"Welcome to...Jurassic park!"
Well, actually I should say welcome to week 6 of Ranger Stu's Virtual Zoo!
This week its the turn of dinosaurs!
For the past 9 years I've been incredibly lucky to have worked at the Natural History Museum in London, the ultimate place for dinosaur lovers!
I first worked with science educators on a show called Animal Vision based in the Attenborough Studio and when that came to an end a few years ago I started working at Dawnosaurs.
Dawnosaurs is the free early morning event specifically created for autistic children and their families. I bring along many animals and I present in a relaxed and informal way. However, sadly I do not have any live dinosaurs with me!
Here's a link to Dawnosaurs for those interested in booking your tickets (once we all come out of lockdown!).
As usual on Wednesday I will be posting a video on my YouTube channel (subscribe here!). We will cover dinosaurs and I will be bringing out my very own dinosaur!
So what is a dinosaur?
Dinosaurs are a group of reptiles that lived between 245-66 million years ago.
They were found during three time periods. The Triassic (252-201 million years ago), The Jurassic (201-145 million years ago) and The Cretaceous (145-66 million years ago).
They are found in a massive range of sizes and shapes, they dominated the landscape of the entire world for millions of years and many have become favourites for children and adults of all ages!
We sometimes mistake other reptiles that were around during prehistoric times as dinosaurs but pterosaurs, crocodiles and marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs are not dinosaurs.
Sadly dinosaurs became extinct around 66 million years ago but their is one dinosaur lineage that survived to modern day and that is... BIRDS!
Yes, birds evolved from dinosaurs and in science we actually refer to them as avian dinosaurs, they share many features including feathers and similarities in their skeleton.
EYFS - Create a dinosaur skeleton.
So for this task you will need some spaghetti pasta, if you do not have pasta then twigs or even Q-tips will do!
You will need...
A piece of paper
Crayons
Glue
Spaghetti pasta
Using crayons or pencils draw a dinosaur background, you could draw trees, shrubs or even a volcano! (Do not draw the dinosaur...yet!)
Then draw a rough outline of your chosen dinosaur skeleton, don't draw in too much detail as your pasta is going to be stuck over the top.
Next, break your pasta into various pieces and glue them onto the outline you have drawn. It can get messy but that's all part of the fun!
Go into as much detail as you like and by the end you should have a dinosaur skeleton worthy of any museum specimen.
Below is the dinosaur skeletons that my children and I created. We have two triceratops and a Pterodactyl.
KS1 and KS2 - Classification work sheets.
Whilst writing these blogs I realised that I have not included maths into any of the topics we have covered each week! Well its time to change that.
Below is a dinosaur themed maths activity book from Twinkl, if your child isn't too confident with maths then maybe the dinosaurs can help!
Its aimed at KS1 and remember you can download it for free! (during lockdown you can create a free account with Twinkl using the code TWINKLHELPS)
If you are still stomping for more dino info then check out the dinosaur link to the Natural History Museum's website here. It is full of as much dinosaur information as you could ever want!
You can post pictures of your dinosaur skeleton through my Facebook and Instagram or you can post them in the comments section below.
Want to enjoy more Ranger Stu content?
Why not take a look at Ranger Stu's Virtual Zoo, live animals visiting your classroom, scout group or organisation virtually!
The great thing about Ranger Stu’s Virtual Zoo is that this can take place at any school or educational group within the U.K. or even the world!
Find out more on the link below and get in touch today for availability and pricing.
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