Dinosaurs

Because our local zoo, The Brevard Zoo, had a dinosaur exhibit, we did a quick unit study on dinos.  Levi has never been particularly interested in dinosaurs like some of his friends are, so we didn't go into too much detail.  He really enjoyed the zoo exhibit though!

 A living prehistoric creature

 

T-rex footprint (those are purple water shoes, he picked them out!)

Quetzalcoatlus - this one is not actually a dinosaur, I forget why though.  It was the first one on the dinosaur trail.

Levi's reaction to the Quetzalcoatlus!  It was pretty realistic, all the dinosaurs were, with sound affects and movement. 

 Plateosaurus

 Coelophysis

 Allosaurus

Stegosaurus

 Dilophosaurus

 Apatosaurus

Parasaurolophus

 Babies!

 Baryonyx

 Torosaurus

T-rex!

O

Ovaraptor

The exhibit was called "Dinosaurs, Dead or Alive?" and had this display at the end of the trail, live chickens!  I guess they are a close decendant of dinosaurs.

They also had a spot to dig for dinosaur bones.

And here is the lapbook we did:

 

This is the cover, I wanted Levi to color these, but he didn't feel like it! 

 The inside:
- what all reptiles have in common
- definition of dinosaur
- a favorite dino fact

- carnivore/omnivore/herbavore flap book (inside is pictures of what they each eat)
- wheel has different theories about why dinosaurs are extinct.
- pocket with different dinos

- definition of extinct
- definition of palentologist
- pattern practice

 Chart of dinosaur sizes.  We measured and drew with chalk the sizes of each dinosaur and then walked, hopped, and skipped the distances.

The brochure is from the zoo exhibit.

One of the experiments we did was to see what happens when a meteor hits.   We used a box of cornstarch, some plastic dinosaurs, and then dropped rocks in it.  The cornstarch puffed up and covered everything, including the dinosaurs showing how the resulting dust cold have killed them.

 Measuring dinosaurs

 We talked about how fossils are formed, and made some ourselves using clay and plastic dinosaurs.

I buried dog bones in the sand pile, and had him dig for them.  Berkshire (our dog)  helped, and then ate them!

I chose to do this unit study because of the exhibit, but I really think that Levi gets more out of the experience when we study something he is actually interested in.   It was still fun though!