Dino Directory

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Dinosaur Data files

The Data files contain extended information about some of the dinosaurs in the directory, They have been designed so that they can be printed out and photocopied for use in the classroom, at home or in the Museum itself.

Spreadsheet of details (.xls format).

Classroom activities:

Creative writing

Dinosaur names

The meaning of each dinosaur's name is included in the data file. Look at each name and decide if it describes where the dinosaur was found, or who found it, or what it looks like, or how it behaved. Most dinosaur names will fit into one of these categories. A regular English dictionary may be enough to begin to work out the meanings of other dinosaur names. For example Pachycephalosaurus is a peculiar name. But in a good dictionary you will find that pachyderms are thick-skinned, and cephalic means to do with the head. So it is a reasonable guess that Pachycephalosaurus is thick-headed.

Children could invent their own dinosaurs and give them names to explain where they were found, who found them, what they looked like, or how they behaved. They could build dinosaur names from English words, or from other languages.

Rhythms and poetry

Dinosaur names, and the names of geological periods are long, easy to alliterate, unusual-sounding and rhythmic words ­ ideal for making poems and songs. Try some creative writing using these amazing words. They could be set to music ­ marches, waltzes or raps! You could include fantasy dinosaur names from the previous activity.

A day in the life of ...

As an opportunity for a more extended piece of creative writing, you could ask children to write 'A day in the life of ...' their chosen dinosaur ­ including what it did, what it ate, and what it would have seen, such as other dinosaurs or interesting landscapes.

'Dear Natural History Museum'

Make a story book based on 'Dear Zoo' by Rod Campbell. Begin like this: 'I wanted a pet dinosaur so I wrote to The Natural History Museum.' Next you could write: 'They sent me a Pachycephalosaurus but it kept head-butting the wall so I sent it back.' Go through other dinosaurs and why you had to send them back, using information from the data file and elsewhere. Decide what makes a satisfactory pet in the end.

Size and scale:

Ordering

Use dinosaur outlines from the data file that are drawn to the same scale. Make photocopies. Put them in size order, discussing whether to use length, height or 'bulk' as the measure of size. Is the longest dinosaur the same as the tallest?

Little and large

Give outlines of several dinosaurs from the data file to a group and ask them to find the smallest and largest dinosaurs. Remember that they are not all drawn to the same scale.

Pacing out

Lay out five metre rulers end to end. Find out how many paces cover five metres, and then calculate how many paces would match the length of a 25-metre Diplodocus.

By pacing, find out if the dinosaur would fit in the school playground, dining room or classroom. Mark in chalk where its nose and the end of its tail would be, and draw a rough outline. Draw a 0.75 metre Compsognathus next to it for comparison.

Comparisons

For any chosen dinosaur, try to build as many true sentences as possible comparing dinosaurs to familiar items.
This dinosaur is as big as a ...
This dinosaur is bigger than a ...
This dinosaur is smaller than a ...

Find out the length of a bus (or other large object). Work out how many buses would have to be lined up to equal the length of a chosen dinosaur.

Find out the mass of the bus too. Work out how many buses would equal the mass of your chosen dinosaur.

Making a life-like model

Make a full-size model of Compsognathus using boxes, chicken wire, and rolled up newspapers for the basic structure. Cover this with papier-mâché and either sponge-paint it or stick coloured paper onto it to make it look as reptilian as possible. Fill it with weights until it weighs three kilograms.

Scale models

Make scale models of dinosaurs using Plasticine or clay. If the dinosaur is four metres long, make the model four centimetres long (or four thumb lengths). If the dinosaur is 2.5 metres long, make the model 2.5 centimetres long (or 2.5 thumb lengths).

Sorting and comparing dinosaur data:

Sorting data file cards

Give children several 'cards' from the data file and ask them to sort the dinosaurs into sets using the outlines or numerical or textual information. For example, outlines can be grouped according to whether the dinosaur walked on two or four legs, or whether it has spikes and armour. Using the text, the dinosaurs can be grouped by geological period, or what they ate. Using the numerical information, such as length, children will need to decide on the parameters of the sets, such as 'less than seven metres' and 'more than seven metres'. Sometimes sets overlap ­ for example, some dinosaur groups were alive during both the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Overlapping plastic hoops and placing the cards within the overlap area is a good way to represent such sets.

Sorting using tree diagrams

Some pupils may be able to create their own decision tree diagram to sort and identify a selection of dinosaurs. See the 'Which ones are dinosaurs?' activity in the 'Animal groups' module for an example of a tree diagram. It is important to remember that our data file is a restricted set of information. The question 'Did it live in the Triassic Period?' with the answer 'Yes' identifies Massospondylus but there were other dinosaurs alive then, too.

Building a database

The information could be used to build a simple computer database using software you have available. Children could then interrogate each other's databases.

Alternatively, make a card database, with punched holes representing different features such as plant-eating, meat-eating, walked on two legs, walked on four legs and so on. A slot cut into a particular hole indicates that the feature does not apply to that dinosaur. Thus, when you insert a knitting needle through the 'plant-eating' hole in the pile of cards, the cards of the plant-eating dinosaurs can be lifted out of the pile.

Challenge game

The data cards can be used for a game similar to the card game 'Top Trumps' which the children may already know.

Deal the cards equally between the players, allowing four to seven cards each. The first player looks at their first card and chooses which category they think will beat the other cards. For example, they may think they have the tallest dinosaur, or the heaviest, or the oldest. They lay this card in the centre, stating the challenge category, and then the other players each lay their first card down. The player whose card beats the others in that category keeps all the cards and starts the next round. The winner is the one with the most cards at the end. For categories such as 'Geological period' and 'What they eat' the players will need to agree beforehand which is the 'best' ­ for example, oldest or most recent, carnivore or herbivore.

Museum activities:

Size comparison

Children could make a list of dinosaurs that are smaller than them, and ones that are bigger. Alternatively, they could indicate this on a pre-prepared list of dinosaurs that they have to find, in the exhibition.

Measuring actual size

Record the length of various dinosaur skeletons using non-standard measures such as paces of handspans. Use these measurements to create life-size models or drawings back at school (using chalk on the playground for the larger ones), or scale models.

Scale models

Some skeletons are accompanied by scale models of the whole dinosaur. Work out the scale of the model by using non-standard measures as in the activity above.

Data cards

Give each child some data cards from the data file. As the children go around the exhibition, see if they can add any information to the cards. Alternatively, try to create more cards for other dinosaurs using information in the exhibition.

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