Description
What our Dinos A to Z: Stegosaurus lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Dinos A to Z: Stegosaurus 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: STEGOSAURUS LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Stegosaurus
The Dinos A to Z: Stegosaurus lesson plan contains one content page. By most accounts, the second-most popular dinosaur in the world is the Stegosaurus (STEH·guh·SOAR·russ). Its distinctive armor and spikes make it one of the most recognizable dinosaurs in the world. It appears in books, videos, movies, and cartoons, and is a very popular toy. The state of Colorado has even named the Stegosaurus as its state dinosaur.
The Stegosaurus got its name from the Greek words stegos (meaning roof) and saurus (meaning lizard). So Stegosaurus means “roof lizard.” You may think that is an odd name. Initially, scientists believed the plates on the back of the dinosaur lay horizontally or flat, like shingles on a roof. As more fossils were discovered, it became clear that the spikes on the back of the Stegosaurus were vertical, not flat. Still, the name stuck!
Interesting Facts
Stegosauruses lived in what is now the United States about 152 million years ago. They grew to a length of 9 meters (nearly 30 feet) and weighed approximately 6,400 kilograms (14,000 pounds), or around seven tons. They were between 3 and 5 meters (10 to 16 feet) tall. As slow-moving herbivores, scientists think their spikes would keep predators away from harming them. The dino’s spiked tail could easily damage a predator that got too close.
The Stegosaurus probably traveled in groups or herds. While the dinosaur was stocky and low to the ground, one of its unusual features was its smallish head. Scientists believe its brain was about the size of a small plum! Think of a golf ball, and you have an idea of the size of a Stegosaurus’s brain.
This popular dinosaur is one of the few for which scientists have been able to reconstruct an accurate picture. Most dinosaur fossils are not as complete, and scientists have to make educated guesses about what they looked like. Not so with the Stegosaurus! There were so many bones found at one site that the paleontologist was said to complain that all of the Stegosaurus bones were getting in the way of his excavating other dinosaurs at the site.
DINOS A TO Z: STEGOSAURUS LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Dinos A to Z: Stegosaurus 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.
MATH WITH STEGOSAURUS ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
For this activity, students will color two stegosauruses and their spikes. They will cut them out and cut out each individual spike. They will assign values and operations to the spikes to create equations. After they glue the spikes back on, they can solve the equations!
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.
