Description
What our Dinos A to Z: Giganotosaurus lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Dinos A to Z: Giganotosaurus is a high-interest reading comprehension lesson plan. As such, students will practice various close reading and comprehension skills. In addition, they will learn some basic information about these interesting prehistoric animals. This lesson is for students in 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade.
DINOS A TO Z: GIGANOTOSAURUS LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Giganotosaurus
The Dinos A to Z: Giganotosaurus lesson plan contains one content page. Giganotosaurus (JIG·uh·GNAW·tuh·SOAR·russ) means giant southern lizard. “Giant” may be an understatement as this dinosaur was large even by dinosaur sizes! Paleontologists have not yet discovered a complete skeleton. But, they believe the dinosaur was probably longer but less heavy than a T-Rex.
The Giganotosaurus was a meat eater. It walked on two legs. Along with the T-Rex, the dinosaur was an apex predator. Apex predators are at the top of the food chain. They are vicious hunters, eating other animals. But no other animals eat them. Think of a great white shark as an example. Some scientists think Giganotosauruses hunted in packs like the modern wolves. It may have feasted on the slow-moving, plant-eating dinosaurs. Scientists know this because the jaw bones and serrated teeth found in fossils are those of a carnivore.
Similarities to the T-Rex
Giganotosauruses are often compared with the T-Rex because they had similar body shapes. Both had large, oval shaped heads. They also had razor-sharp, serrated-edged teeth designed for biting and ripping apart prey. This dinosaur had short arms and long muscular legs. Its hands and feet had extraordinarily sharp claws. Again, they were designed for tearing apart prey.
While the Giganotosaurus’s body shape was similar to the T-Rex, it was a very different dinosaur. Most scientists believe that even though it was a large dinosaur, it could run fast! In fact, scientists think it could run up to 30 miles per hour. It’s no wonder slow-moving plant eaters never had a chance if they were unlucky enough to face a Giganotosaurus!
Giganotosauruses lived about 99 million years ago. Most scientists believe they came before the T-Rex and probably lived about the same time. Can you imagine how frightened other dinosaurs must have been to know these creatures were always lurking in the shadows, looking for a quick dino snack?
DINOS A TO Z: GIGANOTOSAURUS LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Dinos A to Z: Giganotosaurus lesson plan includes two worksheets: an activity worksheet and a practice worksheet. Each one will help students solidify their grasp of the material they learned throughout the lesson.
WORD FINDER ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
For this activity, students will first list the 9 letters used in the name “Giganotosaurus” and then find as many words using all 14 letters in the name as they can. Make sure students understand that they can use all 14 letters in the name, and not just the 9 that they alphabetized.
REVIEW PRACTICE WORKSHEET
The practice worksheet requires students to answer a series of 5 questions. These questions all relate to the content pages, so students will need to refer to them for the answers.
