PreKinders: Karen Cox's Class Website for St. Teresa's School: Dinosaur Unit
This website has a plethora of suggestions for ways to integrate the topic of dinosaurs throughout the PreK curriculum.

Assessment: Create a Dinosaur Word Chart
Before your visit to the Museum, ask the whole class to brainstorm what comes to mind when they think about dinosaurs. Write down and draw key words and ideas. Also encourage students to think about what questions they might like to ask while they are at the Museum. Repeat the exercise after your visit to see what has changed.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Excavation
Give each student a chocolate chip cookie, and encourage them to use skewers, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, or plastic spoons to "excavate" the chips from their cookie before eating it.

Dino Puppets
Students can make their own dinosaur puppets out of paper bags. Put one arm inside the bag and use your hand to open and close your dinosaur's mouth. The bottom of the bag becomes the dinosaur's face. Use markers, colored paper, and googly eyes to decorate your bag.

Don't forget important dinosaur features like horns (paper snow cone cups make great ready-made horns), plates, and teeth. Discuss with students what kind of teeth a meat-eater would have (sharp and slightly curved) and what kind of teeth a plant-eater would have (long, skinny, pencil-like teeth in the front and/or short, flat teeth [like our molars] on the sides).

After seeing Savage Ancient Seas students may choose to make a sea creature, like a Megalodon shark or a sea turtle with a beak.

Dino Dioramas
Ask students to pick one particular dinosaur to focus on. Encourage them to research what their dinosaur was like, including what it ate, where it lived, and what other plants and animals it might have encountered. Students can then create a small sculpture of their dinosaur out of clay. Shoeboxes make an excellent dinosaur habitat (ask a local shoe store to save boxes for you). Students can design a prehistoric habitat for their dinosaur inside their box using colored paper, pipe cleaners, colored clay, paint, and markers.

Activities Grades 3 - 5

BBC: Prehistoric Life (Online Activities)
This section of the BBC website includes fantastic 2D and 3D visuals, games, and up-to-date news articles from the same people who created the "Walking With …." series featuring dinosaurs, mammals, sea creatures, and other forms of prehistoric life.

The site's interactive games include:

• a challenge to solve a mystery about Baryonyx;

• "Who Dung It?": a challenge to match prehistoric animals with their fossilized droppings.

• "Sea Monsters Adventure" which combines videogame elements with exercises in observation

• an "Evolution Game" that takes you on a journey of adaptation

• "Skeleton Jigsaws" with puzzling paleontological finds to assemble

• the "Big Al Game" showing what life is like for an Allosaurus.

Dinosaur Graphing Students will graph the sizes of specific dinosaurs and then compare their own body size to that of various dinosaurs. The measurements included in this activity are based on The Ultimate Dinosaur Book by David Lambert. Click here for complete directions.

Dinosaur Graphing
Students will graph the sizes of specific dinosaurs and then compare their own body size to that of various dinosaurs. The measurements included in this activity are based on The Ultimate Dinosaur Book by David Lambert. Click here for complete directions.

Mini Excavation
Materials Needed:
Plastic bins or shoe boxes
Sand
Small spades or spoons
Paintbrushes or toothbrushes
String and tape
Small objects to bury in the sand
(Buttons, bones, replica arrowheads, seeds, shells, charcoal, small  
 pots, beads, etc. work well)
Ruler

Use plastic bins or shoeboxes to create a mini dig site for each team of students.  In each box, layer sand with small artifacts, bones, or other items.  Students can section off the box with string to create quadrants in which to search for clues to what might have lived in that area. 

Students can measure and document the location and depth of the objects they find.  Brushes can be used to clean objects.  Students can then present their findings to the class and discuss:  What clues do these objects provide about the creatures and cultures of the past? 

For clarity, make sure students understand that a paleontologist studies fossils (remains or traces of living things), while an archaeologist studies human history and culture through artifacts and other signs of human activity like hunting, cooking, and building.

News Flash!
Ask students to invent a new Cretaceous sea creature, using at least 3 adaptations from animals featured in Savage Ancient Seas.  They should draw a picture of the creature, labeling its 3 adaptations.  Then ask them to imagine that the fossilized remains of their invented creature have just been found!  Have them write a newspaper article about the discovery of their creature, telling how it was found, and describing what the creature would have looked like and how it would have used its 3 adaptations to survive.

