In this unit, the major concern will be on the form and function of the dinosaurs. The content of this unit can be taught in the middle school, grades 5-8. The science and social studies teachers can use a team teaching approach. The suggested teaching time for this unit is two to three weeks. It will include a pre-post test, vocabulary, lesson plans, teacher and student reading list, a list of field trips, speakers, and a bibliography.
Teachers will be especially interested in teaching a unit on dinosaurs because they have always been fascinating pre-historic animals. Dinosaurs were the largest land vertebrates. Some of the best of the dinosaurs from various quarries have been mounted at Peabody Museum at Yale University here in New Haven. At Peabody there are several mounted skeletons of different kinds of dinosaurs. There is a wall mural depicting the age of the dinosaurs by R. Zallinger, a noted artist who graduated from the Yale School of Art.
Students will be very impressed to see the display of dinosaurs at Peabody and will get the opportunity to study the form and function of the dinosaurs. They will be able to compare the difference in the structure of several of the large dinosaurs, such as, Brachiosaurus, Trachodon, Tyrannosaurus Rex and Stegosaurus.
(Recommended for Science and Social Studies classes, grades 5 through 8)
Key Words
Dinosaurs
