Take a Breath and Thank a Sponge
Zimmer, Carl. "Take a Breath and Thank a Sponge." The New York Times. The New York Times, 17 Mar. 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Tim Lenton has a new theory for how the animal kingdom rose. He and his colleagues argue that “sponges unleashed a flood of oxygen into the ocean, which before then had scarcely any oxygen at all. Without that transformation, we might not be on earth today.” No, not the same sponges you use when you are washing the dishes. The sponges that sit on the sea floor, eating away at bacteria. So how could something seemingly so small make such a drastic difference? Their theory is that since scientists found animal fossils that were just about 500 million years old but scientists also knew of microbial fossils that were billions of years older, the oxygen on the earth at the time of the microbial fossils wasn’t enough to support the evolution of animals, and as a result, the evolution of animals was blocked for billions of years. Oxygen is 21% of the Earth’s atmosphere nowadays, but it wasn’t always like this. The oceans and atmospheres used to be nearly oxygenless, but, as Dr. Lenton found out through a series of experiments, “chemical traces of sponges [were found] dating back as far as 700 million years ago — long before the oceans gained much of their oxygen.” Here comes the crazy part of their theory. Dr. Lenton and co. argue that at first, photosynthetic bacteria on the surface of the ocean produced oxygen, but the predatory microbes fed on them and consumed the oxygen. As a result, the oceans remained oxygen-free. Then algae evolved, and as the algae evolved, it grew in size. This added size caused the algae to sink when they died, escaping the oxygen consumers and in hence, they brought oxygen down to the bottom of the ocean. This led to the first sponges coming about and acting as “seawater filters”, eating the oxygen consuming bacteria and lowering the amount of phosphorus in the water, keeping the photosynthetic (oxygen consuming) bacteria to a minimum. This caused more and more oxygen to be pumped into the oceans through the dying algae and other single-cell organisms, which led to the ability for animals to evolve into the animals of today, since we now had adequate oxygen in our oceans to support them.
This is significant to our lives because according to this new theory, our lives wouldn’t be existent had it not been for these sponges. I wouldn’t be writing this current event review right now at 11:43 PM. There would be no PM or AM, since there would be no humans to keep track of time regardless. If this theory is found to be continually supported in experiments, we owe it all to sponges that we are alive. How crazy is that?
This article was unbelievably informative and interesting. I’m generally not too interested in these types of articles, but I really enjoyed this one. The writer did a great job of deeply explaining the details of this aforementioned theory thoroughly. It’s a hard one to conceptualize, but the way the author writes the article, it makes it much, much easier. The author was sometimes too fact based in certain areas though, losing me as a reader as a result. But overall, the article was well-written, interesting, and it really made me think. The idea that sponges could have such a profound effect on humans is astounding to me. It’s such a unique idea, one that seems farfetched but, as you read the article, slowly becomes less and less so.
I think that Ethan did a really good job with this review. There were many parts of it that I enjoyed and I learned a lot. One thing that was particularly good was that Ethan did a really nice job explaining the whole concept of evolution from sponges. It’s a confusing topic of discussion but Ethan made it very easy to follow. Also, Ethan did a good job of relating this topic to our lives. From reading the first paragraph I already had an idea of how the topic relates to our lives, but the way Ethan put it in perspective (i.e. no sponges equals no us) really got through to me and make me think about how something as small as a sea sponge could allow for the creation and growth of so many species. A third thing that Ethan did well was using good transitions between sentences and paragraphs. This allowed the review to flow better and made the review easier to read.
ReplyDeleteThere were a couple of things that Ethan could have done a bit better in this review. One is that it seems that he just jumps right into the article, and I feel that some background information would be helpful in that situation. Also, there were a few times in the review where terms like “predatory microbes” were used, and it might have helped the reader understand the concept of the article if you were able to give a definition of what some of the more confusing terms meant.
Overall this was a great review and I learned so many new interesting facts. I had no idea of the potential importance that a sponge could have on the history of life on earth. It just goes to show that we are still learning new things everyday in science. Nice job Ethan.
Ethan did a good job with this review because he gave a very detailed summary and advanced analysis of the text. He summed up the whole article and included all of the important facts of the article, (no cutting corners) which is very important when writing reviews. His sentence structure was very good and he kept me interested by using playful language and not addressing the readers too formally.
ReplyDeleteHowever, There are a couple things Ethan could improve on. First off, he should have introduced the article a little more. It was a little bit confusing to read the topic sentence because he didn't give the article any introduction and he didn't introduce Dr. Tim Lenton very well (ie. where he works, what field he studies, who are these "colleagues"?) He also could have been a bit more detailed when he explained the theory that Dr. Lenton has. He can't just expect the reader to automatically know what he's referring to when he uses terms like "photosynthetic bacteria." Why is it bad/good? Where is/was it? It was just a little confusing to me.
I was really surprised by how the evolution of Algae led to living breathing moving organisms. This theory not only affects the people around us but all people. As a matter of fact it effects all living things. Even plants! Ethan did a very good job with this review. Thumbs up Ethan!
The review done by Ethan was really good. I liked he how differentiate these type of sponge from those we use at home. I liked also the detailed information that Ethan used about the theory and the references to the person who made the discovery. He also explained the relation between these sponges and our lives, which doesn`t appears to be, but is an important relation.
