Description
What our Dinos A to Z: Hadrosaurus lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Dinos A to Z: Hadrosaurus 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: HADROSAURUS LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Hadrosaurus
The Dinos A to Z: Hadrosaurus lesson plan contains one content page. The Hadrosaurus (HAD·ruh·SOAR·russ) was a large, girthy dinosaur that roamed the earth about 75 million years ago. Its name means big lizard. Big lizard was more of a description of its bulky size. However, there is some controversy over its description by paleontologists, scientists who study fossils. The first Hadrosaurus skeleton was discovered in New Jersey in 1858 by Joseph Leidy, but the skull was missing. To quickly get the fossils into a museum, sculptors made several models that were not always accurate.
Later evidence indicates the Hadrosaurus probably belonged to a family of dinosaurs with a unique beak. It resembled a duck-billed shape. The Hadrosaurus was an herbivore. Its bill would have helped the dino gather and eat thorny, fibrous vegetation. It had a healthy appetite, judging by its heavy weight. It probably weighed around 5,000 pounds. That’s about the same as a medium-sized truck!
During the time the Hadrosaurus was alive, predators frequently snacked on slow-moving herbivores. Paleontologists think the Hadrosaurus, even though somewhat hefty, was surprisingly fast. If a T-Rex was after you, you would probably run fast too! The Hadrosaurus probably moved on all fours while eating grass and plants on the ground. When frightened, it would raise up on its two legs and run to quickly evade predators.
Living in Herds
Like many herbivorous dinosaurs, the Hadrosaurus probably lived in small herds. Herds offered some protection from predators as the dinosaurs grazed for food. Hadrosauruses were egg-laying dinosaurs. Females may have laid as many as 20 eggs. Some paleontologists think the dinosaurs may have provided minimal care to young hatching Hadrosauruses. There is no way to know for sure.
The Hadrosaurus was an important discovery in history. It was the first dinosaur skeleton to go on public display, drawing huge crowds to see it. New Jersey named the Hadrosaurus its official state dinosaur in 1991. This dino is very popular, even though we don’t know as much about it as we do about other dinosaurs.
DINOS A TO Z: HADROSAURUS LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Dinos A to Z: Hadrosaurus 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.
ACROSTIC POEM ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
Students will create an acrostic poem for this activity. An example acrostic is at the top of the page to help students understand what to do.
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.
