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| Classroom
Activities |
| These five activities
are adapted from A
Walk with an Expedition
by Paul C. Sereno and
Gabrielle H. Lyon.
Each lesson is designed
for 5-8th
graders and should take
approximately forty-five-minutes.
Every activity is supported
with a thematic glossary,
bibliography, annotated
list of links and images
from the DE2K photo
gallery. * Please note:
activities are adaptable
for younger students
and lend themselves
to hands-on implementations.
Project
Exploration thanks Gloria
Dobry, Chicago Board
of Education, for her
help in aligning these
activities to Illinois
State Goals and Chicago
Academic Standards.
- Pack
the Truck
How are you going
to get more than a
dozen people across
the Sahara and back?
What if one of the
vehicles breaks down?
What will the team
eat in the field?
How much will they
eat? What if someone
gets hurt?
These are the kinds
of questions you need
to answer if you are
planning an expedition.
In this activity decide
how to pack the Land
Rovers and calculate
what you are allowed
to bring along.
- A Secret Message
Niger is a country
of many cultures and
during the expedition
the team will come
in contact with different
peoples: Arabs, Djerma,
Hausa, Fulani and
especially the Touareg.
In this activity you
will learn about nomadic
Touaregs’ traditional
culture and decode
a message in Tifnar
– the written
language of the Touareg
people
- Where
to Look
Luck is
part of finding fossils,
but hard work and
research are even
more important. How
does the team know
where to start looking?
In this activity use
geographic maps, geologic
maps and research
reports to decide
where to look for
dinosaur fossils.
- How
to Dig a Dinosaur
in 10 Easy Steps
You’ve
made the dinosaur
discovery of a lifetime.
But the 135 million
year old fossil bones
are fragile –
how are you going
to get them out of
the ground? In this
activity work step
by step to excavate
and jacket a dinosaur
bone.
- A Skeletal Plan
Did you know that
you can match almost
every bone in your
skeleton with those
in the skeleton of
a dinosaur? In this
activity compare a
human skeleton with
the skeleton of a
predatory dinosaur.
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Should I Use This Site?
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| Click
here for suggestions
on using this site for
the classroom |
| Links,
Bibliography, and Glossary |
| Additional educational
resources:
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| Background
Information |
- Why
Africa?
About 250 million
years ago, the continents
we know today were
united in a single
super-continent called
Pangaea. Toward the
end of the Jurassic
period (about 150
million years ago),
Pangaea began to fragment
into northern and
southern landmasses
called Laurasia and
Gondwana. The separation
continued...
Read
More...
- Peoples of Niger
Many distinct
groups of people live
in West Africa, each
with its own language
and culture. In Niger
alone more than seven
languages are spoken.
Once the team reaches
Niger they will come
into contact with
many different peoples
-- Arab, Djerma ("jeer-ma"),
Hausa ("house-a"),
and particularly Fulani
("foo-lahn-ee") and
Touareg ("twar-egg").
Read
More...
- How do you know
where to look?
Knowing where
to look is a combination
of research and fieldwork.
We start by deciding
the age dinosaurs
we want to look for
and where we want
to go...
Read
More...
- Expedition Preparation
How are you going
to get more than a
dozen people across
the Sahara Desert
and back?
What if one of the
vehicles breaks down?
What will the team
eat? How much will
they eat?
Where will the team
sleep? What if someone
gets hurt?
When planning an expedition,
these are just some
of the questions you
need to answer.
Read
More..
- African
Dinosaur Discoveries
The following
dinosaurs were discovered
in Africa by expedition
teams led by Dr. Paul
Sereno.
Read
More..
Read
Paul's Update...
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