| Subject
Matter: |
Dinosaurs |
| Grade Levels:
|
4-5 |
| Time Allotment:
|
Two 45-minute class
sessions |
Overview
This lesson provides students with the opportunity to explore various
Internet sites about dinosaurs. Students will learn about different
types of dinosaurs, where they came from and how they lived. Students
will create a short story about a dinosaur, draw a picture about
their story and create a diorama project around their dinosaur.
Optional activities are also listed, including fossil soup and dinosaur
cookie recipes.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Identify different types of dinosaurs.
- Distinguish between meat eaters and plant eaters.
- Define extinction.
- Create an environment for their dinosaur.
Oregon Standards Available at:
http://www.ode.state.or.us/cifs
Science – Life Science
Understand structure, functions and interactions of living organisms
and the environment.
Diversity/Interdependence
- Describe the relationship between characteristics of specific
habitats and the organisms that live there.
- Describe how adaptations help a species to survive.
The Arts - Create, Present and Perform
Use ideas, skills and techniques in the arts.
- Create, present and/or perform a work of art, using experiences,
imagination, observation, artistic elements and technical skills
to achieve desired effect.
Language Arts - Writing
- Pre-write, draft, revise, edit and publish across the subject
areas.
- Communicate supported ideas across the subject areas, including
relevant examples, facts, anecdotes and details appropriate to
audience and purpose that engage reader interest; organize information
in clear sequence, making connections and transitions among ideas,
sentences and paragraphs; and use precise words and fluent sentence
structures that support meaning.
- Demonstrate knowledge of spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization
and penmanship across the subject areas.
Media Components
Video
Check the link at http://www.opb.org/edmedia/trs/
to find access to the video(s) from unitedstreaming™ referenced in this lesson plan.
- "Where Did They Go?: A Dinosaur Update" (22:00)
o Clip: "Welcome to the (Extinct) World
of Dinosaurs!" (01:45)
o Clip: "Dinosaurs are Extinct" (00:45)
o Clip: "A Variety of Dinosaurs: All Shapes
and Sizes!" (02:16)
o Clip: "Why the Dinosaurs Became Extinct"
(01:35)
Web
Materials
Per Student:
- Dino-Hunt Worksheet (located at end of lesson plan)
- Dino Flash Cards for each student with 2 note cards for each
flash card (flash cards located at http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dc_dinocards.jsp)
- Small box for diorama
- Ingredients for dough art
- Drawing paper
- Glue, crayons, markers, paint
- Recipe Page (located at end of lesson plan)
Per Class and/or Group:
- Ingredients for fossil soup
- Bowls and spoons
Prep for Teachers
In this lesson students will research information on dinosaurs
from various Web sites. While doing the research they will gather
information to enable them to create a short story about dinosaurs
living today.
Make copies of the Dino-Hunt worksheet (located at end of lesson
plan) and of the Recipe Page (located at end of lesson plan) for
each student.
Check all Web sites to make sure links are still working.
Reserve the computer lab so each student has a computer. If need
be, students can partner up.
The latest version of Shockwave needs to be installed on each computer
for some of the Web sites to work properly.
Download the video clips you will be showing. Make sure you have
the latest Windows Media Player or QuickTime Player installed on
the machine you will use for the presentation.
Go to http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dc_dinocards.jsp.
Select the name of a dinosaur and follow the directions for downloading
and printing flash cards. Repeat this procedure for as many dinosaurs
as you'd like. As there are hundreds of dinosaurs, you will need
to do this ahead of time. You might want to limit the number of
cards you print to two to three per student. If time allows, you
can print them all. You will need to do a copy-and-paste process
for each card to get the data given about each dinosaur. Have two
3x5" note cards for every Dino Flash Card. These cards will
be a good source of information for the story and artwork students
will do later.
Have each student bring a small box for a diorama.
Ask students to bring ingredients for the dough art recipe located
at the end of this lesson plan. You will want to have some dough
prepared in case students don't have the supplies at home.
Have paints available to paint the finished dinosaurs. Watercolors
would work. The dioramas will need to be painted as well.
Have enough large sheets of drawing paper for students to use for
their dinosaur drawings.
Provide everyone with a piece of tag board so they can cut out
one dinosaur as a cookie cutter.
For the first day of the lesson, you will want to bring a Crock-Pot
and some short ribs for the fossil soup you will make and serve
at the end of the day. The recipe is located at the end of this
lesson plan. Be sure to gather enough bowls and spoons for everyone.
Assign a soup ingredient to each student to bring.
When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media
Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information
to identify during or after viewing of video, Web sites or other
multimedia elements.
Introductory Activity
Session 1
Step 1: Have the students help you make fossil
soup with the ingredients they brought from home. The soup will
simmer in the Crock-Pot until the end of the lesson.
Step 2: Ask your students if they know what dinosaurs
are. Have them name the ones they know and write them on the overhead
or board.
