Welcome to Dino Days!

Class Expectations

Who are YOU?

Paleontologists: Dinosaur Detectives

• Paleontologists are Dinosaur Detectives!

• They use their skills to learn about animals that lived long ago.

• We’re going to be paleontologists this week!

What do you know about dinosaurs?

Malawisaurus Monday

Malawisaurus Monday• What is a sauropod?• How did sauropods like Malawisaurus

live?

What is a sauropod?

• Sauropods were the largest of all the dinosaurs.

• The heaviest sauropods weighed as much as 100 tons! That’s more than 15 elephants!

• Sauropod means “lizard foot.”• Some sauropods you might know are

Brontosaurus, Diplodocus, and Apatosaurus.

• Sauropods were herbivores. They only ate plants!

• Look at Malawisaurus’s long neck. What animal today also has a long neck?

• How does having a long neck help sauropods to find food?

Click me for a joke!

What did sauropods eat?Click me to learn more!

Herd Animals• Sauropods traveled in groups, called

herds. • They stayed together with their

families through their lives. • What else can we learn aboutsauropods?

Now it’s your turn!• Be a sauropod:

– Streeeeetch out your neck!– Stomp your big heavy feet and form a

herd!– Find leaves high up in the trees and

gobble them up!To learn more about sauropods, click here!

Dinosaur Measurement

• How big were the different kinds of dinosaurs?

• How do I compare to them?

Dinosaur Collage: Part 1• How can I use art materials to make

a mixed media collage?• How will my collage look like the

world did in the time of the dinosaurs?

Dinosaur Detectives• Who was Mary Anning?• How did she help paleontology grow?• How do people hunt for fossils?

Cookie Excavation• Paleontologists use their scientific

detective skills to learn more about ancient animals.

• One method they use is excavation.

• Excavation means removing soil to discover bones, eggs, droppings, and other clues to help us learn how animals lived long ago.

Cookie Excavation Procedure1. Use your senses to observe your two

cookies. How are they the same/different?

2. Now focus on your HARD cookie. Use your toothpicks to carefully pull out the M&Ms. You don’t want to damage them!

3. How did it work?4. Focus on your SOFT cookie and

remove the M&Ms.5. Which was easier to excavate? Why?6. EAT and ENJOY!

What was your favorite part of today’s lesson?

Did we have fun?

T-Rex Tuesday

Review Time!• How did dinosaurs live?• What were sauropods like?

REMEMBER:• Paleontologists are Dinosaur Detectives! • They use their skills to learn about animals that

lived long ago.

Warm-up Story

Click me for an awesome predator video!

Predatory Dinosaurs• What did Tyrannosaurus Rex eat?• What makes an animal a predator?• How does a predator live differently

from its prey?• Why are predators needed?

Click here: Prey Dinosaurs

• If a predator is an animal that hunts and eats other animals, what are prey animals?

• Prey is the name for animals that are hunted for food by predators.

• Prey animals can also be predators! • In this picture we see

Compsognathus being hunted by Torvosaurus, a big relative of T-Rex.

• Compsognathus was also a predator and hunted small reptiles.

Dinner?

Carnivores• Carnivores are animals that eat

meat.• They hunt, steal eggs, or scavenge

from the meals of others. • Their teeth are very sharp and

pointed to be able to tear the meat.T-Rex Teeth

Lion Teeth

Herbivores• Herbivores are animals that eat

plants.• They can spend lots of time chewing

their food.• Their teeth are flat and made for

grinding.Triceratops Teeth

HorseTeeth

Omnivores• YOU are not a carnivore OR a herbivore.• You are an omnivore. Your body was

made to be able to eat plants AND meat!• You have some sharp teeth and some

flat teeth.

BearTeeth

HumanTeeth

Click me to explore dinosaur predators!

Exciting Excavations• How can I use the Dig It tools to act like a

paleontologist?

• Are you ready to do some excavating?• We will go across the street to the Dig It!

Exhibit and excavate the Calusa artifacts.

Dinosaur Collage: Part 2• How can I use art materials to make

a mixed media collage?• How will my collage look like the

world did in the time of the dinosaurs?

Dinosaur Detectives• Who was Gideon Mantell?• How did his discovery of different

teeth lead us to understand about dinosaurs?

• What can you learn about dinosaur teeth?

Tooth Exploration• We’re going to

examine real dinosaur teeth!

• Which ones are carnivore teeth?

• Which are herbivore teeth?

• How can you tell?

What was your favorite part of today’s lesson?

Did we have fun?

Wuerhosaurus Wednesday

Review Time!• What did T-Rex eat?• What makes an animal a predator?• How does a predator live differently from its prey?• Why are predators needed?REMEMBER:• Paleontologists are Dinosaur Detectives! • They use their skills to learn about animals that

lived long ago.

Warm-up Story

Armored Dinosaurs• What kinds of dinosaurs had armor?• How did their armor help them survive?