Mysterious Endings
Many scientists believe that an asteroid impact was the main cause for the mass extinction that marked the end of the Cretaceous Period (the K-T extinction), including the extinction of dinosaurs and many marine organisms.  This impact resulted in dust and debris, lower temperatures, global fires, tidal waves, and severe storms.  Yet, there are many theories about other factors that could explain the K-T extinction.

Use the website below to research current theories about the extinction of dinosaurs and sea creatures.  Make a cartoon depicting your theory about what happened to the dinosaurs and sea creatures at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

101 Crazy Theories About Dinosaur Extinction
http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Communication/Couch/possible.html

Create a Cretaceous Creature
The scientific names of animal species come from Latin and Greek.  Building familiarity with Latin and Greek word parts can strengthen students' language skills.  Use the Greek and Latin Word List to make a list of 10 new creature names, using at least two descriptors in each name.  Then choose one of the names and draw a picture of your imaginary creature.  Write a paragraph describing your invented creature, its physical characteristics, behavior, and habitat.

 Trading Cards
Students can design a set of prehistoric sea creature trading cards.  On one side of each card, draw the animal (or paste a downloaded image-- see web resources below for weblinks).  On the other side, list facts about the animal, with the animal’s scientific name.  Use the cards to play a memory matching game, as flash cards, or have students design an original game.

Diary of An Explorer
Create a diary of an underwater explorer who travels back in time to the world of the Cretaceous sea animals.  Enter daily logs, with exciting descriptive events that educate the reader about the animals.

Activities Grades 6 - 12

BBC: Prehistoric Life (Online Activities)
This section of the BBC website includes fantastic 2D and 3D visuals, games, and up-to-date news articles from the same people who created the "Walking With …." series featuring dinosaurs, mammals, sea creatures, and other forms of prehistoric life.

The site's interactive games include:

• a challenge to solve a mystery about Baryonyx;

• "Who Dung It?": a challenge to match prehistoric animals with their fossilized droppings.

• "Sea Monsters Adventure" which combines videogame elements with exercises in observation

• an "Evolution Game" that takes you on a journey of adaptation

• "Skeleton Jigsaws" with puzzling paleontological finds to assemble

• the "Big Al Game" showing what life is like for an Allosaurus.

Dinosaur Graphing Students will graph the sizes of specific dinosaurs and then compare their own body size to that of various dinosaurs. The measurements included in this activity are based on The Ultimate Dinosaur Book by David Lambert. Click here for complete directions.

Global Warming Debate
Alexis Rockman's painting Manifest Destiny,
provides one artist's view of what the future holds for Brooklyn, NY.  Savage Ancient Seas also provides a reminder that climate change has been going on for millions of years, and that many parts of North America have been, at one time or another, under water.  Get students thinking about this issue by holding a class debate about global warming, a controversial topic with extensive scientific and social ramifications. 

Questions to consider:  Does the data point to a pattern of climate change?  What can we infer from the data about the future?  What will your state look like in 3,000 years?  Are humans accelerating global warming?  How do current patterns of climate change compare with climate change in the past?  Should humans take steps to reduce climate change?  If so, what steps should be taken? 

The following websites provide a good basis for research:

US EPA: Climate Change

Union of Concerned Scientists: Global Warming

Skepticism.Net: Global Warming

National Resources Defense Council

NOAA/National Climate Data Center: Global Warming

World View of Global Warming: Photographs

NY Times: Global Warming

Time Before Time Travel Agency WebQuest
Designed by a science teacher at Potomac School in Montana, this web quest guides students through a project of researching a geologic time period and creating marketing materials for that time period for a travel agency.

Cretaceous Survivor
Materials Needed:
Research resources
Poster board, markers

Research the animals that escaped extinction and survive today.  What animals living today were around during the Cretaceous Period?  What animals have close relatives from the Cretaceous Period? Design a “family tree” for one of these animals, showing how it might have evolved into the animal we are familiar with today.  Suggestions: coelacanth, sea turtle, chambered nautilus

Alternatively, students could select a species from an extinct group of animals, like the plesiosaurs, and imagine that its ancestors have survived into the present day.  How do you think it might have evolved?  What environmental factors would influence its evolution?

