Getting started
Children love dinosaurs because they are evidence that strange, fantastic
worlds can exist. Imagination and reality come face to face when a child
looks into the eyes and jaws of Tyrannosaurus rex. What did it eat?
How did it move? Was it real? What does its name mean? How long ago
did it live? It is these questions that make children and scientists
alike want to find out more. The best reason for studying dinosaur fossils
is to provide students, teachers and parents a unique opportunity to
use science to answer questions and solve problems. Science can be used
to make observations, collect data, test ideas and draw conclusions
about the dinosaurs' world.
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Dinosphere
Visitors to Dinosphere will be
transported to the Cretaceous Period via plants, animals, sights, sounds
and smells of 65 million years ago, when the earth belonged to the dinosaurs.
Students will meet the stars of the era - T. rex, Triceratops, Hypacrosaurus,
Gorgosaurus, Maiasaura and many more unique creatures. The fossil
clues left in the Cretaceous Period help to reconstruct the world of
dinosaurs. Now you're in their world!
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Indiana dinosaurs?
Why aren't dinosaurs found in Indiana? Students
often ask this question. Dinosaurs probably lived in Indiana long ago,
but several major changes in climate have occurred in this state since
the end of the Cretaceous. Large glaciers scoured, scraped and eroded
the surface and bedrock of Indiana, where dinosaur bones may have been
deposited. When the climate changed the melted glaciers produced tremendous
quantities of water that moved sediments, soil, rocks and fossils out
of the state. Fragile fossils cannot survive the strong natural forces
that have shaped the Hoosier state. The youngest bedrock in Indiana,
from the Carboniferous Period, 360 - 286 million years ago (mya), is
much older than the Mesozoic Era fossil beds of the dinosaurs, 248 -
65 mya. Thus fossilized dinosaur bones have not been found in Indiana.
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Focus questions
Science is driven by questions. This unit of study asks questions
that encourage investigation and challenge students to learn more:
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Scientists use many different tools to help
unlock the mysteries of a dinosaur fossil.
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What are dinosaurs?
Are dinosaurs real?
What were they like?
How did they become fossils?
How does someone learn about dinosaurs?
How are dinosaurs named?
Why did they live in groups?
What did they eat?
What happened to them?
Who discovered them?
What is still not known?
Who studies dinosaurs?
How can a person share what he or she learns?
Where can someone learn more?
Students embark on an expedition of discovery by using fossil clues
and indirect evidence.
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Science class environment
In Dinosphere students explore
dinosaurs and fossils from a scientific perspective. Instead of just
learning words, ideas and facts, they use science to build understanding.
In this unit students are encouraged not just to learn about what someone
else has discovered but also to try that discovery on their own - to
explore the world using tools with their own hands. Reading, writing
and math are essential elements of this scientific method. Students
ask questions, make hypotheses, construct plans, take observations,
collect data, analyze results and draw conclusions. A good science program
provides experiences that offer an opportunity to learn in a unique
manner. This unit of study combines the scientific method with hands-on
experience.
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Dinosaur classroom
You can enhance the study of dinosaurs by creating a "Cretaceous Classroom."
The Children's Museum Store is a great place to find
dinosaur books, puzzles, posters, puppets and models to outfit your
learning space. Bookmark the listed Web sites on classroom computers.
Create different areas in the room for exploration. Use plastic tablecloths
for clay or play dough work areas. Locate a sand table or a plastic
wading pool filled with sand in an area where student paleontologists
can dig up dinosaur models. Provide students with vests, pith helmets
and goggles to role-play dinosaur hunters. Ask students to create artwork
to show where dinosaurs lived. Create a space where students can add
to a dinosaur mural as they learn more about these fascinating creatures.
Post in your room a Vocabulosaurus section for new
words to learn. Provide families with a list of dinosaur videos that
students can check out overnight. Other great sources for turning your
classroom into a prehistoric adventure area can be found at The
Dinosaur Farm and The
Dinosaur Nest.
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Literature connection
Many outstanding dinosaur big books, magazines, paperback books, videos
and models are listed in the resources at the end of this unit. Two
separate book lists are included: those specifically about plants and
animals of the Cretaceous Period, and titles appropriate for a classroom
library. In addition, annotated books are listed with each lesson.
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| Bucky Derflinger is the young cowboy who found the first toe
bone of Bucky, the T. rex. |
Dino Diary
Students use a Dino Diary to write words and sentences, take notes,
make drawings and record the data they collect during the lessons. At
the end of each activity students are asked to respond to the following
Dino Diary writing prompt, "Today I discovered..."
Each experience ends with a writing component in the science journal.
Two styles of templates are provided in the Resource Materials link.
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Family connection
This unit is intended for classrooms, families and individual learners.
Let families know that your class will be studying dinosaurs. Some families
may have visited museums or dig sites featuring dinosaurs or may be
interested in planning such a trip in the future. They can learn a lot
by working together to explore the Web sites and books recommended in
this unit of study. Share the Dinosphere Web site
with your students' families and encourage them to visit Dinosphere
at The Children's Museum. The activities are set up
for group discussion appropriate for working and learning in a family
setting, so that families can explore the world of dinosaurs very much
like the Linster family did. The Linsters spent each summer vacation
on a family quest to find dinosaurs. They found and helped excavate
the Gorgosaurus, Maiasaura and Bambiraptor featured in
Dinosphere. The Zerbst family found and excavated Kelsey,
the Triceratops and one of the Museum's star attractions. Kelsey
was named after the Zerbsts' granddaughter. A family that uses this
unit of study to start their own expedition of discovery might find
a treasure that ends up in Dinosphere!
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Dinosphere museum link
Plan a field trip or get more information via the Dinosphere Web site. A museum visit provides extraordinary
learning opportunities for students to explore the world of dinosaurs.
Museums serve as field trip sites where fossils and immersive environments
help motivate visitors to learn more about the world. The Children's
Museum Dinosphere provides a doorway into the Cretaceous Period,
where visitors come face to face with dinosaurs. Visitors will see real
dinosaur fossils in lifelike exhibits, discover how fossils tell stories
about the past and learn the latest findings from the world's top paleontologists.
More information, including Webquests, can be found at the Dinosphere Web site. In addition, many of the print selections
listed in the unit are available through the infoZone , a branch
of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library located at The Children's
Museum.
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