Dinosaur Hunt

The National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institute
10th Street and Constitution Ave.
Washington, D.C. 20560
(202)357-2700
(202) 357-2747 (Education Department)

Instructional Unit:
Dinosaur Hunt: A visit to the "History of Life" exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History as an enrichment and extension of study of dinosaurs.

Curriculum Unit:
Grade 2
Science

Objectives:
1. Students will be able to correctly answer at least 24 out of 30 questions on their Dinosaur Hunt questionnaire.
2. Students will decide which dinosaur in the exhibit they liked best and will write a paragraph justifying their decision.
(These will be shared with the class upon returning from the trip.)

Pre-Visit Activities:
1 . Class whole group instruction covering the following topics:

a. What were the dinosaurs?
b. When did they live and what was life like during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.
c. What were the characteristics of the major dinosaurs that lived during those periods, (i.e. dinosaur name and its meaning, dinosaur family it belonged to, what it ate, who were its enemies, how it defended itself, what part of the United States or World it could be found in, and special identifying characteristics of the dinosaur).
d. Dinosaur eggs and nests and what life might have been like for baby dinosaurs.
e. What happened to the dinosaurs - possible theories of extinction.

2. Class research in small groups including possible questions below:

a. Why did the dinosaurs die out?
b . What were the smallest and largest dinosaurs?
c . Was Pterodactyl a bird or a dinosaur?
d . What is it like to be a Paleontologist?

3. Small groups production of some type of culminating project to illustrate the answers to the questions they researched such as:

a. Murals or dioramas.
b . Reports typed on the computer.
c . Drawings to be shared and displayed.

4. Teacher should visit/contact the museum prior to the field trip and prepare the Dinosaur Hunt Questionnaire and maps for children and adult chaperones.

On-Site Activities:
1. Each adult should be given a folder which contains the following information: full names of children assigned to them, map of the first and second floors for The National Museum of Natural History, Dinosaur Hunt Questionnaire and an Answer Sheet (for adult's use only).
2. Children will take turns reading the questions and write down only those answers found.
3. Teacher will "float" between groups to help answer questions and in case of emergencies.

Follow-Up Activities:
1. Break children up into their field trip small groups. Each child will write down the names of one plant-eater and one meat-eater they had seen in the exhibit. A secretary for the group may be chosen for this activity and names could be written on one large sheet of paper. The names could be shared with the entire class at the end of the activity.
2. Each group would compile the paragraphs on the favorite exhibit dinosaurs to present/display.
3. One group member could check page one of the Dinosaur Hunt Questionnaire and another could check page two using answer sheets provided by teacher.
4. Groups could take turns discussing overall experiences.
5. Each child will prepare a "flip book" on a dinosaur of their choice. A "flip book" is made by folding and stapling together three half-sheets of white construction paper so that six pages would be available to write on and to illustrate what was written. Each child should include the following information in the "flip book" - name of dinosaur and its meaning, an identifying physical characteristic, what it ate, what period it lived in and where it could be found, who its enemies were, and how it defended itself. Then attach to the top of their booklet a cut out figure of their dinosaur.
6. Evaluation would be based on total or correct answers for each child on the Dinosaur Hunt Questionnaire.
7. Projects and work could be shared with other classes, in newsletters or at parent "open house".

Appendices:
Dinosaur Hunt (Questionnaire and Answer Sheet)

Bibliography:
None

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