Overview:

Students will be able to:
-find pre-selected websites on the internet
-print information from the websites
-complete a work sheet on one dinosaur
-make a model of their dinosaur
-interpret the information they have found to determine whether their dinosaur’s characteristics fit within specific categories
-work in pairs to research one time period
-collaborate with others to describe the time period in which their dinosaur lived
-work together in small groups to organize their information for reporting
-students in each group report to the class about their time period and the dinosaurs that lived during that time
-The class compiles the information from the separate groups to complete a time line project (mural or model) which describes when the dinosaurs lived.

Method of Instruction:

This Webquest uses the jigsaw method of instruction. Students work in cooperative groups to study dinosaurs from the Triassic, Jurassic and the Cretaceous time periods. Three study groups are organized by time periods. The knowledge each group gathers provides separate pieces of a puzzle that fit together to complete the information. Each group becomes knowledgeable about one time period and reports back to the whole class. The groups then interpret how the time period in which their dinosaur lived fits into the Mesozoic Era as a whole. The information compiled from the separate reports forms a unified comprehensive study about when the dinosaurs lived and enables the students to design a layout for a Dinosaur Zoo. The students may use either a mural, or a 3-D model to show when each dinosaur lived, what its habitat was like and which dinosaurs were predators and which were pray.

Teacher Background Information:

The Webquest:

To begin the Dinosaur Webquest students click on the envelope to open their mail. Students read the letter and proceed to the task.

The Task

1. Learn about the time of the dinosaurs.
Students may work together in pairs at the computer, or
Teachers may choose to use a digital projector and provide direct instruction to the whole class.
a)Stair step visual showing when dinosaurs lived
b)Fossil clip

2. Learn about one dinosaur
Assign each student a dinosaur to research from the Teacher List of dinosaurs. The dinosaurs are numbered to help you select a balance of dinosaurs from each time period. Also, you will want to include meat eating and plant eating dinosaurs from each time period as well.

Teacher List of Dinosaurs
 

Triassic		Jurassic		Cretaceous
Plant-eater	Meat-eater	Plant-eater	Meat-eater	Plant-eater	Meat-eater
24. Plateosaurus	10. Coelophysis	5. Apatosaurus	2. Allosaurus	8. Centrosaurus	32. Tyrannosaurus
29. Thecodontosaurus	17. Eoraptor	7. Brachiosaurus	9. Ceratosaurus	18. Hadrosaurus	22. Oviraptor
	25. Procompsognathus	15. Diplodocus	14. Dilophosaurus	4. Ankylosaurus	31. Troodon
	26. Saltopus	28. Stegosaurus	11. Compsognathus	30. Triceratops	1. Albertosaurus
		3. Anchisaurus		21. Ornithomimus (omnivore)	21. Ornithomimus (omnivore)
		6. Barosaurus		19. Iguanodon	13. Deinonychus
		27. Saurolophus		16. Edmontosaurus	33. Velociraptor
				12. Corythosaurus
				23. Parasaurolophus
				20. Maiasaura

Each student clicks on the name of their dinosaur from the table appearing on the student page and prints two copies of the information page about their dinosaur.

3. Using the printed information page, students fill in a
Dinosaur Information Worksheet about their dinosaur.

4. Each student makes a stand up model of their dinosaur using one print-out of their information sheet

Teacher organizes a Dino sort:
The students must have completed their worksheet and their model in order to proceed with this activity. The teacher assumes the role of the Construction Crew Foreman and specifies various sorting criteria to develop concept formation.

Examples of Sorting Criteria
1). Use a horse shoe sort to illustrate sequence and order

• Size

• Alphabetical order

Sorting activities should lead the groups to determine how their dinosaurs are alike and how they are different. Complete the sorting activity by using criteria that will establish three groups of students with dinosaurs that lived during the same time period.

5. Learn about the period when your dinosaur lived

Within each Time Period Group, the students work in pairs to visit web sites which describe the time period in which their dinosaurs lived. Students fill in one time period worksheet together from the information found at these sites. Each group works together to find key words on their work sheets to describe the landscape, the climate, and information about plant and animal life that characterizes their time period.

6. Colour a picture of the habitat for the time period when your dinosaur lived.

7. Students print a copy of the picture of their time period, color the picture, stand their dinosaur up in front of the picture and prepare to report about their dinosaur to the rest of the class. The reports begin with the Triassic Dinosaur Group and culminate with the Cretaceous Dinosaur Group.

The teacher may have each group paint a landscape mural of their time period and attach a picture of their dinosaur to it. Using the mural as a mock up design of a dinosaur zoo, the students could indicate where their dinosaur would find food, water and safety if the zoo were to built according to this plan.

8. Conclusion
Students click on the envelope at the end of the Webquest. They read a letter of congratulations for successfully completing the quest.

Teacher Internet Resources:

 Math - Dinosaur Sizes Math Activity Printout
 Pictures of the Eastend, Sk. - Scotty the T-Rex
 Information on Tours in Eastend, Sk. - Education Programs
 Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta
 Royal Saskatchewan Museum (Check out the Paleo Pit under "Education")
Dinosaurs
 Enchanted Learning's Main site for dinosaur information
 Learningpage's  site for Dinosaur information
 Printable mural of dinosaur habitat
 Golden Books Dino Master Quest site
 A Unit on Dinosaurs
 Tennis Shoe Detectives
 Information about the time of the dinosaurs
 Model Thematic Unit: Dinosaurs
 Dinosaur Book List
 Dinosaur Readers Theatre - Dinosaur Land