PREFACE This book which is aimed at kindergarten through 6 h grade covers geology, geography, palaeontology, science amidst other lessons in which there is a focus on critical thinking skills, vocabulary, writing skills, comprehension and more. When working on this project, remember that it's aimed at children. It's more important to be understood than to be precisely accurate on every detail. Use technical vocabulary when you need to, but don't use big words where simpler language would work. Whenever you have to use a word, list it in the glossary of basic terms, and define it. Either that, or note it needs to be defined in the glossary page. Giving definitions when such words are used is generally a good idea as well. Comprehensive teacher/parent notes have been included which document in enormous detail the journey of the earth throughout the various Eras or Timelines. Comprehensive activities for learners have been included, and should be adapted to the age of the learner. Due to the vast amount of information available, we have provided extensive notes in an endeavour to assist the educator in creating lesson plans. While notepages, handouts and activity sheets are included we have not burdened this book with excessive notepages. We would recommend rather that multiple copies be made of the pages required. Lessons should be adjusted and adapted to suit the age of the learner. The contents of this book enable the educator to prepare lessons for learners from Kindergarden/Grade1 through Grade 6 even older children. We stress again that every child develops at his or her own pace and whilst some children may find the lessons fairly simple and straightforward other children may require a little more time and explanation. We encourage children developing at their own pace. If a lesson appears too complex for a child, it is very easily downgraded or simplified to the child s comfort level of understanding. The information contained in this book has been sourced via numerous websites, and credits and acknowledgements have been provided through specific pages where relevant, and/or where information has been used from a particular source consistently, this source is generally acknowledged. Where images have been utilised, if not in the public domain, credits have been noted, with thanks. I do thank the compilers of various books and websites, the researchers, scientists and educators who spend many hours compiling and researching stats and documents, those to which we not have access. Acknowledgements & Thanks Credit: U.S. Geological Survey Department of the Interior/USGS Credit: Wikipedia Junior http://education.usgs.gov/schoolyard/ Donnette E Davis 2009 www.staidenshomeschool.com 2
Table of Contents Contents Page Introduction 4 One Day Millions of Years Ago : A Synopsis 5 Sedimentary Rocks Preparation Notes 6 Section 1 About Dinosaurs 7 Section 1 Student Activity Worksheets 17 Section 2 Dinosaurs Individual Dinosaurs & Worksheets 24 Tyrannosaurus Rex Stegosaurus Allosaurus Apatosaurus Pterosaurs Triceratops Plesiosaur Ichthyosaur Pachycephalosaurus Velociraptor Herrerasaurus Ankylosaurus Iguanodon Brontosaurus Section 3 A-Z of Dinosaurs Fast Facts 82 Section 4 Reptiles of the Air 132 Section 5 Reptiles of the Sea 139 Section 6 Worksheets & Lesson Plans & Ideas 149 Dinosaur Task Cards 23 Additional Lesson Plans including paper crafts, 174 mazes, crosswords, writing assignments Flashcards : New Words 244 Blank Note Page 258 Thanks & Acknowledgements, External Resources 259 Multimedia Resources 261 License 262 Terms of use 267 Donnette E Davis 2009 www.staidenshomeschool.com 3
Introduction For parents and Educators: Few subjects in the Earth sciences are as fascinating to the public as dinosaurs. The study of dinosaurs stretches our imaginations, gives us new perspectives on time and space, and invites us to discover worlds very different from our modern Earth. Dinosaurs were the biggest animals to ever walk this Earth, and their stories excite the imagination of kids of all ages. Dinosaurs have long been extinct, but the creativity of a child is so great that it can be benefited even by learning of a creature that walked the Earth millions of years ago. From a scientific viewpoint, however, the study of dinosaurs is important both for understanding the causes of past major extinctions of land animals and for understanding the changes in biological diversity caused by previous geological and climatic changes of the Earth. These changes are still occurring today. A wealth of new information about dinosaurs has been learned over the past 30 years, and science's old ideas of dinosaurs as slow, clumsy beasts have been totally turned around. This pamphlet contains answers to some frequently asked questions about dinosaurs, with current ideas and evidence to correct some long-lived popular misconceptions. Although