Click the appropriate Student Field Journal(s) below, then print, duplicate, and distribute to students.

• Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs — Grades 1 and 2
• Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs — Grades 1 and 2
• Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs — Grades 3 - 5
• Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs — Grades 3 - 5

Read through the Field Journal with them to identify the tasks involved and the information they will be gathering at each exhibit. Point out that, besides written responses, they will be making drawings and diagrams. Students should bring along clipboards and additional sheets of paper for this purpose. Suggest that they also write down their own questions and look for the answers as they tour the Dinosaur Halls. Students should work in chaperoned groups. Assign each student to a group.

Provide chaperones with copies of the Field Journal (links above), At the Museum, and the map of the Dinosaur Halls. At the Museum contains key information about the specimens on display. As they tour the Halls, chaperones can provide their groups with information on each exhibit. Remind students and chaperones that Education Teaching Volunteers in each Hall are available to answer any questions they have.

Discuss the Museum Experience
Have students work in small groups to share their experiences in the Dinosaur Halls. Then, review with the class as a whole the information they recorded in their Field Journals. Ask students what they learned that they didn't already know and what they learned that surprised them the most. Find out if any of their questions from earlier class discussions were answered at the Museum. If students have new questions, use them as a reference point for further investigation.

Create a Mural
Using what they learned in the Dinosaur Halls and through library and Internet research, have students create a mural that depicts dinosaurs of the Triassic, Jurassic, or Cretaceous period in their habitats.

Create a Museum Exhibition
Students can demonstrate what they have learned about dinosaurs by creating their own museum exhibit. Have students work in small groups to research a topic of interest to them. Some topics students may want to research are: fossil collecting, geology, classification, fossil mounting, scientific illustration, dinosaur features, dinosaur lifestyles, and extinction. To illustrate their findings, groups may want to make a cladistic model, posters, skeletal models, dioramas, or charts. When exhibits are completed, have each group present their exhibit to the rest of the class.

Printable Sheets to Accompany This Guide:
Map of the Dinosaur Halls
At the Museum
Using Cladistics
Bone Fossils
Trace Fossils
Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs — Grades 1 and 2
Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs — Grades 1 and 2
Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs — Grades 3 - 5
Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs — Grades 3 - 5

Books
Dingus, Lowell. Next of Kin. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1996.

Eldredge, N., G. Eldredge, and D. Eldredge. The Fossil Factory. Reading, Penn.: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1989.

Gaffney, Eugene S. Dinosaurs. New York: Golden Press, 1990.

Norell, M. A., E. S. Gaffney, and L. Dingus. Discovering Dinosaurs. New York: Alfred A. Knoph, 1995.

Museum Resources
Go to our Web site at www.amnh.org and do a search for "dinosaurs."

The Paleontology of Dinosaurs, Moveable Museum, AMNH.
Take an interactive journey from the field to the laboratory and study the clues that fossils can give us about dinosaurs and their fate. For more information, contact the Department of Education: Jenny Lando at jlando@amnh.org.