Dinosaurs - Presentation

Embarking on a fascinating journey into the prehistoric era, students are poised to explore various aspects of dinosaur biology, including their names, diets, existence, and extinction. Through interactive activities, they will address questions such as identifying different dinosaurs, describing their feeding habits, and understanding the evidence of their existence. One of the key learning objectives is to explain why dinosaurs are no longer walking the Earth. The lesson is designed to be engaging, with a song about dinosaurs to capture the students' imagination and set the stage for the day's learning.

Hands-on experiments form the core of the learning experience, with one activity involving the creation of 'hatching dinosaur eggs' using bicarbonate of soda, food colouring, and vinegar to simulate the hatching process. Students are encouraged to think critically about how real dinosaur eggs might have hatched and to learn about the concept of an 'egg tooth'. Another exciting activity is the making of 'dino poop' to understand the diet of herbivorous dinosaurs. By examining the contents of the poop, students infer the type of food consumed and discuss the physical characteristics of the dinosaur responsible. The lesson also delves into the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs, using a simple experiment with flour and a tennis ball to represent the impact of a meteorite. This visual demonstration helps students grasp the catastrophic effects such an impact would have had on Earth's environment and its inhabitants.