Timeline Scramble
Materials Needed:
Meter stick
Index cards
Calculator
Roll of adding machine paper (or long strips of paper taped together)
Exercise in Deep Time Conception

Write geological events, creature names, or geological descriptions on several cards. Make one set of cards per team of students.  Using adding machine paper, students mark off time in thousands of years by determining a proportional measurement of actual years to centimeters. Students then glue the cards on the appropriate places on the timeline.

Creature Scale
Materials Needed:
Graph paper
Calculator
Ruler

Using graph paper, draw several creatures to scale, with each square representing specific meters or feet.  Label each animal with its name and its actual size.  Include the scale ratio used.

Suggested Web and Print Resources

All print resources listed are available though the Central/Western Massachusetts's Library System.

Use the Berkshire Athenaeum's on-line catalogue to search for these print resources in Western Massachusetts.

Grades PreK - 2

Barner, Bob.  Dinosaur Bones.  San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC, 2001.
Bright illustrations will keep your students' interest as this book tells how scientists study dinosaurs. It also includes highlights of a few of everyone’s favorite dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Eggs Museum
Watch animated clips of model dinosaurs emerging from their eggs.

Enchanted Learning
This is a fun, educational site for audiences as young as preschool with user friendly pages about dinosaurs and fossils, along with craft projects and printable coloring and activity pages.

Mitton, Tony.  Dinosaurumpus.  New York: Orchard Books, 2002.
Join in with Triceratops, Stegosaurus and friends as the dinosaurs stir up a
Dinosaurumpus.  Students will love the refrain that they can say along with
the reader.

Nature of New England
Illustrations of dinosaurs discovered in North America.

Sabuda, Robert and Matthew Reinhart.  Sharks and Other Sea Monsters
(Encyclopedia Prehistorica Series).  Candlewick Press, 2006.  A very engaging pop-up book with images of prehistoric sea creatures and skeletons.

Schnetzler, Pattie.  Ten Little Dinosaurs.  Denver: Accord Publishing Ltd., 1996.
The silly escapades of ten different dinosaurs are described in rhyming
verses.  This book has a pair of large googly eyes that add humor to every
page.

Touch and Feel Dinosaur. New York:  DK Publishing, Inc., 2002.  Touch T. rex’s bumpy skin, Triceratops' smooth horns and Stegosaurus’ rough plates.  This is a good book for students to explore individually.

Yolen, Jane.  How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?  New York: The Blue Sky
Press, 2000.  Dinosaurs bring humor to familiar good-night antics known by every child.

Zoom Dinosaurs
This is an on-line hypertext book about dinosaurs. It is designed for students of all ages and levels of comprehension with information on dinosaurs, extinction, fossils, and more.

Grades 3 - 5

BBC: Prehistoric Life
This section of the BBC website includes fantastic 2D and 3D visuals, games, and up-to-date news articles from the same people who created the "Walking With …." series featuring dinosaurs, mammals, sea creatures, and other forms of prehistoric life.

Courtenay-Thompson, Fiona and Mary Lindsday (Ed.)  The Visual Dictionary of
Dinosaurs (Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries).  New York:  Dorling Kindersley
Publishing, Inc., 1993.  A good basic introduction to the dinosaur groups and species, including plenty of images.

Dinobase
http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/dinobase/dinopage.html
A large, searchable database of dinosaur names, images, and basic statistics such as size, weight, age, distribution, discovery, and classification.        

Enchanted Learning
This is a fun, educational site for teachers and students alike, with user-friendly pages about dinosaurs and fossils along with craft projects and printable activity pages.

GeoMysteries:  Fast FAQs About Rocks & Fossils
Part of the The Children's Museum of Indianapolis website, this page explains how different types of rocks are formed using simple text and animation. 

Kerley, Barbara and Brian Selznick.  The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins. 
Scholastic, Inc., 2001.  This sophisticatedly illustrated book tells the story of a 19th-century Englishman, Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, who was the first person to make a life-sized model of a dinosaur.  Catch a glimpse of the process of making an artistic rendering based on fossilized remains, and find out how easy it can be to make a mistake!

