The great dinosaurs roamed the Earth during the Mesozoic Era, also known as the "Age of Reptiles."  After dominating for over 165 million years, they mysteriously went extinct, leaving the only surviving dinosaurs, birds.  Dinosaurs belonged to a larger group of animals called the archosaurs, meaning "ruling lizard" and these amazing creatures ranged in size from that of a chicken to over 100 feet tall and 50 feet long!
 
 
 
 
 

Your task is to work in groups of three to round up all the information you can on the dinosaur you choose  so that you can present to the class your findings of that dinosaur. You will explore websites with interesting information and pictures of dinosaurs and draw your findings together to be able to step into the place of a great dinosaur.After you get some exciting information, you will use Kidspiration to make a web of some facts on your dinosaur with a picture of it.  Then, you will get to write your own story about your dinosaur using Presswriter.  Everyone's dinosaur projets will be combined to make a dinosaur book!
 
 

• The historian is interested in the history of the dinosaur and why they   went extinct.  You'll want to answer questions such as:

•  During what time period did they live?
•  Where did they live? 
•  What was the Earth like back then? 
•  What happened to cause their extinction?
•  When did it happen?

 
• The paleontologist is interested in finding fossils of your dinosaur and examining how the dinosaur was structured and put together.  You'll want to answer questions such as:

 
• What kind of bone structure did the dinosaur have?
• How did it move about?
• What special abilities or body parts did the dinosaur have and what were they used for?

• The artist is interested in recreating what the dinosaur looked like.  You'll want to search for cool pictures and save them so that you can use them later in your projects.  You will also be able to draw pictures yourself of dinosaurs.  You'll want to answer questions such as:

 
• How did the dinosaur look from the outside?
• Did it have horns, spikes, etc.
• What kind of skin did it have?


No group member is limited to answering the questions listed.  If you think of some more questions or find some other interesting information, include it.  As you gather information, jot down some quick notes on your worksheet for your role.  You will need to use what you find later on in projects.  You can find your worksheets in a file called roles in Microsoft Word.  Simply print them out.

2. Each group is assigned a dinosaur.  Click on your dinosaur to go to a webpage about it. Another website that may be helpful is www.inhandmuseum.com

Try to explore other websites on the internet to obtain more information. Also, help each other out with your tasks.  You are not limited to only working on your part.


Pentaceratops       Spinosaurus    Megaraptor
 


Apatosaurus           Corythosaurus    Brachiosaurus
 

3. After gathering all of your information, go to Kidspiration and create your web.  The name of your dinosaur will be in the center and facts about your dinosaur will be branched off.  Create about 8-10 branches to ensure that you have a good bit of information.  The artist should incorporate pictures to make your creation more interesting.  You can do this by saving pictures and pasting them or the artist can draw them onto your web after you print it out.  When you are done, print out the finished project.  Make sure to save your work ever so often into your class folder.

4. Now you are ready to do your dinosaur story!  Use presswriter to make up a story about your dinosaur.  You can take the point of view of the dinosaur and talk about a typical in that dinosaur's life or you can pretend that you are on an adventure to find dinosaurs and see what their life is like. Be creative!  Once again, save your work and print it out when you are done.

5. I will compile everyone's dinosaur projects into our very own dinosaur book!

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   You will be evaluated, first of all, on the amount of information that is relevant to your role.  Don't think that quantity of information is what is most important.  Make sure the information is useful to your project.  Worksheets should, for the most part, be filled with information. (Don't worry about writing in complete sentences or being neat. Just be sure to jot your notes down).

   For your web on Kidspiration, you should have several branches of information. (Between 8 and 10). Pictures will enhance this part of the project, so include them.

   For your story on Presswriter, it should be about 2 pages and include pictures of your dinosaur.  It should be creative and flow like a story, not just a list of facts. 

   You will be graded both individually and as a group.  I will look at your worksheets to make sure that each person found their information for the web.  The web and the story will receive a group grade. Your individual points will be added with your group points to create one grade.

Points                   Grade
3-5                           C
6-8                           B
9-12                         A
 
 

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Gather information on a dinosaur using the internet	the only information found was from the internet link provided	more than one internet source was used and a fair amount of info. was gathered	at least two sources were used and all questions posed were answered	at least two sources were used and lots of information was found besides that which answered the questions posed
Create a web of dinosaur information using Kidspiration	web doesn't have more than a few brances of information	web has 8-10 branches but no pictues	web has 8-10 branches and pictures	web has plenty of branches with a variety of information and interesting pictures
Create a dinosaur story using Presswriter	story is only one page and merely restates facts	story is two pages but shows little creativity and only one picture	story is two pages, written well and includes pictures	story is two pages, shows creativity and thought, well written, and has pictures

    At the end of your journey into dinosaur land, you'll know lots of great facts about your dinosaur and will have looked at many cool pictures!  You will have become an expert on your dinosaur!  In addition, you will have contributed to the class' dinosaur book with your very own dinosaur web on Kidspiration and creative dinosaur story on Presswriter.

www.enchantedlearning.com
www.inhandmuseum.com
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinos/Pentaceratops.shtml
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinos/Spinosaurus.shtml
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinos/Megaraptor.shtml
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinos/Apatosaurus.html
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinos/Corythosaurus.shtml
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinos/Brachiosaurus.shtml