A Dinosaur Unit

(Compiled by Mrs. K. Hilst)

Lesson #1.  Go to the Internet lab and use the Little Explorer Dictionary to complete the worksheet quiz on dinosaurs.

Lesson #2.  Go to the link in #1. Scroll down and click on Geologic Time Charts.  Click on “Detailed Version”. Click on “Continental Drift”. Read through the page out loud leading the students through the page. Give each student a piece of drawing paper and assign one picture to each child to draw and try to explain it to the class orally.

Lesson #3.  Teach about Pangaea by bringing up the map at “Before Dinosaurs” on the computer with the students gathered around.  Discuss plate tectonics as you do the science experiment sited in our fourth grade experiment manual.

Lesson #4.  Students go to “Zoom Dinosaurs” to make a timetable similar to the one at this site. Have students scroll down to Mesozoic Era and click to find the timeline. Then have students write 2 questions on 3x5 cards to quiz the class when back in the classroom.

Lesson #5.  Go to Internet lab and check out the Dinosaur Questions and Answers. Have students copy down 5 questions and summarize the answers to each. Have each student share his or her questions and answers when returning to the classroom.

Lesson #6.  Use the Internet lab to visit "Dinosphere" to journey back in time to the Cretaceous Period for dino-profiles.

Lesson #7.  Go to the link in activity 4 to complete the worksheet provide by the teacher. Teacher will provide a fill in the blank worksheet at the correct level for her students.

Lesson #8.  Send students to the link “Zoom Dinosaur” and go the side table of contents and click on “Dino Info Pages” and “Dino Fact Sheet”.  Each student will choose a dinosaur and write a report using links and printable pages found here. The Dinopedia link in lesson 5 can also be used for research information.

Lesson #9.  Divide into groups of three students. Hand each a list of 5 different dinosaurs. Students are to research the height and/or length of the various dinosaurs. Then make a bar graph to compare their sizes.

Lesson #10. Just for fun visit “Billy Bear 4 Kids” to introduce fossils at a very primary and easy to understand level. Lots of fun and games here too.

Lesson #11.  Have students go to the Internet lab and do web searches.  Three are provided for use with various levels of students.

Lesson #12. Research the size of dinosaur tracks. Work in groups to replicate an actual footprint to display in the room.

Lesson #13. Try this for a challenge!  Have students use the digital camera and clay to produce a PowerPoint movie. Here’s how. Students shape a model of a dinosaur and any other items they want to include in their movie. They also need to construct a large enough backdrop that the camera won’t pick up any other background. Set the camera on the table, ready to shoot pictures and tape around it. Try not to move the camera! Shoot pictures making minute movements with the dinosaur to act out the movie. Download the pictures onto a PowerPoint slide show. Add text bubbles etc. to add flare. Set it on a fast automatic timer to run by it self. Present it to the class.

Lesson #14. Have the students make a dinosaur diorama of the Mesozoic Era. Click on this button to find out how! 

Lesson #15. Make coffee ground fossils.

Lesson #16. Check out the activities for everything you could want at a K-3 level!