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Why did the dinosaurs go extinct?
Web of Life Unit | Lesson 7 of 7

Why did the dinosaurs go extinct?

Web of Life Unit | Lesson 7 of 7
Lesson narration:
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DISCUSS:

How could scientists figure out what dinosaurs ate by studying fossils?

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DISCUSS:

How do you think a single asteroid hitting the Earth could cause all the dinosaurs to go extinct?

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Art Project

Scientists and artists work together to imagine how dinosaurs looked and lived. Here, you’ll watch a video, read an article, and then create a dinosaur of your own.

Click here if you want to know the name scientists gave this dinosaur

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organism


1 of 17

any living thing
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herbivore


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an animal that only eats plants
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carnivore


3 of 17

an animal that eats only other animals
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omnivore


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an animal that eats both plants and animals
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consumer


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a living thing that eats other living things
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producer


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a living thing that makes its own food
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food chain


7 of 17

how living things are connected through what they eat and what they are eaten by
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food web


8 of 17

many different food chains found in one place
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solar energy (solar power)


9 of 17

energy from the Sun that provides energy for plants and consumers that eat those plants
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energy flow


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the movement of energy through living things
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model


11 of 17

a pretend version of something that scientists use when the real thing is too big, small, or complicated to work with
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extinct


12 of 17

a type of living thing that once lived on Earth but no longer exists
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fossil


13 of 17

the remains of a plant or animal that lived a very, very long time ago
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coprolite


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fossil poop
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atmosphere


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the air that surrounds a planet
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asteroid


16 of 17

a rocky object in outer space
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evidence


17 of 17

information that can be used to support or reject an idea
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Lesson narration:

Grade 5

Ecosystems & The Food Web

Food Webs & Flow of Energy

5-PS3-1

Activity Prep

Print Prep

In this lesson, students investigate the hypothesis that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. In the activity, Create a Dinosaur Food Web, students use cards and construction paper connectors to create a food web from the time of the dinosaurs. Using this model, they follow the flow of energy through the food web and figure out why dinosaurs went extinct but some other animals survived.

Preview activity

Exploration

15 mins

Wrap-Up

5 mins

Grade 5

Ecosystems & The Food Web

Food Webs & Flow of Energy

5-PS3-1

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