This inquiry provides opportunities for students to develop their observation and comparing and contrasting skills as they explore the size of dinosaurs. The skeletons of some animals, such as whales, look very different from the live animals, and it would be difficult to accurately determine their shape just by looking at their skeletons. But skeletons do not tell the whole picture of what an animal looks like. This can help palaeontologists to ‘flesh out’ the animal. Aside from the bones themselves, markings on the bones can show where muscles and tendons were attached. The skeletons of dinosaurs are the best indicators we have as to their sizes and shapes.
Fossil bones provide clues about the size and shape of extinct animals Only a few bones (usually vertebrae) have been found of these animals. That’s a long-necked sauropod that scientists believe could reach a length of 40 m (130’) and a mass of up to 100 tonnes (100 tons). It is likely that dinosaurs even larger than Argentinosaurus lived, but not enough fossil bones have been found to make a reliable estimate. The largest known dinosaur is believed to be Argentinosaurus. Some dinosaurs had feathers covering parts of their bodies, while others had scales. Many dinosaurs had humps, plates or spikes on various parts of their bodies. Some dinosaurs (including all meat-eating dinosaurs) walked on two legs. More than 1 000 species of dinosaur are known from fossil evidence, ranging in size from small bird-like dinosaurs that were less than 1 m (~3’) to huge long-necked sauropods that reached lengths of 40 m (~130’) or more. Students explore the size of dinosaurs by measuring out the length of a Tyrannosaurus in the classroom, and then compare and contrast its size to that of the classroom, model dinosaurs, other types of dinosaurs and themselves. Open Professional Learning × Close Professional Learning Open Educational Resources × Close Educational Resources
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