Step 3: Discuss the definition of the word "extinct"
with your students, making sure they understand what it means. Extinct:
Extinguished, no longer active, no longer existing.
Step 4: Ask how many know what fossils are and
discuss how they are found. Fossil: a trace or impression or
the remains of a plant or animal of a past geologic age preserved
in the Earth's crust.
Step 5: Talk a little about paleontology and what
it is. Paleontology: a science dealing with the life of past
geologic periods as known from fossil remains.
Step 6: Divide the Dino Flash Cards and fact sheets
among the students and have them cut them out. Give them the note
cards and tell students they will glue the note cards to the back
of their flash card and then they will cut and glue the fact sheet
to the back of the note card. This should take approximately 10-15
minutes.
Step 7: Let the students know that later they
will be writing a short story about one of the dinosaurs on their
Dino Flash Cards. Encourage students to use the information on their
flash cards to help them describe the environment their dinosaurs
will be living in, the food they will eat and the living things
around them.
Step 8: Describe how to put the dioramas together
and how to create the dough art dinosaurs.
Step 9: Have students cut out a dinosaur shape
from tag board to be used as a cookie cutter.
Step 10: Take the students' cookie cutters
home and make the dinosaur cookies (the recipe is located at the
end of the lesson plan). You will bring the dinosaur cookies for
students to enjoy during the next class session.
Learning Activities
Step 1: Explain to the students that they will
be watching a short introductory video clip on dinosaurs. Play
the first video clip, "Welcome to the (Extinct) World
of Dinosaurs!" (01:45), from the video, "Where Did They
Go?: A Dinosaur Update" (22:00). As a Focus for Media Interaction,
ask students if all dinosaur relatives looked alike. Ask: What is
one of the largest animals in the world today? Have students write
down their answers.
Step 2: Tell students the next clip will
be discussing how long ago dinosaurs lived. Play the second clip,
"Dinosaurs Are Extinct" (00:45), from the video, "Where
Did They Go?: A Dinosaur Update" (22:00). As a Focus
for Media Interaction, have the students write down how
long ago dinosaurs lived and decide whether the dinosaur and the
cave man really lived at the same time. Answers: Dinosaurs lived
on Earth for about 160 million years and went extinct around 225
million years ago. This is millions of years before there were people,
so dinosaurs and cave people couldn't have lived at the same
time.
Step 3: Discuss with students that there
are a variety of dinosaur sizes. Relate that not all dinosaurs were
alike. Play the video clip, "A Variety of
Dinosaurs: All Shapes and Sizes!" (02:16), from the video,
"Where Did They Go?: A Dinosaur Update" (22:00). As
a Focus for Media Interaction, have the students
write down some ways dinosaurs were different from each other. Discuss
the special features of various dinosaurs. Answer: Dinosaurs
varied greatly in size, speed and special adaptations to survive.
Step 4: Remind students what "extinct"
means. Play the last video clip, "Why the
Dinosaurs Became Extinct" (01:35), from the video, "Where
Did They Go?: A Dinosaur Update" (22:00). As a Focus
for Media Interaction, tell students they will be asked
to jot down their idea as to why dinosaurs became extinct after
watching the video clip. Answer: There are three theories about
why dinosaurs disappeared: 1) A celestial event like a shower of
comets struck the Earth, causing the Sun to be blackened out, leading
to the death of plants, herbivores and carnivores. 2) A slow, gradual
change in the Earth over millions of years caused environmental
conditions to change such that dinosaurs could no longer survive.
3) A combination of both.
Step 5: Have the students take out their Dino-Hunt
worksheet. As a Focus for Media Interaction, tell
students they are going on a scavenger hunt. Go over the worksheet
with them, making sure they understand they will be going to various
Web sites to gather information. Have them write down what they
find and turn it in when done. Allow approximately 15 minutes for
this activity.
Step 6: Ask the students to take out the Dino
Flash Cards they created in the Introductory Activity. Tell students
they will use these cards to help in writing their short story.
Step 7: Have students begin writing a short story
about one of the dinosaurs on their Dino Flash Cards. This is to
be a creative story. The story can be set in the past, present time
or fantasy. Direct students to explore a problem their dinosaur
might experience. For instance, a Tyrannosaurus rex living millions
of years ago might be incredibly hungry and have to fight another
dinosaur to get sustenance. Another dinosaur that miraculously was
brought to life in today's world might have lots of problems,
including finding a place to make its home where it wouldn't
get hurt or get in the way. This will be a rough draft. Encourage
students to share/trade Dino Flash Cards with others.
Step 8: After the students have completed the
rough drafts of their stories, have everyone take out their ingredients
for the dough art. Help students add water to their dry ingredients.
Step 9: Tell students they will be creating dinosaurs
out of their dough art to go along with their story. These dinosaurs
will go in the diorama that they will work on during the next class
session. If time permits, students can make trees, etc. to go with
the dinosaurs. The dough art will need to dry over the course of
several days.
Step 10: This would be a good time to take a break
and enjoy your fossil soup.
