BACKGROUND:
Dinosaurs roamed the Earth from 230 to 65 million years ago, during the
Mesozoic Era. The Mesozoic is divided into three geological periods: the
Triassic Period, the Jurassic Period, and the Cretaceous Period. Different
dinosaurs lived in each period.
All dinosaurs likely had restricted geographic ranges; no dinosaur lived
all over the earth, as people do today. The dinosaurs lived in many areas,
and some of the dinosaurs never saw each other. You might want to use the
dinosaur inflatable globe that shows where these dinosaurs once roamed. One
fact to keep in mind is that when the dinosaurs were alive, the
configuration of the continents was different. Plate Tectonics in motion!
North America and Eurasia were connected, as were South America and Africa.
The continents have slowly moved to their present positions.
PROCEDURE:
- Bring out the Dinosaur Globe. Have the class stand in a circle. Ask
students to tell you what a continent is (a large area of land and rock
that is not covered by water). Ask them if they know how many continents
there are on Earth today (7) and have them identify Africa, North
America, South America, Australia, Antarctica, Europe, and Asia. Explain
that the continents have been present on Earth for hundreds of millions
of years, although their locations and combinations have changed.
- Throw the Dinosaur Globe around the circle. Each time it is caught,
have the child who catches it read aloud the name, location and time
period of the dinosaur closest to their index finger.
- Using large Carnegie dinosaur models, remind the class that: 1) during
the Mesozoic the continents were arranged differently than they are
today, and 2) that different types of dinosaurs lived in different parts
of the world during each Mesozoic time period. Have students locate
where each dinosaur model can be found. Use the key below to locate each
dinosaur.
Dinosaur
Apatosaurus
Velociraptor
Stegosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Brachiosaurus
Parasaurolophus
Triceratops
Euoplocephalus
Pachycephalosaurus
Maiasaura |
Location
western North America
Central Asia
western North America
western North America
N. America/ East Africa
western North America
western North America
western North America
western North America
western North America |
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