DISCUSS:
How could scientists figure out what dinosaurs ate by studying fossils?
DISCUSS:
How do you think a single asteroid hitting the Earth could cause all the dinosaurs to go extinct?
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
Parasaurolophus
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 activityDino Die-Off Cards printout | 1 per pair |
Dinosaur Food Web worksheet | 1 per student |
Dinosaur Food Web Answer Key teacher-only resource | 1 per class |
Markers
Pens, crayons, or colored pencils will also work.
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Details
1 marker per student
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Scissors
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1 pair per student |
Black Construction Paper
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1 sheet per group |
Colored Construction Paper
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1 sheet per pair |
We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.
Each pair of students needs an area that’s about 2 feet by 3 feet for their completed food web. Plan for enough space. Students can work at desks, tables, or on the floor.
Access to a paper cutter will make your activity prep really easy.
If you have access to a paper cutter, we suggest you use one to prepare these construction paper strips.
Cut the black construction paper into strips measuring 3” by ¾”.
Cut your colored construction paper into strips measuring about 4” by ¾”.
Student slideshow: English | Spanish
Teacher printout: English & Spanish
In this reading, students learn simple steps they can take to help protect the environment.
For a limited time, view archived reading extensions here.
The American Museum of Natural History in New York has a great Dinosaur Curriculum Collection (Grades 5–8; lesson plans included). Check these out:
Walk Like a Dinosaur!: Dinosaurs were reptiles…with a twist. Find out what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur by doing the dinosaur walk.
Solve a Sedimentary Layers Puzzle: What happened when? Test your fossil-hunting skills by working out this dino timeline.
Find out why scientists think birds are modern-day dinosaurs: It may be hard to believe, but there are dinosaurs around us every day. You might even have had one for dinner last night.
Are birds really dinosaurs? Yes. (2:52)
How do we know that birds are modern-day dinosaurs? Discover the clues scientists have used to figure it out. (5:11)
What would feathered dinosaurs have looked like? An artist’s view. (1:34)
Learn about the work of paleoartists, and then create your own dinosaur!
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