THEM BONES, THEM BONES

MASTER TEACHER  Angie Lengyel

GRADES Pre-K – 1

OVERVIEW
In this lesson, students will learn how scientists found out about dinosaurs.  The students will be able to identify Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Apatasaurus, and other dinosaurs.  They will also learn that some animals living today are distant cousins to the dinosaurs.  The students will create a chart about what they know about dinosaurs, what they want to know about dinosaurs and what they have learned about dinosaurs.  They will put dinosaur puzzles together much like Paleontologists put dinosaur bones together.

ETV SERIES
Reading Rainbow: #106 Digging Up Dinosaurs 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The learner will be able to:
* identify dinosaurs by name
* classify whether an animal is a distant cousin to the dinosaurs
* use spatial relationships to put together a dinosaur puzzle
* work cooperatively with a partner
* match a fossil to what made the fossil

MATERIALS
Session 1
1 picture of each dinosaur: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Apatasaurus, and Ankylosaurus
1 piece of poster board
1 black marker
6 pictures that are similar to those in the book Digging Up Dinosaurs with a description of how dinosaur bones became fossils at the bottom of the picture
1 shoebox per 2 children
1 small toothbrush per child
1 blank puzzle that has about 16 pieces per 2 children (draw and color a picture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus, or an Apatasaurus on each  puzzle).  These may be purchased at educational supply stores. 
4 cups of sand per 2 children
Session 2
1 picture of each of the following animals: tortoise, rhinosaurus, hippopotamus, iguana, crocodile, elephant, dog, cat, bird, giraffe, horse
use the dinosaur pictures from session 1
1 piece of poster board
1 black marker
Session 3
1 small-medium ball of modeling clay
1 of each object per child: paper clip, ruler, pencil, leaf, and any other object that could make a good impression in the clay
2 cookie sheets or trays
1 sentence strip per child
1 white 12x18 piece of construction paper per child
1 glue per child
an assortment of coloring materials

PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITY
Show the class pictures of dinosaurs (Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Apatasaurus, Ankylosaurus).  Ask the students to tell you what animals are in these pictures (accept all answers).  If they don’t know, tell the students the pictures are of dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago.  They lived on earth long before people lived on earth.  Create a chart with three columns. Title one column, “What We Already Know,” the second column, “What We Want to Know,” and the third column, “What We Learned.”  Explain to the students that we are going to write things down in the first column about what we already know about dinosaurs and in the second column some things we’d like to learn about dinosaurs.  Ask the students what they already know about dinosaurs (accept all answers and write them in the first column).  If a student gives you an incorrect answer, write it down because you can go back and correct it at the end of the unit.  Then ask the students what they want to learn about dinosaurs.  If you don’t get any answers, offer some suggestions (Would you like to know what dinosaurs ate? How did dinosaurs protect themselves?  Why aren’t dinosaurs around anymore?)  Write down the answers in the second column.  When you are finished with the chart, go over it with the students and tell them when the unit is over, they will tell you what they learned and you will write it down in the third column.

FOCUS FOR VIEWING 
Tell the students they are going to watch a video that will show them how we found out about dinosaurs.  To give students a responsibility while viewing, tell them to look and listen for the storyteller to explain how we know about dinosaurs.  Listen for the word “fossil” and what it means.  Write the word “fossil” on the board.

VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Begin the video, Digging Up Dinosaurs #106, after LeVar Burton says, “As you can see, I’ve been through this book more than once.”  He’s standing next to a jeep holding the book. Pause the video after the narrator says, “It weighed 90,000 pounds,” and there is a picture of a dinosaur skeleton.  Tell the students what they just saw was a dinosaur skeleton.  The skeleton is made up of the bones of the dinosaur.  The bones fit together in a specific way.  Ask the students if they have ever seen an x-ray.  Explain to the students that an x-ray is a picture of the bones inside their bodies.  Have students feel their ribs and tell them that those are some of their bones that make up their bodies.  Then tell the students they are going to see more dinosaur skeletons.  Look and listen for how the narrator knows what kind of dinosaur it is by looking at its skeleton. Resume video.  Pause the video after the narrator says, “Three horns, Triceratops,” and there is a picture of a Triceratops skeleton.  Ask the students how the narrator knew a dinosaur was an Iguanadon (because of its horned thumbs) and Triceratops (because of the three horns on its head).  Then tell the students to look and listen for how people found out about dinosaurs.   Tell them to listen for the word fossil and point to the word already written on the board.  Resume video.  Pause the video after; “Fossils are a kind of diary of the past,” and there is a picture of a man brushing away rock from a dinosaur bone.  Ask the students if they heard the word fossil.  Say to the students, “The people who found the dinosaur bones called them fossils. The fossils helped them to learn about the dinosaurs.  We now know about dinosaurs because we found their bones!”  Then tell the students, “ Now you will find out how the dinosaur’s bones became fossils.”  Listen to the narrator explain how the dinosaur bones became fossils. Resume video.  Pause video after the narrator says, “Everything we know about dinosaurs comes from studying fossils,” and there is a picture of a girl and six pictures showing how dinosaur bones became fossils.  Ask students to tell the order in which dinosaur bones became fossils.  Have pictures that are similar to those in the book with a description of the picture at the bottom.  Read each of the descriptions and have the students put the pictures in the appropriate order.  Read the descriptions again after the pictures have been put in the correct sequence.  Tell students that the bones became fossils in picture three when the sand and skeleton turned into stone.  Ask the students how they think the dinosaur skeletons got into the museum (accept all answers).  Tell the students they are going to see how scientists find the fossils and what they do with them once they find them.  Resume video. Stop video after the narrator says, “Figuring out how they go together is some job,” and there is a picture of four men studying a dinosaur skeleton.

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITY
Tell the students, “Now that you know how scientists found out about dinosaurs by piecing their bones together, we’re going to see if we can put some pieces together.”  In a medium sized shoebox, bury the pieces of the blank puzzle on which you have drawn and colored a dinosaur containing about 4 cups of sand.  Give each student a small paintbrush.  Pair students and give each pair one shoebox.  Tell students they are going to pretend to be scientists and they need to find the pieces of the dinosaur just like the ones on the video.  Tell students the scientist that studies dinosaur bones is called a Paleontologist.  Then show the students how to brush away the sand with the brushes to find the pieces.  The students are to take turns finding the pieces.  Once all the pieces are found, the students work cooperatively to put the puzzle together.  When everyone is finished, ask the students to describe what type of dinosaur they put together.  Ask the students to describe their dinosaur (Does it have a long neck?  Sharp teeth?  How many legs is it walking on?)  Have the students select the pictures of the same dinosaurs on their puzzles and see if they know the dinosaur’s name.  If they don’t know the dinosaur’s name, tell the students and describe it (ex. the Tyrannosaurus Rex walked on two legs, had sharp teeth, was thought to be the fiercest dinosaur, etc.) 

SESSION 2 or CONTINUATION
PREVIEWING ACTIVITY
Tell the students that even though dinosaurs are long gone, there are some animals around that are related to the dinosaurs.  Show them pictures of a tortoise, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, iguana, crocodile, and an elephant.  Place the pictures on the board next to pictures of dinosaurs.  Ask the students how these animals and dinosaurs look the same.  Accept all answers but clarify also.  If the students can’t come up with any similarities, give them some examples (the rhino has horns on its head just like the Triceratops).

FOCUS FOR VIEWING
Tell students they are going to watch a video that talks about some of the animals that could be distant cousins to the dinosaurs.  They are going to hear a man reading a poem
in the video.  To give the students a specific responsibility while viewing, tell them to count how many different animals they see.

VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Begin the video where LeVar Burton is sitting in the jeep and he says, “Many of the animals on the earth today are living cousins to the dinosaurs.”  Pause the video after the man reading the poem says, “could look through family photos and find Tyrannosaurus Rex,” and there is a picture of a lizard.  Ask the students how many animals they counted (6) and what animals they can recall (elephants, tortoise, lizards, snakes, rhinoceros, hippopotamus).  Next, tell the students to listen for how we could find out if an animal is related to the dinosaurs. Resume video.  Pause the video after the man reading the poem says, “It’s pretty much the same type they now are living in,” and there is a picture of a snake.  Ask students if they heard the answer to the question how we might learn an animal is related to a dinosaur.  If not, replay segment and have students listen again (they can tell by the animal’s skin).  For the next segment, tell students they are going to see a large tortoise and to listen for how he is related to a dinosaur.  Resume video.  Pause video after the man reading the poem says, “The rest went to extinction,” and there is a picture of a tortoise.  Ask students what the turtle has that one of the dinosaurs had (a shell on its back)?  Tell students they are going to see a rhinoceros and to listen for how he is related to a dinosaur. Resume video.  Pause the video after the man reading the poem says, “From Triceratops he did inherit it,” and there is a picture of a rhinoceros.  Ask the students how the rhinoceros could be related to the dinosaurs.  If you do not get an answer, rewind the segment and have students listen again (the rhinoceros has two horns on its head somewhat like the Triceratops who had three horns on its head).  Resume video.  Stop video after the man reading the poem says, “Check your dino history,” and there is a picture of a lizard.

POST –VIEWING ACTIVITY
Tell the students, “Now you know what to look for in determining whether or not an animal could be related to the dinosaurs.  I’m going to quiz you to see if you can tell me if the animal I show you could be related to the dinosaurs or not.”  Create a chart with two columns.  Label one column Yes and the other column No.  Tell the students they are going to use what they know about dinosaurs to tell you whether or not an animal could be a distant relative to the dinosaurs.  Hold up pictures of different animals (crocodile, dog, cat, tortoise, iguana, bird, elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe and horse).  Have students place the picture of the animal in the Yes column if it could be related to dinosaurs and the pictures of the animals that cannot be related in the No column.  Review the chart with the students.  The following animals should be in the Yes column: crocodile, tortoise, iguana, elephant and rhinoceros.  The following animals should be in the No column: dog, cat, bird, giraffe and horse.

SESSION 3 or CONTINUATION
PRE-VIEW ACTIVITY
Ask the students if they have ever seen dinosaur bones.  Tell them that there are places called museums where people can go to look at dinosaur bones.  It’s kind of like going to a zoo to see wild animals.  The bones that Paleontologists find are used to make fake bones that are used to create the skeletons seen in museums.

FOCUS FOR VIEWING                                                                                      Tell the students they are going to see a museum where Paleontologists work to dig up dinosaur bones.  To give students a responsibility while viewing, tell them to look for dinosaur bones and learn what tools the Paleontologist uses to dig up the bones. 

VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Begin the video when you see LeVar pulling up in front of the museum.  He will say, “Here we are at Dinosaur National Monument in Jensen, Utah.”  As LeVar is walking up the wall, point to the bones on the screen to show the students what they look like. Pause the video after the woman says, “Just scraping away the rock,” and there’s a picture of a hand brushing away rock.  Ask the students what kinds of tools the Paleontologist was using.  Rewind segment that shows what tools are used if they can’t remember the tools or if you want to review them.  Accept only correct answers (pick, hammer, and brush).  Then tell students to look and listen for how Paleontologists remove the bones from the wall and what they do with them after that. Resume video.  Pause the video after the woman says, “Not the real thing, just an exact copy,” and there’s a picture of LeVar and the woman standing by a dinosaur skull.  Tell the students that the scientists made a copy of the dinosaur’s skull after they dug it out of the wall.  Tell the students to look and listen to learn what this particular dinosaur ate.  Resume video.  Pause the video after the woman says, “Rip right through that tough meat,” and there’s a picture of LeVar and the woman examining the dinosaur skull.  Ask the students what the people in the video were looking at to tell if the dinosaur ate meat or plants (teeth).  Then ask the students what that particular dinosaur ate and how they know (meat, because of its sharp teeth).  Tell the students that dinosaurs that ate meat had sharp teeth and dinosaurs that ate plants had flat teeth.  Then tell the students that they need to look and listen for what other fossils the scientists found.  Resume video.  Stop the video after LeVar says, “Neat,” and there is a picture of people sitting down and looking at the fossils.  Ask the students what other fossils have been found other than dinosaur fossils (turtles and crocodiles).

