Dinosaurs: A Preschool Experience

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:
Dinosaurs: What did they look like? How did they live? Where did they go?

Curriculum Unit:
Grade Preschool
Science

Objectives:
1. Children will observe actual size models of a variety to dinosaur skeletons. They will see the great size of the larger dinosaurs and discover that all dinosaurs were not enormous creatures.
2. Children will see models of the prehistoric world and determine how various dinosaurs survived (i.e. which were meat-eaters, plant-eaters).
3. Children will understand that dinosaurs hatched from eggs.
4. Children will relate their knowledge of dinosaurs to animals they see today.
5. Children will observe the method by which paleontologists uncover fossils in the earth.
6. Children will be able to name some of the more "common" dinosaurs.

Pre-Visit Activities:
1. Books provided by the teacher will be read to the children as an introduction to the subject.
2. Children will play with dinosaur models, lotto game, flannel board figures.
3. Children will be prepared for the trip to the museum with discussions regarding proper behavior, safety rules and some of the items that they might look for.

On-Site Activities:
1. Parent chaperones will be given a list of items for their group to find (i.e. the biggest dinosaur, a dinosaur that could fly, dinosaur eggs, a meat-eating dinosaur, etc.).

Follow-Up Activities:
1. Collaborative story about the trip.
2. Paint a mural for class pictures drawn of dinosaurs.
3. Collection of dinosaur pictures compiled into a book for each child to use at home.

Appendices:
None.

Bibliography:
Langley, Andrew. Dinosaurs (Easy Read Fact Book). Franklin Watts, Inc., 1988.
Gibbons, Gail. Dinosaurs. Holiday House, 1988.

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