematician who described his research on chaos theory. Malcolm
makes a skeptical prediction that despite the scientists best efforts to control and prevent
the dinosaurs from breeding (by only producing females), “life will find a way” as he stated
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Name ___________________________ Video Worksheet – Jurassic Park Period _____
in the movie. Define skepticism:
_____________________________________________________________________________
Explain Malcolm’s statement from an evolutionary perspective:
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Compile a list of all of the evidence shared in the movie that points to birds as being the
genetic descendents of dinosaurs:
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Explain how traveling in a flock is an adaptation for organisms including birds, dinosaurs, and
many other animals:
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name ___________________________ Video Worksheet – Jurassic Park Period _____
6. At the end of the movie, there is a scene that shows pelicans flying. What is the symbolism
of this scene? Define symbolism:
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Explain the symbolism:
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
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Name ___________________________ Video Worksheet – Jurassic Park Period _____
Enrichment Activities for Jurassic Park Movie: Essay Writing
Choose one of the suggested essay topics from the list below and write a 500 word essay to fulfill
the requirement of the essay content.
• Many characters did not make it off the island alive. Write an essay that explains if there
was any sense of justice being served when you consider whether or not each character
deserved to die. Choose three characters to discuss and explain whether or not their deaths
were justified by their actions and behaviors on the island.
• There are many ethical considerations regarding genetic engineering and cloning
technologies. Write an essay that takes a position on whether or not it is right or wrong to
use these technologies for such purposes as creating theme parks with extinct animals,
using these technologies to improve people’s health, cure diseases, and create better
livestock and farm produce.
• Dinosaurs are not the only group of species to have ever gone extinct. In fact, there have
been several major extinction events, according to the fossil record. Despite this evidence,
the Earth is still filled with a great diversity of life. However, many scientists believe that we
are currently in another great extinction. Write an essay explaining your own personal
viewpoint on whether or not we are currently in a great extinction event. Support your
viewpoint with some evidence from the movie, book, and recent news about extinct and/or
endangered/threatened species.
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Name ___________________________ Video Worksheet – Jurassic Park Period _____
Teacher Key – Basic Movie Questions
1. Fossil 12. Toxic 25. Bathroom/outhouse
2. Amber 13. Triceratops 26. Chaos
3. Paleontologist 14. Body heat 27. Night vision
4. Birds 15. Costa Rica 28. Motion; still
5. Blueprint or 16. 32 29. Tree
backbone or 17. DNA 30. Brachiosaurus;
instructions 18. Frog leaves; herbivore
6. Amber 19. Velociraptor 31. Egg shells; sex
7. Females 20. Adult cows 32. Lysine; survive
8. Genetic engineering 21. Electric fence 33. Electric fence;
9. Nature; selection 22. Bird of prey escape
10. Brachiosaurus 23. Electricity
11. Reproduce 24. Toxic poison
Teacher Key – In‐depth movie questions:
1. While this may be possible one day, it is still yet to be accomplished. One change to their
process would be to use bird DNA instead of frog DNA to fill in the missing dinosaur DNA
gaps. However, the writers of the movie decided to use frog DNA because it provided a way
to have the dinosaurs breed because some frogs can change sex. This explains the
dinosaurs being able to breed; they find evidence of nesting and broken eggs indicating
reproduction.
2. Student responses will vary; important considerations are whether or not they can justify
their response ethically. Ethics is defined as using a moral code of right and wrong when
making decisions.
3. Skepticism is being cautiously doubtful. Dr. Malcolm is skeptical that the scientists will be
able to completely control the dinosaurs and prevent them from breeding. His thoughts are
based in his chaos theory that random, seemingly minor events can add up to result in
unpredictable future events. The history of evolution bears evidence that life will fill up
nearly all areas of Earth from the depths of the oceans to the edges of volcanoes.
4. Evidence given for this is that dinosaurs move in flocks, reproduce sexually, lay eggs, make
nests, make bird like sounds during the movie, similarities in bone structure, similarities in
feeding behaviors, ability to fly, presence of feathers (note, not all of these are mentioned in
the movie, but also mentioned in the CBS 60 minutes segment with the real Dr. Grant who is
really Dr. Horner)
5. Traveling in herds or flocks is an advantage in protection from predators; when animals
move in flocks there is less of a chance that any one organism will be eaten by a predator.
Also, it may ward off some predators because the herd provides strength in numbers.
6. Symbolism is defined as using one image or scene or object to represent a larger idea. In
this scene with the pelicans, they symbolically represent the connection between birds and
dinosaurs that the movie alludes to repeatedly. It also may foreshadow future movies that
deal with the issues related to the dinosaurs breeding.
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