Why Jurassic Park is the perfect movie for biology classes

National Standards associated with the movie are located at the bottom of this article.

Jurassic Park (the original 1993 film), is a classic. It is the ultimate biology movie that I love to show in class every year. Now, it is rated PG-13, which requires parent permission slips in the school I’m in even though all of my students are in high school, so be sure to check with your administrator before giving it a watch in class.

This movie provides several real life science concepts and puts them to use a way that we could never see work in the world. Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? There is so much unknown and mystery surrounding them and this movie puts them front and center for us to consider the idea of what would happen if we brought them back to life. While the movie does have a lot of great science concepts for your students to witness, we also have to be realistic and first talk about some inaccuracies stated.

Dino Myths

First, let's address the T-Rex in the room. Standing perfectly still will not protect you from a hungry T-Rex. Science suggests that the Tyrannosaurus Rex had a rather good sense of vision, including seeing in color. We do not know (and probably never will) how well they were able to see at night, so maybe hiding in a dark spot would be your best chance for survival. They did, however, have a pretty keen sense of smell, so the even the dark they could track your scent. Dr. grant and the kids were probably in the best position possible, hiding in a dark car, in a rainstorm.

They also were not senseless killers. Unlike most movies, Jurassic Park included, the T-Rex did not rampage and eat every living thing that came within 50 feet of his mouth. He (or she) likely ate when he was hungry and hunted as needed. It was your unlucky day if you happened to be too close during mealtime, though.

Lastly, some of the most popular dinosaurs in the movie are not even from the Jurassic period. This includes the T.Rex, Velociraptor, and Triceratops, which could have been found in the late Cretaceous period (around 90-66 million years ago).

Dino Truths

Now, let's get to all the reasons why we love Jurassic Park. To start, the Jurassic Period spanned from about 201 to 145 million year ago and did include many of our dino friends from the movie such as the dilophosaurus, brachiosaurus, stegosaurus, and allosaurus. While all of these might not have lived at the exact same time (56 million years is a long time), they are at least from the right time period.

Arguably, my favorite part of the movie is at the very beginning. Dr. Grant was years ahead of his time describing the velociraptor. While we think of the raptor as a reptile with small arms that ran on two legs, that is not what science suggest today. They are believed to be fierce and particularly clever hunters just as Dr. Grant described, however he also mentions that the raptor is thought to be more closely related to birds. He suggests that if you turn the front arms the other direction if would resemble bird wings we see today. This is true! Even in 2024 I still have students blown away by this thought. It beautifully shows how little we truly know about the dinosaurs and how theories can be changed over time.

Jump ahead to the scene where everyone is buckled in to hear about how Jurassic Park came to be. As they are sitting on a slow-moving ride, they are introduced to the scientists who helped make this possible and told all about the DNA that was found in Amber. That scene mentions DNA, RNA and splicing which is also accurate. Students are able to see real life work being done with the DNA and RNA that they have already learned about. My students always found it interesting to hear about how they were able to take the DNA out and use it to create new dinosaurs. They also talk about splicing it with frog DNA, which hypothetically could work, but could cause some problems if not all of our dinos were actually reptiles or amphibians as suggested (i.e. raptor being a bird).

Everyone’s favorite character, Ian Malcolm, also comes in with some knowledge. The famous line “Life finds a way” rings true throughout the second half of the movie when we learn that the dinosaurs have evolved to have different sexes in order for the species to survive. While it does happen a bit quickly considering the short time the island has been functioning, it is really cool to see it play out. It is believed that they would have adapted this way to survive eventually, which is another box to be checked off for the biology standards.

Another concept shown is the ecology of the island. It is understood that the scientists are trying their best to keep control, we do not understand how dinosaurs operate, making it hard to control. Fortunately, we able to see how some dinosaurs live, eat, run, hunt, communicate, and even have parental instincts (more on that in the second one if interested). This is all fascinating information that is believed to be true, but it is impossible to truly know. However, this is still a great way to discuss the ecology of the environment they are living in and to review ecology in a fun way.

Conclusion

I am still a firm believer that this is one of the best movies for a biology class. It covers so many topics and does so in a way that is interesting and informative. Keeping in mind that this is a PG-13 movie and parental and administrative permission is probably needed in order to watch this in class.

And we will go ahead and answer the question now, could this really happen? Probably not. Finding a single piece of usable DNA from any dinosaur is next to impossible, let alone as many as are seen throughout the movie. Scientists have been able to extract DNA from an estimated 120 million year old animal as of recent, but the idea of being able to recreate that animal is still science fiction. Scientists are currently working on brining back extinct animals but nothing nearly as old as the dinosaurs. But after, seeing the rest of the movies, I feel like we have plenty of evidence supporting why this is a bad idea.

As a bonus, I always give my students an open-ended question where they pick one of the dinosaurs from the movie to bring back and defend why they chose that answer. Then they have to research and decide the best modern-day animal to splice its DNA with in order to complete the process. This is a fun, interactive, and critical thinking assignment that students can be excited about and share with the rest of the class or make posters on defending their choice to be put on display.

Next Generation Science Standards

• HS-LS1-4 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms.

• HS-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect the carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

• HS-LS2-5 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Develop a model to illustrate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of carbon among the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere.

• HS-LS2-6 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

• HS-LS2-8 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce.

• HS-LS3-1 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

• HS-LS4-2 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: (1) the potential for a species to increase in number, (2) the heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species due to mutation and sexual reproduction, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) the proliferation of those organisms that are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment.

• HS-LS4-5 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.