The IMS seventh grade recently completed a unit that helped them develop an understanding of a time in the history when biodiversity exploded for the first time. The period was 540-480 million years ago, and it is known as the Cambrian Explosion. The era is associated with the sudden emergence of tens of thousands of different variations and adaptations within ocean life forms. The rather abrupt expansion in biodiversity has been attributed to the appearance of the first predators.

Students were charged with designing a life form that could have been present in the Cambrian era. They researched the project by considering what characteristics would need to be present in order for something to be alive. Students devised creature profiles, which chronicled all life processes for their critter. They then researched current life forms within the ocean before creating extremely original and colorful creatures.

The culmination of the seventh grade students’ efforts are on display in the science wing hallway, as all of their creatures have been assembled in a 3-D Crazy Cambrian Creature scene. Please drop by to see the spectacle as the display will be up through Parents Weekend.