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American Museum of Natural History

How Big Were Dinosaurs?

how-big-were-dinosaurs

How many times would your footprint fit into that of a large dinosaur? Could all of your classmate's feet fill up the small crater? Find out with this personalized look at the 35-ton Apatosaur.



How Big Were Dinosaurs?



  • More About This Resource...

    • In this classroom activity, created to complement the Museum's Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries exhibit, young students compare their feet to the foot of a large Apatosaur.

      • The activity opens with background information for teachers about the enormous size range of dinosaurs.
      • After using personal references to describe the size of dinosaurs, students examine the outline of an Apatosaur footprint.
      • Students then estimate how many of their footprints would fit inside the Apatosaur footprint and conduct an experiment to test their estimate.

    • Completion Time

      Approximately 1 period

    • Topic

      Paleontology

    • Subtopic

      General

    • Subtopic

      National Science Education Standards
      Grades K-4:

      • Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A:• Life Science CONTENT STANDARD C:• Science and Technology CONTENT STANDARD E:• History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G:

    • Learning Standard

      National Science Education Standards
      Grades K-4:

      • Science as Inquiry CONTENT STANDARD A:• Life Science CONTENT STANDARD C:• Science and Technology CONTENT STANDARD E:• History and Nature of Science CONTENT STANDARD G: