Description
What our Dinos A to Z: Yandusaurus lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Dinos A to Z: Yandusaurus 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: YANDUSAURUS LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Yandusaurus
The Dinos A to Z: Yandusaurus lesson plan contains one content page. In 1973, workers on a construction site in China made a stunning find. They found the skeletal remains of a previously unknown species of dinosaur. The Yandusaurus (YEN·doo·SOAR·russ), or Yandu lizard, was a dinosaur that lived about 170 million years ago.
This dino was about 3 meters (6-7 feet) long and one meter tall (3 feet). It weighed a little more than 90 kilograms (200 pounds). You may think a dinosaur this size was nothing more than a snack for the larger predator dinosaurs. The Yandusaurus was not large, but it was fast and agile. Its smaller size and quickness made it a difficult target for the bulkier and less nimble dinosaurs to make a meal of.
Yandusauruses walked on two legs. They had a beak-like mouth. Some scientists think Yandusauruses were predators. Inside their mouths were very sharp, serrated-edged teeth. Their teeth were like a saw blade, perfect for tearing and slashing any prey it captured. Others think that because this dino had a long neck, it might have fed on plants instead of animals. They say its teeth were better suited for eating plants than for eating other animals. It’s hard to say one way or another when something is this old, and there are not a lot of fossil clues to go on.
Fun Facts
The Yandusaurus had scaly skin, and scientists speculate its skin was camouflaged to blend in with its environment. It is also described as a muscular dinosaur. Its eyes and head were large in proportion to its body. They were positioned so that it had a wide field of vision. This allowed it to see potential predators from far away.
Scientists think the dinosaur lived in groups or herds. This would have helped protect them from predators. They are described as social animals. Yandusauruses would have slept at night and hunted for food during the day. They seemed to favor living near water rather than in drier territories. It seems we know a lot about them, but because the fossils are so old, we are still trying to figure out how they lived.
DINOS A TO Z: YANDUSAURUS LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Dinos A to Z: Yandusaurus 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.
DECIPHER THE CODE ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
Students will have great fun for this activity as they decipher secrete texts among the two scientists who discovered the Yandusaurus. They will use a code to decipher texts and write their answers in the box at the bottom of the page.
DINOS A TO Z: YANDUSAURUS 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.
