Scientists have confirmed by carbon dating that seeds dormant for up to 2000 years can successfully germinate. Based on the requirements for germination, what research expedition should you join in order to retrieve some ancient but viable seeds?

Question

A.  A trip to Indonesia, where the civet cat eats and expels coffee beans, producing a gourmet coffee known as Kopi Luwak.
B.  A trip to the Irish marsh, where wet peat creates anaerobic conditions, and your colleagues hope to unearth a bog mummy.
C.  A trip to the Burgess Shale in Canada, where your paleontologist colleagues have found fossils from the Cambrian era.
D.  A trip to the arid Dead Sea region, where your historian colleagues have found a storeroom of wax-sealed jars.

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?

Gather Content
What do you already know about germination? What other information is related to the question?

Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
 

Answer 1

D.  A trip to the arid Dead Sea region, where your historian colleagues have found a storeroom of wax-sealed jars.

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        · This question is asking about the conditions that are necessary for long-term seed dormancy.
What type of thinking is required?
        · Evaluate level:
            o This question is asking you to evaluate the environment that would be most favorable seed dormancy.

Gather Content
What do you already know about germination? What other information is related to the question?
        · To germinate, a seed must absorb water and oxygen.
        · Oxygen is used in the process of cellular respiration, by which the embryo could obtain energy from nutrients stored within the seed.

Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        · Peat is anaerobic and acidic, which would destroy seeds.
        · The Burgess Shale is a fossilized mass that would not contain living things.
        · Wax-sealed jars would prevent mold formation and would be a favorable environment for the long-term storage of seeds.

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        · Evaluate level:
            o Answering this question correctly depended on your ability to evaluate the conditions necessary for seed dormancy and long-term survival. If you got an incorrect answer, did you remember that water is one of the factors that causes seeds to germinate, or the criteria to compare dormancy and long-term survival includes protection from environmental conditions? Did you have trouble weighing the merits of the necessary conditions for dormancy to determine the correct answer?