Jurassic World

I will start by saying that I have been hooked on the Jurassic Park series since I was in high school. I read the book when it first came out, and loved every word of it. Saw the movie a couple of years later and fell in love all over again. There is just something about dinosaurs…but I also love Michael Chrichton (the author)…and Steven Spielberg’s work (um, hello Transformers franchise!). If you never watched Jurassic Park, you’ll still understand this movie…but I would recommend that you add it to your Netflix cue.  Better yet, if you’ve never READ Jurassic Park, I recommend that you march down to the nearest library and borrow a copy. Even the Dixie library has a copy!

That being said, here are the thought questions for you to answer after seeing the movie.

What is de-extinction? Do you think it is a feasible project to invest in? Explain.

Do you think guest safety has been adequately addressed by the park design? Explain your thoughts, and suggest improvements for flaws you have noted.

Zoos regularly take the physical and mental well-being of their animals into consideration. Many zoos have renovated animal exhibits and enclosures to make them more engaging/stimulating for the animals, engage their animals in games to keep their minds active, etc. How has Jurassic World done on this front? Explain your thoughts.

What process has been used to create the organisms featured in Jurassic World?

Indominus Rex is a chimera. Explain what this means, and discuss its implications.

Why did John Hammond (the Jurassic Park founder) begin this de-extinction venture? Do you agree with this reasoning?

In the original Jurassic Park, Dr. Malcom states “Life finds a way.”. I strongly believe that Jurassic World upholds Michael Chrichton’s theme, stated most simply as “nature wins”. Cite at least three examples of this in the film.

Discuss the dominance hierarchy that exists within the velociraptor pack, and how the power shifts through the movie.

Obviously, behaviors don’t fossilize – and most examples of dominance hierarchies come from the mammalian class. Do you think it is reasonable to stretch the pack mentality to dinosaurs? Explain, providing evidence and reasoning. (for this, I would encourage a google search for literature to educate yourself a little about extant dominance hierarchies, and then switch over and read little bit of the dinosaur conjectures)