In this classroom activity, young students compare their feet to the foot of a large Apatosaur. The activity opens with background information for teachers about the enormous size range of dinosaurs. After using personal references to describe the size of dinosaurs, students examine the outline of an Apatosaur footprint. Students then estimate how many of their footprints would fit inside the Apatosaur footprint and conduct an experiment to test their estimate.

In this investigation students will look at various items to see if they can correctly identify fossils. After discussion, students will make inferences as to what the environments were like for these organisms to exist.

Students understand how fossils form and explore the importance of fossils. Teacher Notes for the activity are in the database as a separate resource.

Students understand how fossils form and explore the importance of fossils. The student pages for the activity are in the database as a separate resource.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 4th Grade Science. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 4th Grade Science.

Students analyze illustrations to understand how a fossil forms. Then they make an edible model of fossils found in sediment layers.

Students become familiar with the main periods in the life of the Earth. They will also be able to place the appearance of different forms of life on Earth. Teacher Notes for the activity are in the database as a separate resource.

Students become familiar with the main periods in the life of the Earth. They will also be able to place the appearance of different forms of life on Earth. The student pages for the activity are in the database as a separate resource.

In this classroom activity, middle school students explore cladistics by creating a cladogram. The activity opens with background information for teachers about cladistics. After discussing the relationship of some familiar mammals, students learn about how scientists use cladistics to determine evolutionary relationships among animals. Working in pairs, students complete a worksheet that directs them to examine coins and create a cladogram based on their shared characteristics. Then, small groups of students examine dinosaur illustrations, identify their shared features, and those features to classify the dinosaurs.

In this classroom activity, middle school students gain an understanding of geologic time. The activity opens with background information for teachers about carbon and radiometric dating. In a classroom discussion, students share what they know about geologic time. Then, working in small groups responsible for different eras, students create a timeline for their assigned era by conducting library and Internet research. The activity concludes by having students review all the timelines to compare how long humans have been on the Earth to the length of time dinosaurs inhabited the planet.

Students investigate events of long ago by examining a photograph of multiple dinosaur's footprints. Students will attempt to explain the events that created the tracks to understand that looking at fossils gives scientists a good idea of ancient animal behavior.

In this classroom activity, young students learn what distinguishes dinosaurs from other animals. The activity opens with background information for teachers about these prehistoric reptiles. Working in small groups, students look through dinosaur books to gather interesting facts to share. As a class, students use their facts to create a semantic map. Then they explore the differences in dinosaur and lizard legs, and examine how these differences affect their stances. The activity concludes with a student worksheet that challenges them to identify the dinosaurs within a collection of animal illustrations.

In this classroom activity, young students investigate what paleontologists can tell from a dinosaur's teeth. The activity opens with background information for teachers about dinosaur teeth. Students begin by looking at animal photos and describing each creature's teeth. They then conduct an experiment that helps them differentiate between the teeth of meat-eaters and plant-eaters .The activity concludes with a student worksheet that challenges them to identify meat-eating and plant-eating dinosaurs.