Living Landscapes:  Earth, Air, Water Activities for Kids
Watch how sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks are formed and
answer questions about what you see.  Other interactive activities for kids on the Berkshire Museum Living Landscapes site include local bird call and tree identification, a camouflaged animal hunt, the water cycle, cloud identification, earth art, and "meet a naturalist."

Nature of New England
Illustrations of dinosaurs discovered in North America.

"Sea Monsters" [VHS Videorecording].  Bethesda, MD:  Discovery
Communications, c.1994.  A one-hour video featuring prehistoric creatures of sea and land like Icthyosaurs, Elasmosaur, and Dimetrodon.

Symes, Dr. R.F.  Rocks & Minerals (Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries).  New York:  Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc., 2000.  With brief and accessible text and a plethora of instructive photos, this book covers the basics on rocks, minerals, fossils, rock types and their formation, crystals, and the use of various rocks by humans.

Taylor, Paul D.  Fossil (DK Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries).  New York: 
Knopf, Inc., 1990.  Photos and basic information about fossils of living things from bacteria and algae to birds and mammals.

The Visual Dictionary of the Earth (Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries).  New York: 
Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc., 1993.  Diagrams and illustrations provide good explanations of basic earth science topics such as plate tectonics and faults, mountain and volcano formation, erosion, and rock and mineral formations.

"Walking With Monsters:  Life Before Dinosaurs" [DVD videorecording].  BBC
Video; produced and directed by Tim Haines; Distributed by Warner Home Video, 2006.  A 90-minute DVD about life on Earth before the appearance of dinosaurs, narrated by Kenneth Branagh.  Part of the BBC "Walking With…" series.

Zoom Dinosaurs
This is an on-line hypertext book about dinosaurs. It is designed for students of all ages and levels of comprehension with information on dinosaurs, extinction, fossils and more.

Grades 6 - 12

Asteroid:  Deadly Impact
An interactive game in which players try to deduce which asteroids, meteors, meteorites, and comets created different types of impacts in different areas of North America.  Many scientists believe that an asteroid impact on earth at the end of the Cretaceous Period caused the extinction of dinosaurs and other organisms.

BBC:  Prehistoric Life (Online Activities)
This section of the BBC website includes fantastic 2D and 3D visuals, games, and up-to-date news articles from the same people who created the "Walking With …." series featuring dinosaurs, mammals, sea creatures, and other forms of prehistoric life.

Dinosauria Online
Includes dinosaur images, articles by paleontologists, current news stories, and an "omnipedia" of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life that includes a pronunciation guide.

Dixon, Dougal et al.  The Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and
Prehistoric Creatures.  NY:  Macmillan, 1988.  This book contains a huge
number of fantastic color illustrations.  It depicts and describes many species of dinosaurs and lesser-known species of prehistoric reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, and mammals. 

Evolution and the Fossil Record
A web version of the booklet produced by the American Geological Institute and the Paleontological Society designed to bring an understanding of the topic to the general public with engaging photos, drawings, and illustrations.

National Geographic News
A search of the archived news stories will yield many interesting articles about new findings in paleontology in a brief, easy-to-understand format.

Norell, Mark A., Eugene S. Gaffney, and Lowell Dingus.  Discovering Dinosaurs
In the American Museum of Natural History.  New York:  Alfred A. Knopf,    1995.  A very informative book with illustrations of fossils in the Museum's collection.  It addresses the toughest questions and controversies about dinosaurs, like, were dinosaurs cold-blooded or warm-blooded and did birds evolve from dinosaurs.  It also describes the techniques used by paleontologists to study prehistoric life.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Department of Paleobiology:
Dinosaur Exhibits
This site provides information about specific species of dinosaurs and includes images of fossils that are in the Museum's collection.  Other features include a Top 10 list debunking common misconceptions, an article on field work, information about prehistoric life forms other than dinosaurs, and a step-by-step look at how dinosaur skeletons are reconstructed for Museum display.

University of California Museum of Paleontology
If you are looking for specific information, using their search function is very helpful.  This site has many different kinds of resources to offer, including online exhibits, a site called Dinobuzz covering exciting new research and controversial topics, and modules for educators on topics like Understanding Evolution, Explorations Through Time, and Learning from the Fossil Record. 

