Dinosaurs

What do you know?

When did the dinosaurs live?

• 248 million years ago the first dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

• 64 million years ago the dinosaurs were extinct.

• Scientists know this from studying fossils that have been discovered.

• Human like creatures did not walk the Earth until 2.5 million years ago and even then they didn’t look like us!• The ‘cave man’ looking human didn’t walk the Earth until 200, 000

years ago.

Earth Timeline

• The history of Earth is so long that it is impossible to say exact years when different events happened.

• We split our time into days, weeks, months and years.

• Longer lengths of time are split into decades or centuries.

• The lengths of time for studying the earths history is split into periods, eras and eons.

• In dinosaur history there are 3 periods called Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods.

• These 3 periods are grouped into 1 era called the Mesozoic Era

• The Mesozoic Era is one of 3 eras in the Phanerozoic Eon

• Confused? – look at the worksheet to help you

Earth timeline

• The history of Earth is so long that it is impossible to say exact years when different events happened.

• We split our time into days, weeks, months and years.

• Longer lengths of time are split into decades or centuries.

• The lengths of time for studying the earths history is split into periods, eras and eons.

• In dinosaur history there are 3 periods called Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods.

• These 3 periods are grouped into 1 era called the Mesozoic Era

• The Mesozoic Era is one of 3 eras in the Phanerozoic Eon

• Confused? – look at the table to help you

Dinosaurs

• We are going to use 6 dinosaurs to help us understand time better: Plateosaurus, Archaeopteryx, Pteranodon, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Woolly Mammoth and Diplodocus.

• Which dinosaur is which?

Plateosaurus

• It was alive in the Triassic Period (look on the table on slide 4)

• It was a herbivore and was able to stand on its hind legs to reach higher branches and leaves.

• Its tail took up one half of its body length.

• It walked on all four legs.

• Did the diplodocus evolve from it?

• Did it fight other animals for food?

Archaeopteryx

• It was alive in the Jurassic Period (look on the table on slide 4)

• It was a carnivore and ate small mammals and insects.

• It could run, leap and glide from tree to tree.

• Scientists are still debating whether this dinosaur could actually fly.

• It was the size of a pigeon with a much longer tail and much bigger wing span.

• Was it the first flying dinosaur?

• Did it evolve into a bird?

Tyrannosaurus Rex

• It was alive in the Late Cretaceous Period (look on the table on slide 4)

• It was a carnivore and ate other dinosaurs.

• It could run very fast and was a ferocious predator.

• Was it the tallest dinosaur?

• Was it the fastest dinosaur?

• How much could it eat in one bite?

Pteranodon

• It was alive in the Late Cretaceous Period (look on the table on slide 4)

• It was a consumer and ate fish and other sea creatures

• Was one of the dinosaurs that had wings.

• It had a long sharp beak but had no teeth!

• It had a large brain and good eyesight.

• Was it very intelligent?

• Did it behave like the birds we have today?

Diplodocus

• It was alive in the Late Cretaceous Period (look on the table on slide 4)

• It was also alive during the Jurassic period.

• It was one of the largest dinosaurs ever to roam the Earth.

• It had an enormous tail and a very long neck.

• It had a very tiny brain (the size of a pea!)

• Did it become extinct because it wasn’t very clever?• Why did it need to be so big?

Woolly Mammoth

• It was alive in the Quaternary Period (look on the table on slide 4)

• It was alive at the same time as MAN.

• Elephants evolved from this mammal.

• It became extinct 10,000 years ago.

• It had a hump on its back, similar to a camel.

• Why did it have thick fur?

• Was it hunted by man?

Homo Sapian

• Modern man.

• We only appeared 200,000 years ago.

• The first recorded Homo Sapian was in Africa.

• Can you place us on your time line?

Independent task

• Choose 3 different time periods from the table on slide 4.

• For each time period, find an animal or a plant that belongs in that period and write a paragraph about it and the habitat it might be found in.

• You could describe the animal/plant, describe the habitat, explain its food and water source, describe where it would find shelter etc.

• You can use the dinosaurs on here if you would like OR you can research some of your own.