much has been discovered recently about dinosaurs, there is still a great deal more to learn about our planet and its ancient inhabitants. This book will give you a basic understanding of dinosaurs and some of the events that happened in their time. Of all the creatures that have walked this Earth, few have captured our imagination and fed our desire for knowledge like the dinosaurs have. Included inter alia in this book are Fast Fact Fun Sheets Flash Cards / Sight Words Writing Assignments Paper Crafts Wordsearches Mazes Crossword Q & A Dinosaur Dictionary activity sheets for each dinosaur No less than 50 lesson plans Dinosaur Playdough Craft Colour Pictures and Dot-to-Dot Extensive Research material for Educators and Parents. Donnette E Davis 2009 www.staidenshomeschool.com 4
One Day Millions of Years Ago Walking through a prehistoric forest, you hear a twig snap behind you. You turn, slowly, hoping that it isn t what you think it is. Standing behind you is a Stegosaurus, chomping away on some leafy ferns. You breathe a sigh of relief. You were afraid it was a predator with its eye on you as a tasty snack. Of course, that was millions of years ago, so it could only happen in your imagination. In fact it was so long ago that there were no people around at all; there weren't even any apes or monkeys yet! The prehistoric world of the dinosaurs is both strange and exciting. Many things were very different from what you see today. Some dinosaurs stood taller than buildings, and others weighed as much as your entire family put together. Some dinosaurs were small enough to fit in your backpack. Some would not hesitate to eat you on the spot if they were hungry. Others spent all day chomping on ferns and other plants. The one kind of dinosaur that never existed was a dull dinosaur! There is so much to know about dinosaurs. What is a dinosaur? How is it different from animals today? Are there any dinosaurs living now? Where did dinosaurs live? What did they eat? What did they look like? Why are they gone? How do we know about dinosaurs? Were other animals living at the time of the dinosaurs? How did dinosaurs get their food? Did dinosaurs sleep? How did dinosaurs move? How did dinosaurs protect themselves? Did dinosaurs fight? Could dinosaurs swim? How big is a baby dinosaur? Were dinosaurs poisonous? The questions listed above will be covered in this book, as well as a comprehensive dictionary of different dinosaur species, flash cards, picture cards and Fast Fact Sheet. A later section will cover other Ancient Animals. Although not dinosaurs, they are incredibly interesting. We also look at Evolution. No matter how long this book is, it could never cover everything there is to know about every dinosaur. If you wish to learn more about dinosaurs, you can find lots of information at the library. You can check out the reference section in the back of the book. You can also visit natural history museums. Donnette E Davis 2009 www.staidenshomeschool.com 5
Key Concepts Sedimentary Rocks Preparation Notes Sedimentary rocks start out soft and squishy ("unconsolidated"). Animal tracks are only recorded while the rocks are soft. Sediments can become hard over time if exposed to higher temperatures and pressures or certain minerals that cement the grains together. Measurements of animal tracks allow scientists to learn about the size, walking technique, and lifestyle of ancient animals. Our Research took us to the following Websites: http://pubs.usgs.gov/ http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/wikijunior:dinosaurs http://education.usgs.gov/schoolyard/dinosaurtracks.html http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dinosaurs/ http://www.schools.net.au/ Common Misconceptions Fact: Humans and dinosaurs did not exist on Earth at the same time. About the misconception: Some web sites claim that human footprints exist beside dinosaur tracks in areas like the one in the Geologist in Action photo above, but these are either misinterpretations or hoaxes. Donnette E Davis 2009 www.staidenshomeschool.com 6
This Section: When did the first dinosaurs appear on Earth? Are all fossil animals dinosaurs? Did people and dinosaurs live at the same time? Where did dinosaurs live? Did all the dinosaurs live together, and at the same time? How are dinosaurs named? What was the biggest dinosaur? What was the smallest? How many types of dinosaurs are known? Were dinosaurs warm-blooded? How long could a dinosaur live? What did dinosaurs eat? How fast could dinosaurs walk or run? Did dinosaurs communicate? Why did some dinosaurs grow so big? Which was the smartest dinosaur? What colours were dinosaurs? Were dinosaurs social animals? When did dinosaurs become extinct? Why did the dinosaurs die out? Where can I find more information about dinosaurs? Donnette E Davis 2009 www.staidenshomeschool.com 7