Step 11: Have students go to www.jpinstitute.com,
click on "Dinopedia," go to "Dinotainment"
and then finally to the "Bone Shop." Students will create
a dinosaur skeleton from the parts given and then test the dinosaur.
Try building various types of dinosaurs. As a Focus for
Media Interaction, have students think about animal adaptations
and how they help them to survive in their environments. In this
game, their dinosaur performs better if it can do certain things.
Ask them to think about what those things are as they play the game
and then discuss them as a class after they have played for a while.
Answer: The dinosaur performs better in the game when it has
a skeleton that is quicker and has more maneuverability. Ask
students to think about other animals that exist today, such as
an elk or raccoon. What adaptations help save today's animals
from extinction? Encourage students to try out other activities
at this site on their own time.
Session 2
Step 1: Have students take out their stories and
exchange with a partner to do peer editing. A final copy will then
be written and turned in to the teacher.
Step 2: Hand out drawing paper to the students
and have them create a drawing to go along with their story.
Step 3: The dough art dinosaurs should be ready
to paint. Have students use their watercolors to paint their dinosaurs.
Step 4: Once students finish painting the dinosaurs,
have them paint their dioramas and later, put the dinosaurs inside,
while enjoying the dinosaur cookies you have made.
Culminating Activity
Assemble all of the finished projects and invite other classes
and parents to come observe your students' hard work. Have
students stand by their projects so they can explain to the visitors
about their dinosaurs. Encourage students to share the interesting
Web sites with their parents at home.
Cross-Curricular Extensions
Language Arts – Speaking
- Have students prepare a short presentation about dinosaurs including
a PowerPoint slide show (or equivalent).
Social Studies – Geography
- Ask your students to study where certain dinosaur fossils have
been found. Does their prevalence in certain locations support
or disprove the idea of there once being one large continent that
has drifted apart for millions of years?
Mathematics – Measurement
- Have students measure objects around the school (trees, buildings,
basketball goals, football fields) and compare the size of these
objects to some of the dinosaurs they are studying. If you have
space available, paint a life-size mural on a wall at your school.
Community Connections
- Bring in someone from the community familiar with dinosaurs
or fossils and have them give a talk to the students.
- Check to see if you have an area near you that has fossils.
Take the students on a field trip to explore the area.
- Ask a paleontologist from a local university to bring in artifacts
and discuss the latest discoveries about dinosaurs.
Dino-Hunt
A Scavenger Hunt Using the Internet
Name_____________________________________
Follow the links and answer the questions.
Go to: www.fmnh.org/exhibits/online_exhib.htm
and find the answers to the following questions.
1. Who is Sue?
2. When was she discovered and by whom?
3. How many teeth did she have?
Go to: http://www.rice.edu/armadillo/Ftbend/foslinfo.htm
4. What is the study of fossils?
5. What are fossils?
6. Where are fossils found?
Go to: www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/trex/specialtrex2.html
to answer questions 7 & 8.
7. How tall was the Tyrannosaurus Rex?
8. How much did he weigh?
Look at www.nationaldinosaurmuseum.com.au/dinoinfo/extinction.htm
and answer the next question.
9. What happened to the dinosaurs?
Honolulu Community College Dinosaur Exhibit has lots of wonderful
information for you. Go to: http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/dinos/dinos.1.html
and find answers to the last questions in the "Exhibit Contents."
When you are finished, turn in your paper.
10. How can you tell Triceratops from the other dinosaurs?
11. How tall was T-Rex's leg?
12. What is the size of a Stegosaurus's brain?
13. What kind of dinosaur egg is shown?
Recipe Page
Dough Art Recipe
Have each student bring 3 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt in a
Cool Whip container or something of that size. Add water slowly,
mixing to a thick dough consistency. You want this to be fairly
stiff, as this is what you will make your dinosaurs out of. Students
can bring a double batch if they would like to make extra dough
art pieces for their dioramas. This dough would also make good trees
or grassy clumps. Have students use their imagination.
Fossil Soup Recipe
Dinosaur Bone (short rib bones would work well)
8 carrots
6 celery stocks
4 potatoes – medium
2 large cans vegetable juice
2 tablespoons salt
6 cups water
2 bay leaves
Wash and cut carrots, celery and potatoes. Combine the dinosaur
bone, vegetable juice and 6 cups of water. Add the salt and bay
leaves. Cover and simmer for two hours. Add vegetables; cover and
simmer for one hour. Serve and enjoy.
Dinosaur Cookies Recipe
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cup dark molasses
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
Cream butter and sugar. Mix in molasses. Combine dry ingredients.
Add to creamed mixture, alternating with water. Chill two hours.
Roll dough 1/2-inch thick on lightly floured surface.
Place dinosaur pattern cookie cutter on dough and cut around it.
Bake on greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 5-6 minutes.
(For cookie shapes, have students trace dinosaur patterns on heavy
tag board and cut out.)
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