POST-VIEWING ACTIVITY
Tell the students, “Now you have seen and learned how we know so much about dinosaurs.”  Ask the students if they remember how we found out about dinosaurs (scientists found their bones/fossils).  Remind students that fossils helped scientists figure out what dinosaurs looked like.  Then tell students that they are now going to make their own fossils.  Give each student a ball of modeling clay.  Instruct the students to mold their ball into a flat, oval shape.  Then give each child an object that will leave an impression in the clay.  Have the students press their object into the clay and then carefully pull it out.  When everyone is finished, collect the “fossils” and place them on a cookie sheet/tray.  Place the students in a circle around the “fossils.”  Allow a few minutes for them to look at the “fossils.”  Then lay out the objects they used on a cookie sheet/tray and set it next to the fossil tray.  Pick one student at a time to come and pick up their fossil.  Ask another student to choose which object made the impression in the clay by asking, “What is this a fossil of?”  The child answering the question is the next child to hold up their “fossil” and so on.  At the end of the activity, tell the students they need to complete their chart about dinosaurs.  Review the first two columns with the students starting with “What We Already Know” and then “What We Want to Know.”  After the review, read the title of the third column, “What We Learned.”  Ask the students to tell you what they learned about dinosaurs.  Write only correct responses in the column.  If the students cannot tell you all they have learned, help them by asking, “Did you learn who a Paleontologist is?  Did you learn about what some dinosaurs ate?”  After receiving and giving responses to what the students have learned, check to see if the responses in the “What We Want to Know” column have all been addressed.  If there are some questions that weren’t answered, tell the students what you know personally.

EXTENSIONS

Language Arts
Write the following sentence on a sentence strip: Some dinosaurs were bigger than
 ______________.  Reproduce the sentence strip so that each student gets one.  Have the students glue their sentence strip at the bottom of a white 12x18 piece of construction paper.  Then tell the students to draw a picture of something that is smaller than a dinosaur, such as a car, a person, an animal, or a tree.  Write the word the student gives you to complete the sentence.  Make sure the word corresponds with thing they drew in their picture.  Then have the students draw dinosaurs that are bigger than whatever else they drew on their paper.  Collect all of the student’s pages to create a big book for your class.
Math
Go outside and measure the length of a particular dinosaur.  The Apatasaurus is 100 feet long.  It’s neck was 33 feet long and it’s tail was 45 feet long.  The Stegosaurus was 30 feet long and the Triceratops was over 30 feet long.  The Triceratops’ head was seven feet long and its horns were three feet long.  Measure the height of each child first and record the measurements on a piece of paper.  Then have the students lay down in a straight line head to feet to measure how many of them make up the length of the dinosaurs.  Add the heights of the children used in measuring the length of the dinosaur (ex.  You have four students who are three and one half feet tall and four students who are four feet tall.  Lay those students down in a straight line, head to feet, and you will have 30 feet which is the length of the Stegosaurus).  After measuring the length of the three dinosaurs, go back inside and order the dinosaurs shortest to longest.  Hang pictures of these dinosaurs on the board.  Ask the students how many of them it took to make an Apatasaurus? Triceratops?  Stegosaurus?  Write the number under the appropriate picture.  Then place the pictures in order from shortest to longest.  You could then to the reverse, longest to shortest, with the upper grades
Internet Extension
The students can view pictures of dinosaurs and hear sounds dinosaurs might have made by going to www.yahooligans.com and entering “dinosaurs.” 
They can also go to www.dinodon.com
--Here you can look at pictures of dinosaurs.

ACTION PLAN
Plan a field trip to a museum where dinosaur bones are on display.  You could also plan a trip to a nearby zoo or animal park to look at animals and determine whether or not they could be distant relatives to the dinosaurs.
Arrange for the students to visit other classrooms to give a “report” of their favorite dinosaur.  The student could take a picture they have drawn of their favorite dinosaur and describe it.  They could also talk about what their favorite dinosaur ate, how many legs it walked on, how it protected itself, etc.
 

Updated:  April 01, 2008