American Museum of Natural History
A Whale of a Tale
What's the most interesting fact about a blue whale? Learners read an interview about the similarities between the Titanosaur and the blue whale displays at the American Museum of Natural History. Pupils learn not only about blue whales...
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Jump, Glide, or Fly? Exploring Bird Evolution
How have birds evolved from prehistoric animals? With the three-part instructional activity, small groups first research different prehistoric animals and determine whether they are birds. Then, scholars explore different bird...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
How Did Dinosaurs Regulate Their Body Temperature?
Are dinosaurs more like birds or reptiles? Learners put the question to the test by analyzing body temperature data from a 2014 study. With their analysis, they develop a theory about the body temperature regulation of dinosaurs.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Living Dinosaurs: Fact or Fiction?
Are birds descendants of dinosaurs? Learners consider the question as they watch an informative video comparing fossil records of dinosaurs with current species. Following the video, groups ponder the evidence to draw conclusions about...
Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust
The Lost World
Fans of Sherlock Holmes may be surprised to learn that in addition to stories of the famous deductionist, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is also the creator of Professor Challenger. An irascible, unpredictable scientist, Challenger was featured...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Using the Scientific Process to Study Human Evolution
Did humans and dinosaurs coexist? How do we know? Scholars dig in to the tools and methods researchers used to study the process of human evolution by watching a slideshow with embedded video clips. Pupils learn the importance of asking...
PhysEdGames
Dinosaur Prowl
Prowl like a dinosaur! Choose several students to be the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs with dodge balls are the taggers, and the Triceratops on the scooters are the freers. As the other players are tagged with balls, the Triceratops scoot...
BBC
Walking with Dinosaurs
Breath new life into your class's study of dinosaurs with this extensive collection of materials. Offering everything from a printable T-rex mask, word searches, and connect-the-dots activities to informational handouts, hands-on...
Lerner Publishing
Meet the Dinosaurs
Take your class of youngsters on a prehistoric adventure with this four-lesson series on dinosaurs. Accompanying the Meet the Dinosaurs books by Don Lessem, these lessons engage children in writing their own dinosaur books, making...
Curated OER
My Mini Book About...
Elementary learners complete a mini book on polar bears. The resource contains four pages, each a quarter of a page, including one title page with a picture of a polar bear and a space for kids to write their names.Â
Teacher Printables
My Mini Book About …
This is one of several printable pages on which little life scientists can write out their research on an assigned animal. The highlighted page is for alligator research, but several other animal pages are included as other materials....
Teacher Printables
My Report Pack for. . .
Here is a handy guide for putting together a research report on birds, or on a selection of other topics (see the added materials.). Individuals are guided to think of three questions about their topic, they narrow down subtopics, use a...
Curated OER
Science NetLinks: Hollywood Dinosaurs
Students use relevant evidence and logical reasoning to construct theories for dinosaur behavior. They examine recent evidence that challenges a prevailing dinosaur theory.
Curated OER
I Dig Dinosaurs
Students examine the process of fossil removal and the naming of dinosaurs. They participate in a "fossil dig" involving cookies, create new dinosaur names, and create a picture of a dinosaur they name.
Curated OER
Let Me Out! Dino Eggs
Students conduct research about animals that lay eggs such as reptiles and birds. After identifying characteristics of reptiles and discussing the connection to dinosaurs, they create a three-dimensional paper mache dinosaur egg with a...
Curated OER
Prehistoric Pen Pals
Students read online information and identify relevant information about a particular dinosaur species, assume the personality of a specific dinosaur species, and write online "getting to know you" letters to other student-dinosaurs in...
Curated OER
Digging Up Dinosaurs
Young scholars research dinosaurs using text, software, and Internet resources while role playing as paleontologists. They place the information from their research in databases and publish an illustrated page about their findings.
Curated OER
Fossil Formation
A fossil is worth a thousand words! Individuals craft their own amber fossil of an insect in addition to molds and casts of seashells. A third activity takes the activity a notch higher: Learners measure stride lengths between tracks and...
Curated OER
Report Writing
Why don't dinosaurs wander the earth any longer? Answer this fascinating question with young readers as they examine a brief informational text. There are bolded words to separate text sections which are an excellent example of...
Curated OER
Heating and Cooling a Really Large Lizard
Remind your middle school scientists how fox ear size varies depending on the climate they live in; large ears allow heat loss while small ears keep heat in. Discuss how a cold-blooded animal might try to regulate body temperature. Then...
Curated OER
Creatasaurus
Upper elementary children still are intrigued by dinosaurs. Here is a dinosaur lesson that is geared toward their age group! The learners consider a list of prefixes and suffixes. Using the list, they can analyze the names of their...
Curated OER
Dino-Myte Spreadsheet
Do your learners like dinosaurs and theme parks? An ambitious lesson invites learners to put together a plan for supplying dinosaurs for a new theme park. Pupils work together in groups to come up with their plan, which must include a...
Curated OER
Our Dinopals with WordArt
Elementary schoolers use the writing process steps to write a descriptive paragraph about a fictional dinosaur. Using a tech tool lesson, they create a graphic title for the paragraph. A nice blending of technology with "old-fashioned"...
Curated OER
Footprints: Take a Step into Estimation
Compare sizes of student footprints with those of elephants and sauropod dinosaurs! Upper graders make estimations of the areas of irregular shapes; students use grids to make and explain estimates within low and high ranges.