Extension Lessons for Digging Up Dinosaurs

Digging up Dinosaurs by Aliki is a book rich in information about dinosaurs and fossils. Below you will find extension activities that can be used with this text. The activities are divided into three sections based on major topics found in the book – Different Types of Dinosaurs, What is a Fossil?, and Fossil Hunting and Excavation. Feel free to read the book and complete the activities in sections, or to read the book in its entirety before completing the activities.

Below is a listing of extension activities for each section of the book. On the following pages you will find lesson plans and materials for each activity.

Different Types of Dinosaurs (page 5-9) Name a Dinosaur How Long Was a Dinosaur?

What is a Fossil? (page 12-13) Fossil Sequence Activity Sticky Animals

Fossil Hunting and Excavation (page 19–32) Dig Pit Dinosaur Bone Puzzle Chocolate Chip Cookie Excavation

Name a Dinosaur

Materials: Word part cards (see below) Drawing Paper Markers, crayons or colored pencils

Procedure: Cut out the word part cards in advance. Explain to the students that dinosaur names come from Greek and Latin

word parts that are combined to make one word that describes the dinosaur in some way. Sometimes a dinosaur’s name describes something about its body, head, or feet. Other dinosaurs are named for the way they move or their size. And some dinosaurs are named after the location where their fossils were found.

For example, Tyrannosaurus is the combination of the word parts tyrannos (tyrant) and saurus (lizard). So the name Tyrannosaurus means Tyrant Lizard.

Usually the person who discovers the dinosaur’s fossils gets to name the dinosaur.

Tell the students that they will each receive two cards that have either a Greek or Latin word part written on it. These cards also tell what each word part means.

The students should combine their word parts to make one dinosaur name and then draw a picture of their newly discovered dinosaur. They should write the name of their dinosaur on the paper.

Remind the students that their picture should match the meaning of the dinosaur name.

Hand out two cards and a piece of drawing paper to each student. When the students are finished have them share their dinosaur creations

with the class

brachys(short)

saurus(lizard)

kamptos(bent)

onyx(claw)

di(two)

odon(teeth)

gravis(heavy)

ops(face)

makros(long)

gnathus(jaw)

saltus(leaping)

dipus(two-footed)

stegos(plated)

rhinos(nose)

dino(terrible)

venator(hunter)

teratos(monster)

pus(foot)

tri(three)

neustes(swimmer)

aeto(eagle)

lepto(thin)

anato(duck)

pyro(fire)

baga(little)

lana(woolly)

cera(horn)

kentro(sharp point)

draco(dragon)

hypselo(high)

echino(spiny)

dromeus(runner)

stegos(plated)

veloci(speedy)

hadro(large)

urus(tail)

penta(five)

pogon(beard)

phyllo(leaf)

plateo(flat)

How long was a dinosaur?

Materials: Spools/balls of different colors of yarn (one spool for each group of students) Foot long rulers Scissors Dinosaur Lengths cards (see below)

Procedure: Cut apart the Dinosaur Lengths cards in advance. Put students into groups of 3 or 4. Give each group of students a different Dinosaur Length card. Have groups work together to measure a piece of yarn that is the length shown on

their card. Tape each Dinosaur Length card to the corresponding piece of yarn. Hang all of the pieces of yarn on a long wall in the hallway. Once all the pieces of string are hung, have the students make comparisons between

the lengths of different dinosaurs/animals.

Cut apart and give one animal/dinosaur to each group of students

Fossil Sequence Activity

Materials: Fossil Sequence Cards (see below) Paper (optional) Glue Sticks (optional)

Procedure: Cut apart the Fossil Sequence Cards in advance. Mix up the cards. Have students work to put the Fossil Sequence Cards in the appropriate order. This

can be done as a whole class, in small groups, in pairs, or individually. If this activity is done individually, you can have students glue their cards in order

on a blank piece of paper.

Sticky Animals

Materials: 1 plastic cup for each student Honey or molasses (enough to fill each cup about half way) Animal crackers or small graham cracker dinosaurs (2 or 3 per student) Paper towels

Procedure: Fill each cup half way full of honey or molasses and give each student a cup. Give each student 2 or 3 animal crackers and tell them to drop the animal crackers

into the cup. Let the animal crackers sink down for a minute or two then have the children pull

them out. Encourage students to notice how the animal crackers get stuck in the honey. Follow up this activity with a brief discussion about how it would feel if the students

got stuck in a pool of honey. Then ask the students to imagine what it would be like for a huge dinosaur to get stuck.

This activity simulates what happened to many dinosaurs when they got stuck in the mud at the bottom of lakes and rivers.

Dig Pit

Materials: Large plastic container or a small wading pool (depends on how much space you

have) Sand Plastic dinosaurs, leaves, sticks, clean chicken bones or other dried bones Small shovels Paintbrushes Magnifying glasses

Procedure: Fill the plastic tub or wading pool with sand. Bury the plastic dinosaurs, sticks, leaves and bones in the sand. Let students dig in the sand to see what they can find. Encourage the students to use a paintbrush to carefully clean off anything they find. Students should examine their findings carefully with a magnifying glass. As an extension activity, students could be asked to draw and write descriptions of

what they find in the dig site. Students could also weigh and measure their specimens.

Dinosaur Bone Puzzle

Materials: Scissors Glue sticks Coelophysis Bone Puzzle (see below) Construction Paper

Procedure: Give each student a pair of scissors, a glue stick, a Bone Puzzle and a piece of

construction paper. Demonstrate how to cut apart the puzzle pieces (cut around each group of

bones). Instruct the students to cut out their puzzle pieces and then work to put the

pieces together to make a skeleton of a Coelophysis (this is the New York State Dinosaur).

Once students have their pieces arrange how they like they should glue the pieces together on their piece of construction paper.

Coelophysis Bone Puzzle

Chocolate Chip Excavation

Materials: Chocolate Chip Cookies (one per student) Popsicle sticks Toothpicks Toothbrushes Paper plates I’m a Paleontologist! Recording sheet (below)

Procedure: Review the job of a paleontologist. Explain to the students that they will be paleontologists today and that their

“dig site” will be a chocolate chip cookie. Students will be searching for fossils (chocolate chips) in their dig sites.

Demonstrate how to use the various “tools” (popsicle sticks, tooth picks, toothbrushes) to excavate the chocolate chips from the cookie.

Remind students that they need to be very careful not to break their fossils (chocolate chips) as they work.

Have each child place a chocolate chip cookie on a paper plate and complete the first part of the I’m A Paleontologist recording sheet before beginning the dig.

After students have excavated all of the chocolate chips from their cookie they should complete the rest of the I’m A Paleontologist recording sheet.

After all students have finished, regroup to share results. As an extension activity the number of “fossils” found can be graphed and

compared

Name: ____________________ Date: _________________

I’m a paleontologist!Today I took part in a paleontological dig of a chocolate chip cookie. This is what the dig site looked like before I began.

As a result of my excavation I found:

_____________ Chocolate chips

The tools I used were:

_________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

Name: ____________________ Date: _________________

Name: ____________________ Date: _________________