• Dinosaurs had different types of armor:--Horns --Plates --Spikes --Claws--Clubs

• These things were used to defend against predators.

• Most of the armored dinosaurs were herbivores.

Armored Dinosaurs

Click me to see a cool armor video!

Horned Dinosaurs • Some dinosaurs

used horns to protect themselves and their young.

• The most famous of these is Triceratops.

• An animal today like Triceratops is the rhinoceros.

Plated Dinosaurs• Some dinosaurs used

thick bony plates to protect their bodies.

• These plates worked like armor on a knight.

• Wuerhosaurus had plates like this.

• An animal today like Wueruosaurus is the pangolin.

Spiked Dinosaurs• Some dinosaurs had

spikes on their backs and tails to defend and attack predators.

• Kentrosaurus used its tail spikes to fend off T-Rex.

• An animal today that uses spikes is the porcupine.

Herbivores CarnivoresTherizinosaurus Lightning Claw

Sloth Tiger

Dinosaur Claws• Many dinosaurs

used claws for defense.

• Claws were also used to attack and kill prey.

• Modern animals also have claws for the same reasons.

Dinosaur Clubs• Some dinosaurs had a club

at the end of their tails.• The club was made of hard

bone and could strike at predators.

• Ankylosaurs had a clubbed tail.

• Modern animals don’t have clubbed tails, but one uses its tail as a warning!

Dinosaur Defenses• If you were a herbivore and you

needed to choose armor for yourself, what kinds of armor would you pick?

Click me to explore dinosaur armor!

Making a Fossil

• How did dinosaur bones become fossils?

Skeleton Fossil Construction• How can I create a model of a

dinosaur’s skeleton?

Cope and Marsh• Who were Cope and Marsh? • How did their fossil hunt help us to

learn more about dinosaurs?

Cope and MarshCharles Marsh

•Born in 1831•Paleontologist•Named a fossil after his friend Cope.

Edward Cope

•Born in 1840•Paleontologist•Named a fossil after his friend Marsh.

Dinosaur Scavenger Hunt

• Team up with your partner.• Hunt through the museum to find the hidden

dinosaur clues. WALK! We’re not racing. • Meet back at the classroom in 15 minutes!

What was your favorite part of today’s lesson?

Did we have fun?

Therizinosaurus Thursday

Review Time!• What kinds of dinosaurs had armor?• How did their armor help them survive?

REMEMBER:• Paleontologists are Dinosaur Detectives! • They use their skills to learn about animals that

lived long ago.

Warm-up Story

Theropods• How are theropods different from

other dinosaurs?• How are dinosaurs related to birds?• What is a cassowary?

Theropods• Theropods like Therizinosaurus were very

special dinosaurs. • Many modern day birds are the great-great-

great-times 100 grandkids of theropods!• How do we know?

Click here to see Jack Horner!

It’s All About the Feathers• Whole groups of theropods discovered in China

were found with imprints of FEATHERS on them.• Raptor bones are hollow– like a bird’s!• Raptors also had claws like some kinds of birds.

CassowaryVelociraptor

Click me for a fun comic!

Click ME for more!

Feather Exploration• What are feathers made of?• How are they similar to

scales?• Could an animal have

both?

Click here for Nat Geo!

Dinosaur Print Painting• How are dinosaurs’ feet the same or

different?• How can I use model dinosaurs to mimic

their tracks?

Werner Janensch• Helped to prove the

theory of plate tectonics.• Dinosaurs’ fossils were

found on two different continents!

• How did they get there?

Dinosaur Track Printing• How can I make a gigantic dinosaur path? • What can I tell about animals by looking at

their tracks?

What was your favorite part of today’s lesson?

Did we have fun?

Fukuisaurus Friday

Review Time!• How are raptors different from other

dinosaurs?• How are dinosaurs related to birds?

REMEMBER:• Paleontologists are Dinosaur Detectives! • They use their skills to learn about

animals that lived long ago.

Warm-up Story

Ornithopods• Why are some dinosaurs called “duck

billed?”• How are ornithopods different from

other dinosaurs?

Ornithopods• Ornithopod means

“bird foot.”• Ornithopods had

big spaces in their skulls

• They also had very different head shapes, like crests, beaks, and duck bills. Edmontosaurus

Iguanodon

Parasauropholous

Ornithopods• Ornithopods were herbivores. • They traveled in herds like sauropods.• They built nests to raise their young.• Maiasaura was the first ornithopod to be

found with a nesting adult. The name means “good mother lizard.”

Click me to explore more about

ornithopods!

• What do we know about dinosaurs that is real?

• How can we tell what’s make-believe?

Dinosaur Snack

Play the game!

See the video!

Eat the snack!

Build a Dinosaur• What is a mosaic?• How can I use foam shapes to build a

mosaic of a dinosaur?

Jack Horner• Who is Jack Horner?• How is Jack’s work helping us learn

more about dinosaurs?

What do you know about dinosaurs?

Dino Days Camp Show

Welcome Families!