Know the major events of the early Mesozoic Era (Triassic and Jurassic periods).
Be able to identify the major groups of marine life that had vanished by the end of the Paleozoic Era.
Know the major kinds of life in the oceans and on land (both plants and animals) that proliferated during the early Mesozoic.
Understand how the dinosaurs evolved.
Be able to explain why many scientists now think that the dinosaurs were endothermic (warm-blooded).
Be able to describe the beginning of the breakup of Pangea and the changes associated with it.
Know the climatic changes that occurred during the Jurassic Period.
Know which groups of animals disappeared during the Late Triassic and Late Jurassic mass extinctions.
Be able to describe the major geologic events and features of both eastern and western North America during the early Mesozoic Era, including the eastern fault-block basins, the addition of microplates and other island arc terranes to the western margin of the continent, and the expansion and contraction of the Sundance Sea in what is now the southwestern United States.