Creating Dinosaur Habitats

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Creating Dinosaur Habitats Teacher
Page A WebQuest for 3rd Grade Designed
By Rebecca Schroth Based on a template from
San Diego State Universitys The WebQuest Page
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Introduction This lesson was developed as part
of the elementary science methods course at Roger
Williams University located in Bristol, Rhode
Island. The book The Pebble in my Pocket
written by Meredith Hooper and Chris Coady served
as an inspiration for my web quest on dinosaur's.
This book would be a great starting point to help
teachers orient their students about species that
inhabited the earth before humans. The wonderful
illustrations and descriptive language will
engage students and serve as a great anticipatory
set for prehistoric animals.
Click to
buy book
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Learner This lesson was designed for
students in a third grade science class but the
lesson could easily be extended to additional
grades by expanding the focus of the lesson from
dinosaurs to the geology of the earth. Students
could concentrate on the varying time periods
that each breed of dinosaur lived in and their
differing environments. Prior to the beginning
of this lesson students need to know how to work
in a group to come up with combined research but
differing conclusions and have a basic
understanding of a living organism's environment.
According to the specific research from the
Benchmarks for Science Literacy, chapter 15 The
Research Base students entering third grade
should know that -Everybody can do science and
invent things and ideas. -In doing science, it
is often helpful to work with a team and to share
findings with others. All team members should
reach their own individual conclusions, however,
about what the findings mean. -A lot can be
learned about plants and animals by observing
them closely, but care must be taken to know the
needs of living things and how to provide for
them in the classroom. -Describing things as
accurately as possible is important in science
because it enables people to compare their
observations with those of others.
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• Curriculum Standards
• National Science Education Standards
• Life Science
• CONTENT STANDARD CAs a result of activities in
  grades K-4, all students should develop
  understanding of
• The characteristics of organisms
• Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals
  need air, water, and food plants require air,
  water, nutrients, and light. Organisms can
  survive only in environments in which their needs
  can be met. The world has many different
  environments, and distinct environments support
  the life of different types of organisms.
• Each plant or animal has different structures
  that serve different functions in growth,
  survival, and reproduction. For example, humans
  have distinct body structures for walking,
  holding, seeing, and talking.
• The behavior of individual organisms is
  influenced by internal cues (such as hunger) and
  by external cues (such as a change in the
  environment). Humans and other organisms have
  senses that help them detect internal and
  external cues.
• Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
• CONTENT STANDARD F As a result of
  activities in grades K-4, all students should
  develop understanding of
• CHANGES IN ENVIRONMENTS
• -Environments are the space, conditions, and
  factors that affect an individual's and a
  population's ability to survive and their quality
  of life.
• -Some environmental changes occur slowly, and
  others occur rapidly. Students should understand
  the different consequences of changing
  environments in small increments over long
  periods as compared with changing environments in
  large increments over short periods.
• 
  
  

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• English Language Arts Standards
• Standard 4. Gathers and uses information for
  research purposes
• Level II (Grades 3-5)
• Benchmark 7. Uses strategies to gather and record
  information for research topics (e.g., uses
  notes,
• maps, charts, graphs, tables, and other graphic
  organizers paraphrases and summarizes
• information gathers direct quotes provides
  narrative descriptions)
• Benchmark 8. Uses strategies to compile
  information into written reports or summaries
  (e.g.,
• incorporates notes into a finished product
  includes simple facts, details, explanations, and
  
• examples draws conclusions from relationships
  and patterns that emerge from data from different
  
• sources uses appropriate visual aids and media)
• Standard 7. Uses reading skills and strategies to
  understand and interpret a variety of
  informational texts
• Benchmark 6. Uses prior knowledge and experience
  to understand and respond to new information
• Standard 8. Uses listening and speaking
  strategies for different purposes