ReplyDeleteThis review needs a couple of adjustments however. I think that Ethan could introduce more the issue, instead of jumping to the issue of the article. I also think that the location of the discovery could be mentioned and I also think that he could explain more the scientific terms and other information like the types of bacteria showed in the review.
I was impressed reading this article the relation between this theory and our lives, and that we could not exist if not been for these sponges. I didn’t know that something like sponges were so important for the environment.
Ethan wrote a very good review. He did a good job explaining the change in sponges and why this is better. He also did a good job of writing about the importance of sponges today. Lastly, the summary included every major detail while not going too long. This was a very well written review.
ReplyDeleteI thought Ethan could have provided some background information of sponges before going right into the article. Also, he could have defined the terms that he used such as microbial fossils and predatory microbes. Overall, he did a nice job but there were some things I would fix.
This review was very informative. I learned how important sponges were and had no idea of this before. This review was very informative and well written.
I felt that Ethan did a good job with his review. I enjoyed how he was able to give a mental timeline of oxygen levels and the reasons behind them. I also enjoyed that Ethan was able to make a very complex topic very easy to understand even though, as he said, the original author was too fact based and hard to understand at points. Lastly, I enjoyed how he was able to bring a personal connection in when he said that without the sponges he would not be making his review at 11:43 PM.
ReplyDeleteI think that this could be added to by showing how they got the evidence. It would be fascinating to know how they could find out evidence that showed sponges began to exist. I also think that this could be improved by showing who the scientists were. I would like to know more about Tim Lenton and his team.
I was not aware that something as simple as sponges could stop complex life from forming. I think that that is fascinating and terrifying at the same time.
I read Ethan’s article on Tim Lenton’s theory of how the animal kingdom became to be, and I was not disappointed. When I saw that Ethan made this article, I knew that it would be something interesting and worthwhile to read. And it was! Who knew that one of the most simple of organisms on the ocean floor could be the cause of something even greater? Simply extraordinary! I love the way that he explains all the information accurately, and effectively in such a way that encourages the reader to read on! Another thing that I liked in this article was the fact that he made outside sources like for instance where he points out that “Oxygen is 21% of the Earth’s atmosphere.”
ReplyDeleteI do not see anything of great importance that Ethan should change in this article; however, I do think that his 2nd paragraph could have included a little more information on how the subject is significant. I’m not saying that it is necessary, but it would be more interesting to the reader to know exactly how you feel after reading the original article and making connections to the outside world.
Overall it was an amazing article! Ethan does not disappoint the reader of his reports and his comments! It is truly incredible that such a theory even exists and why it didn’t exist before now. Now we are all one step closer to understanding more about the creation of the inhabitants of our wonderful Earth.
This review was very interesting, especially because it tells about sponges that were responsible for our existence. It is by far the most interesting article i have read. I really didn't think it would be great when i read the title, but I know how interesting it is.
ReplyDeleteI would say there is really little to none that should be improved. If something had to be improved, maybe a tiny bit more info in the 2nd paragraph. Besides from that, there is nothing left.
I found this to be an interesting read. I had never thought that sponges were the cause of our existence. I have always wondered how humans came to be and this helped me with my question.
Ethan did a great job on his review of the article "Take a Breath and Thank a Sponge". The title immediately grabbed me and I didn't realize that the topic was on the underwater sponges, which made more sense than what I had originally thought. I thought he explained Dr. Tim Lenton's and his colleagues' theory very thoroughly, although it did get somewhat confusing in some areas. He made it more interesting by pulling in outside information ("Oxygen is 21% of the Earth's atmosphere nowadays") and also making the review more reader friendly with comments that you would not think to put in an article review ("No, not the same sponges you use when you are washing dishes.")
ReplyDeleteAlthough Ethan had solid information and reviewed this article nearly flawlessly, he did have some things he could work on in order to make it even stronger. This includes mentioning who this "Tim Lenton" is because after a while I had an idea who he was but the review did not confirm my idea. Also, some sentences were confusing to read and could be reworded. Other than that, Ethan did an amazing job.
I was greatly impressed by the topic he chose because it is something I would not think of to read about. It was interesting to read how the photosynthetic bacteria that were on the surface of the ocean were fed on by the microbes on the bottom of the sea; therefore, the ocean continued to be oxygen-free before the algae evolved. It was a cool theory Ethan investigated on and now I can appreciate living on Earth even more.
Where can I find the original article by Tim Lenton?
ReplyDeleteWhere can I find the original article by Tim Lenton?
ReplyDeleteOverall, Ethan did a great job on his review. The evolution of sponges is sort of hard to follow, but I think Ethan did a great job in explaining it. He made a complicated topic easy to understand. Although these sponges may seem sort of remote to our lives, in the first paragraph Ethan made it clear why sponges were so important to us, and I really got it. Finally, Ethan’s overall writing flow and sentence/paragraph structure was great as well.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Ethan did a good job, he can definitely improve on a few things. First of all, I think Ethan should have included more background information from the article would help, since it was a bit hard to follow at first. Also, certain terms were used throughout his review including “predatory microbes”, which should have been defined, since not every one knows what those are.
I was shocked by learning how important these sponges are. Without them, there would be no us. I’m glad Ethan chose this article, because it showed me how much we still have to learn in science, and how even small things can make a big difference.