Description
What our Dinos A to Z: Spinosaurus lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Dinos A to Z: Spinosaurus 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: SPINOSAURUS LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Spinosaurus
The Dinos A to Z: Spinosaurus lesson plan contains one content page. Looking at a picture of a Spinosaurus (SPY·nuh·SOAR·russ), can you guess how it got its name? If you said it was from the bony spine on its back, you are correct! Spinosaurus literally means “spine lizard.” Its name is not the only fascinating tidbit about this dinosaur.
Spinosauruses lived in Africa about 99 million years ago. They were one of several large carnivorous dinosaurs that roamed nearby rivers and plains. The first bones were discovered in 1912. There were few of them, and scientists used what they had learned from different dinosaur fossils to give them a picture of what a Spinosaurus looked like. Initially, they thought it was a land-only dinosaur, like a Tyrannosaurus or Allosaurus. However, recent information has altered what scientists previously believed to be accurate about the Spinosaurus.
Fun Facts
New discoveries reveal that this dino may have spent a significant portion of its life living in or around water. It had short legs and a broad tail shaped like a paddle. This was the first clue in more than 100 years that the Spinosaurus was probably a semi-aquatic dinosaur! Scientists are not sure how much time it spent in water. However, they are confident it was comfortable in water or on land.
The Spinosaurus was around 14 meters (45 feet) long. It weighed nearly 7,400 kilograms (16,315 pounds) or more than eight tons. Its snout was narrow and crocodile-like, which would have helped for catching fish. Along with fish, it probably ate other smaller dinosaurs—a sort of surf and turf for dinner! The most interesting feature was the 5-foot tall (1½ meters) spiny backbone that resembles the sail on a boat. Some scientists think it helped propel the dinosaur through the water. But they are not sure what it was for exactly. They must hypothesize what it may have looked like and what its life was like.
Because fossil evidence is ancient and there is not much of it, it’s hard to know precisely what the Spinosaurus looked like. Even without much hard evidence, scientists are remarkably skilled at accurately explaining how dinosaurs lived so long ago.
DINOS A TO Z: SPINOSAURUS LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Dinos A to Z: Spinosaurus 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.
SPINOSAURUS PUZZLE ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
For this activity, students will cut out the outside of the spinosaurus puzzle. They will glue it to heavy construction paper or poster board. Then they will color the spinosaurus. After they finish coloring, they will cut out the pieces, shuffle them, and put it back together.
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.
