Where did the dinosaurs go?

Mada Brielmaier
Language Arts

Mr. Graf 3rd hour

 10-3-11

Author's note: This is a essay that I created in LA class. This piece explains what some scientists believe happened to the dinosaurs and also what I believe about this topic.

          What happened to the dinosaurs? It depends on who you ask. Scientists searching for answers on this topic found iridium in rocks that were formed 65 million years ago.The dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago. Iridium is mostly found in meteors which make me believe that a meteor hit the earth and wiped out the population of dinosaurs.

          How scientists believe this theory works is that a meteor from outer space, hit the earth and created a big cloud that was full icky particles of dirt and rock that blocked the sun. Without the sun mostly all of the plants died. Big-plant eating dinosaurs couldn’t survive without the plant life. With these dinosaurs dying, meat eater dinosaurs couldn’t survive either. Little land creatures and some sea creatures could find food in this meteor dust cloud so they stayed alive. When this cloud settled down and the sun came back after being shadowed, the cloud created a thinner layer of iridium on the ground and that’s why some scientists think that this is what happened to the dinosaurs and that’s what I believe too.

          Not all scientists think the same or have the same theories. Some scientists believe that every 26-28 million years, many creatures die out into extinction. Some scientists believe that it was the work of comets. They believe that comets that came from the “Death Star” which orbits around the sun ever 26-28 million years. This theory is crazy to me. It explains how a “Death Star” orbits around the sun, which isn’t too likely.

          From meteor to "Death Star" scientists all believe differently. Other scientists searching for answers have theories that it was a weather and climate that killed off all the dinosaurs. They think that it may have gotten extremely cold or extremely warm. They believe that some animals, including the dinosaurs, couldn’t handle the climate change. This is more realistic in my opinion than most other theories out there.

         

          My theory is supported by iridium being found in rocks that were formed 65 million years ago. What really happened to the dinosaurs? We don’t know for sure but there are many ideas and theories out there that different people believe about what really happened to the dinosaurs.