Walker, Sally M.  Fossil Fish Found Alive:  Discovering the Coelacanth.  MN: 
Carolrhoda Books, c.2002.  A behind-the-scenes look at the scientific hunt for live specimens of coelacanths.  Once thought to be extinct, a South African fisherman caught a live coelacanth in 1938.

What Did T.rex Taste Like?
An engaging, step-by-step introduction to cladistics.

Print and Web Materials For Educators

Benton, Mike.  Walking with Dinosaurs.  New York:  DK Publishing, 2000.
Clear explanations of how paleontologists know what they know, and how the television show Walking with Dinosaurs was created.

Blobaum, Cindy.  Geology ROCKS!  VT:  Williamson Publishing, 1999. 
50 hands-on earth science activities to do with elementary students.

Courtenay-Thompson, Fiona and Mary Lindsday (Ed.)  The Visual Dictionary of
Dinosaurs (Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries).  New York:  Dorling Kindersley
Publishing, Inc., 1993.  A good basic introduction to the dinosaur groups and species, including plenty of images.

Dinosauria Online
Includes dinosaur images, articles by paleontologists, current news stories, and an "omnipedia" of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life that includes a pronunciation guide.

Dixon, Dougal et al.  The Macmillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and
Prehistoric Creatures.  NY:  Macmillan, 1988.  This book contains a huge
number of fantastic color illustrations.  It depicts and describes many species of dinosaurs and lesser-known species of prehistoric reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, and mammals. 

Ellis, Richard.  Sea Dragons.  University Press of Kansas, 2003.  Marine wildlife
artist Richard Ellis draws from the fossil record to create drawings of  Mesozoic life forms like mososaurs, icthyosaurs, and plesiosaurs, and to describe what their habitats and their lives might have been like.

Fossil Resource
Two Guys Fossils is a supplier of real fossils, replicas, posters, and dinosaur
models, with many items available at reasonable prices.  Fossils come with
information about the species and the location where the specimen was
found.

Lambert, David.  The Ultimate Dinosaur Book.  New York:  Dorling Kindersley (In association with The Natural History Museum, London), 1993.  A terrific overview of dinosaurs and their time, followed by "profiles" of specific dinosaurs and dinosaur groups.

Life in the Cretaceous Seas
The American Museum of Natural History’s Millstein Hall of Ocean Life pages feature images and information about the Earth’s ancient oceans.

NASA Classroom of the Future
This site offers online references, links, activities, crafts, and lesson plans.

National Geographic News
A search of the archived news stories will yield many interesting articles about new findings in paleontology in a brief, easy-to-understand format.

Norell, Mark A., Eugene S. Gaffney, and Lowell Dingus.  Discovering Dinosaurs
In the American Museum of Natural History.  New York:  Alfred A. Knopf,    1995.  A very informative book with illustrations of fossils in the Museum's collection.  It addresses the toughest questions and controversies about dinosaurs, like, were dinosaurs cold-blooded or warm-blooded and did birds evolve from dinosaurs.  It also describes the techniques used by paleontologists to study prehistoric life.

Oceans of Kansas
A website about the fossilized remains from the oceans of interior North
America during the Cretaceous Period.  The site was designed by the Adjunct Curator of Paleontology of the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hays, Kansas.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Department of Paleobiology: Dinosaur Exhibits
This site provides information about specific species of dinosaurs and includes images of fossils that are in the Museum's collection.  Other features include a Top 10 list debunking common misconceptions, an article on field work, information about prehistoric life forms other than dinosaurs, and a step-by-step look at how dinosaur skeletons are reconstructed for Museum display.

University of California Museum of Paleontology
If you are looking for specific information, using their search function is very helpful.  This site has many different kinds of resources to offer, including online exhibits, a site called Dinobuzz covering exciting new research and controversial topics, and modules for educators on topics like Understanding Evolution, Explorations Through Time, and Learning from the Fossil Record. 

VanCleave, Janice.  Dinosaurs for Every Kid.  New York, John Wiley & Sons,
1994.  Projects and activities for kids connected to easy-to-understand background information for teachers.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent Federal grant- making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities supports the Berkshire Museum.

< Back to Pre-During-Post Visit Page