Dinosaurs learning unit

An Acknowledgement of Country is a statement that pays respect to the Traditional Custodians of the Country that you are learning or meeting on and recognises their ongoing relationship with Country. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people as the Custodians of the land on which the Museum stands.

Which First Nations Country or Nation was your school built upon? If you are unsure contact a local First Nations organisation to find out. You might like to start with the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group.

Ask your students to write an Acknowledgement of Country for your school. To get them started, read more about why an Acknowledgement of Country is important and how to write one in this ABC article.

Divide the students into groups and brainstorm some dinosaurs.

• Do you know where these dinosaurs lived or what they ate?
• Do these dinosaurs have anything in common?

Brainstorm ideas about how we know dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals once existed. Introduce fossils to the class and discuss how they tell us about our past.

Using the dinosaur factsheets below, compare the main features of tyrannosaurs, a group of dinosaurs that included Tyrannosaurus rex.

Share pictures of a prehistoric lizard (eg. Megalania), a dinosaur and a marine reptile, and compare their stance. We have selected three here however you can browse our dinosaur factsheets to find your own! Notice that lizard legs extend out from the sides whilst dinosaur legs are directly underneath their bodies.

Look at the diagram below. Highlight the hole in dinosaur's hip socket (number 4). This allowed dinosaurs to stand with their legs directly underneath them, and distinguishes them from other reptiles.

Call on volunteers to show that prehistoric lizards walked using a stance with legs extending out from the sides – students can take a crawling position and then move their arms and legs out to the side. They should shift their weight from side to side as they move awkwardly!

Then call on volunteers to demonstrate a dinosaur stance, with arms and legs positioned directly under the body. This should show that the dinosaurs could walk faster and less awkwardly!

• Can you demonstrate any other prehistoric animal's movement in front of the class? Is it easy to move this way?

In small groups, create a list of animals that you hope to see when you visit the Australian Museum Dinosaurs exhibition. To get you started, answer the following questions.

• What is your favourite dinosaur or prehistoric animal?
• What do you know about what it looks like, where it lives and what it eats?

Using your group's list of animals, create a new dinosaur or prehistoric animal using a combination of their features. Illustrate, model or paint your new animal and share it with the class.

Visit and explore our Dinosaurs exhibition which showcases dinosaurs and fossils from Australia and around the world.

We have also a range of free learning resources to support your visit, which you can access below.

See and touch real fossils from the Australian Museum’s palaeontology collection in this exciting program!

Here, students will learn about the features of dinosaurs and compare dinosaurs with modern day animals. They will look closely at fossils and discover the feathers, teeth, and claws of different dinosaurs. Through hands-on activities, students also will explore how trace and body fossils help scientists find out about animals from the past.

Have a discussion with your class about the dinosaurs and fossils seen during the excursion. Look through the pictures below and ask the following questions:

• Describe some of the dinosaurs you saw.
• What did you find interesting about them?
• How do you think they moved?
• What do you think they ate?
• What type of evidence gives palaeontologists information about dinosaurs?
• What other prehistoric animals did you see during the excursion?

Fossils can be formed in different ways, but most are formed when a plant or animal dies in a watery environment and is buried in mud and silt. Soft tissues quickly decompose leaving the hard bones or shells behind. Over time sediment builds over the top and hardens into rock. Scientists learn about dinosaurs through the fossil evidence they have left behind which might be a fossilised bone, tooth, footprint or even poo!

Watch this animation to understand how dinosaurs became fossils over time.

Explore a variety of fossils using casts, pictures from our website or real fossils. We have included some images of different types of fossils below.

• Can guess what prehistoric animal these fossils are from?
• What clues do they give us about the animal?
• Categorise these fossils into three groups: trace, body, or impression fossils.

Fast finishers

Students can make their own impression fossils out of clay, using our activity page as a guide.

The Winton Trackway is a dinosaur stampede which was uncovered in Queensland. Over 3000 fossilised footprints were left by dinosaurs on the shore of a lake about 95 million years ago. The sizes and shapes of the footprints indicate what types of dinosaurs made them and approximately how big they were. At least 160 different dinosaurs left their mark.

Download and print the poster below. Follow the guiding questions to interpret what was happening at this scene millions of years ago. Students can recreate the stampede by standing in the varying directions seen through the footprints!

Explore some findings from other fossil sites in Australia. Ask students to pick one fossil site and find out what animal or plant was found there!

Using craft materials and our activity page as a guide, make your own dino-rama of carnivorous dinosaurs.

An exhibition in a museum normally tells a story through objects, specimens, models, sounds, text, digital platforms, art, pictures and/or archival sources. A student-curated exhibition for your classroom or school would give great scope for object-based learning giving opportunities for students to investigate objects in ways that encourages collaboration, research, and discussion.

Students can set up their own exhibition about Australian dinosaurs, or dinosaurs around the world. Follow our scaffolded activity page to create your own exhibition in the classroom.