DINOSAUR TOUR PROGRAM PLAN FOR DOCENTS The following is a suggested format for this program. Please feel free to bring your own experiences and creativity to the program. Flexibility is encouraged. PROGRAM DEVELOPERS & DATE Developed 2010: Jill Allen, Susan Barrie, Cecelia Lodico, Kim Vane, Volney White, Phyllis Wolfskill. Revised 2016: Susan Barrie (bluebarrie@icloud.com) AGE/GRADE LEVEL Kindergarten 5 th grade DURATION Approximately 1.5 hours Note: Dinosaur Tour will take about 20-30 minutes. Depending on children s ages and group size. Other dinosaur activities (such as Time Machine or Dinosaur Footprints) are added to the program in order to do a 1.5-hour program. All activities are listed on the docent website. Some school groups will ask for the dinosaur puppet show. The puppet show itself takes about 10 minutes but with introduction and discussion afterwards this activity can be extended to 20-30 minutes. You can choose other dinosaur activities according to group ages and number of docents. GROUP SIZE/DOCENTS NEEDED One docent for every 10-12 children Kindergarten age, 8 children per group is optimal Chaperone for every six students ADVANCED PREPARATION Call MNA program director 3 days before program date to reserve the galleries and/or other areas needed for activities. Lead docent should email or call the person listed as contact for the program to confirm time, date and activities. Check Dinosaur Tour box ahead of time. Additional activities may need preparation. Check the activity and be sure all supplies are ready. For instance: Dinosaur footprints
activity might need the footprints drawn and information sheets printed. MATERIALS NEEDED Materials for Dinosaur Tour: Dinosaur Tour box (contains fossils, dino quilt, picture of paleontologists, etc.) Optional materials: Dino Suitcase (dino photos & other items). There are additional activities listed on the docent web site. These activities will use different materials. Choose the activities you will be using along with the Dinosaur Tour. All props needed for additional activities are listed on the detailed activity sheets located on the docent web site.. Check supplies ahead of time (some will need preparation before tour begins). LOCATION/STATIONS Check with the program director to ensure space needed. Geology Gallery for Dinosaur Tour. Depending on other additional activities chosen, locations might be outside courtyards, Branigar-Chase, the nearby hallway or the living room. INFORMATIONAL TALKING POINTS Fossils are not only dinosaur bones but can be shells, plants, insects, teeth and bones of other animals. What is a paleontologist? What is a dinosaur? (ankle bone, land animal, etc.) Dilophosaurus Therizinosaur Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (what animals and plants dominated each period, etc.). Carnivore, herbivore, omnivore Some dinosaurs walked on 2 leg (biped) & some on four legs (quadruped) Dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago What came next? (Mega Fauna mural) KEY QUESTIONS/ OBJECTIVES By the end of the program the students will be able to answer the following questions: 1. What is a dinosaur? (ankle bone, lived on land, reptile http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/what-dinosaur) 2. What is a fossil?
3. What did Dilophosaurus eat? How do we know? 4. What did Therizinosaur eat? How do we know? 5. Were some dinosaurs quadrupeds (four feet) and some bipeds (two feet)? 6. Who studies dinosaur fossils? 7. What happened to dinosaurs? KEY WORDS Dinosaur, extinction, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Triassic, paleontologist, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, fossil, tracks, amphibian, reptile, mammal, ankle bone, quadruped, biped, theropod, sauropod CULTURAL SENSITIVITIES Check in advance with the teacher. Some Native American children may not be comfortable touching real bones. INTRODUCTION Introduce yourself and your assistants explaining the role of the docent in the museum. Walk children to the Geology Gallery. Settle on dino quilt in space between dilophosaurus skeleton & Triassic display case. Talk about the museum and its purpose, emphasizing the Geology Gallery. Talk about dinosaurs. Ask a few questions to get a feel for what the group knows about dinosaurs & fossils using key words and talking points. ACTIVITIES Show pictures of paleontologists working. Discuss what they do, where they might work, what they are looking for, etc. Ask, How do we know there were dinosaurs? We have found fossilized bones, teeth, and eggs of the dinosaurs. Older children can learn about the geological layers of the Colorado Plateau and where dinosaur fossils were found. Ask what is a fossil? Show different small fossils. Tell the group that fossils are not just dinosaur bones but also other life forms such as plants, shells, insects and fish skeletons, etc. Explain how fossils are formed. More detail can be given to older children. The murals can be used to show fossil pictures. Look at fossils of Phytosaur skull, plants, Coelophysis skeleton in Triassic display case and talk about Triassic mural. (Coelophysis was one of the first dinosaurs). The Triassic Period was the age of reptiles and the beginning of dinosaurs. Discuss briefly how a reptile s anklebone is different from the
dinosaur anklebone. (Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Christa Sadler, William Parker, Sidney Ash, Petrified Forest Museum Association, p.74 http://scienceviews.com/dinosaurs/dinofacts.html Put small fossils away and look to Dilophosaurus skeleton. Talk about Dilophosaurus. Note the track ways. Find small mammals in Jurassic mural. There are two! The Jurassic Period was the age of the sauropods. (Key words: quadrupeds, long necks, herbivore). Use of dino models can be used. Look at Cretaceous mural. Mammals are still small. Angiosperms appear. Point out large fossilized femur of duck-billed dinosaur. Children can touch this fossil. Walk to Therizinosaur skeleton in lobby. Talk about Therizinosaur. Compare to Diloposaurus. What did Therizinasaur eat? Look at mural of mega fauna. What happened to the dinosaurs? Humans lived at this time. See additional dinosaur activities on docent web site WRAP UP Review dinosaur and fossil information (key questions/objectives). Possible follow-up activities might include true/false game and singing dino songs. CLEAN UP As a courtesy to other docents, please put all props and articles exactly where you found them. Put all the program props back into gallery tour box & dino suitcase. Return to the docent closet near Branigar Chase. Return all additional materials used during program. Please, report any missing or broken parts to the tour director. MUSEUM CONNECTION Bring family and friends back to museum to view dinosaur skeletons & geology gallery for their own personal tour. RESOURCE MATERIAL Life in Stone, Christa Sadler, Grand Canyon Association, 2005 Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Christa Sadler, William Parker, Sidney
Ash, Petrified Forest Museum Association Mystery of the Sickle-Claw Dinosaur, Plateau, Fall 2007, Vol. 4, No. 2) http://www.dinosaurfact.net http://scienceviews.com/dinosaurs/dinofacts.html http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/what-dinosaur