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Process Number of Class Periods Required 2
(45 min. each) Time Required 90 minutes Areas
Covered Art, Science, Research Methods Teachers
Role The classroom teachers role is very
minimal and it consists of hading out resources,
grouping students, supervising internet activity,
and asking inquiry based questions 1) First you
will be assigned into teams of four students 2)
You will read the book, The Pebble In My Pocket
as a group, as you read make observations about
the changing environments and how it effected the
plant and animal life. 3)Each group will be given
a model dinosaur and using the websites provided
the answers the essential questions 3) Next you
go online and visit the various websites that
have been selected for you and find the answers
to the questions and learn all about
dinosaurs! Interactive Dinosaur Viewer
Dinosaur Activities Fossils 4) After
learning about your dinosaur create their habitat
in a pizza box using the provided materials
(sand, dirt, grass, water etc) Dont forget to
include their food source and shelter! 5) When
your habitats are complete arrange the classes
habitats to form a zoo, keeping in mind which
dinosaurs need to be kept distant from each
other. 6) Once the zoo is complete each group
will present their habitats to the class. In the
presentation the essential questions must be
answered.
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Resources Needed Resources Needed to implement
this lesson -Class sets of books, The Pebble in
my Pocket written by Meredith Hooper and Chris
Coady -Computers with internet access -Lab
access to the Web with available room for groups
of 4 students -Reference materials in the
classroom or school library -Art supplies (paper,
markers, and pencils) -One pizza box for every
group -Sand, dirt, grass, leaves, water, to
create the habitats Human resources needed -One
teacher who has a basic understanding and
knowledge of computer and the internet -This
lesson requires the students to work in groups of
four, if an aide or parent is available
they could walk around the classroom helping the
groups research Websites Used Teachers Page
of Resources Interactive Dinosaur Viewer
Dinosaur Activities Fossils
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Evaluation
4 Great Job 3  Almost There 2  Getting Close 1  Take Another Look Score
Proper Identification of Dinosaur Model and Dinosaur habitat The information collected is correct and in-depth The information collected is correct and organized . The information collected is relevant but errors exist The Information collect is not relevant
  Thorough responses to the Essential Question   Excellent understanding of the topic. Able to make connections and statements about information researched Good understanding of the topic. Able to make many statements about information researched Vague understanding of the topic. Able to make few statements about information researched Poor understanding of the topic. Able to make few statements about information researched
Creation of an Accurate Habitat Accuracy was exceptional Accuracy was good Accuracy was satisfactory Accuracy needs improvement
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Evaluation (continued)
 Group Work Works very well with others. Takes a clear role in partner work Works well with others. Takes part in most decisions with partner. Works with others, but has trouble sharing decisions with partner. . Cannot work with others in most situations. Cannot share decisions with partner.
Presentation    Great creativity, made use of several resources. All group members presented. Creativity shown in presentation. most group members did the presenting. Some creativity shown in presentation. Two group member did the presentation. No creativity shown in presentation. One group member did all the presentation.
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Conclusion This lesson is a great way to
introduce dinosaurs and habitats to a third grade
class. This lesson is made up of several
activities that incorporates different mediums.
It utilizes students writing skills, their
ability to navigate the internet, obtain
information from research, applying artistic
skills, building, and oral speaking. Students
will be able to identify different species of
dinosaurs, learn about their survival needs and
discover why different species have different
needs once they have completed this Web
Quest. This lesson allows students work
independently from the teacher by following
direction and by working in groups it helps them
to stay on task. The websites have been selected
to encourage thinking rather than just displaying
facts. This lesson requires students to apply the
knowledge they discovered about dinosaurs and
create an accurate representation of a habitat.
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Credits References I would like to thank the
following websites for their outstanding graphics
that I used in my WebQuest Picture of Dinosaur
Zoo Picture of Scientists Image of Laptop
Animated Dinosaurs Picture of
Scientists I would also like acknowledge the
great informational websites that helped me
create such an informative and age appropriate
WebQuest Teachers Page of Resources Interactive
Dinosaur Viewer Dinosaur Activities Fossils
The following link provides updated information
of the templates and training necessary to make a
WebQuest of your own! The WebQuest Page