Dinosaurs Resource Page

Here are helpful links to resources about dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were prehistoric reptiles that lived during the Mesozoic Era, the "Age of Reptiles." The word dinosaur means "Terrible Lizard." They evolved into many shapes and sizes. Dinosaurs roamed the Earth for about 165 million years and were able to adapt well to a wide range of environments and conditions. This ability made them became the most successful land animals of all time. However, dinosaurs mysteriously became extinct about 65 million years ago. All that is left of the dinosaurs are their fossils. They were and still are a quite diverse species. These resources contain information all about dinosaurs. They cover what a dinosaur is, characteristics of dinosaurs, how dinosaurs lived and evolved, student activities and games, and much more. Dinosaurs are interesting and fascinating to study. The students will enjoy learning about dinosaurs and their characteristics. These resources are suited for 4th graders and are useful in creating a unit on dinosaurs.

What is a Dinosaur?

• This site contains information about dinosaurs. It has a link to Zoom Dinosaurs page, which is a comprehensive on-line hypertext book all about dinosaurs. This page has information about what a dinosaur is, describes each kind of dinosaur, has a dinosaur timeline, dinosaur extinction, kids activities (Find it and Word Unscramble), and has information sheets about dinosaurs. This site is a very useful one because it offers a variety of information.

Discovery Channel: Walking with Dinosaurs

• Walking with dinosaurs allows students to discover how dinosaurs lived 150 million years ago. This site takes you back in time to when dinosaurs evolved and roamed the Earth. It has links to meet Big Al (the Allosaur) and others. This page also has links to find out what kind of dinosaurs lived near you, and meet the creatures that came after dinosaurs. There are also links to a dinosaur survival game, the prehistoric life of dinosaurs, and a dinosaur glossary.

The Dinosauria

• The Dinosauria contains a brief summary about dinosaurs and asks some questions about them. It also has some myths about dinosaurs and explains why they are myths. There are links to the fossil record of dinosaurs, their life history and ecology, systematics, and morphology. Each one of these sites explains more about dinosaurs and how they lived.

Dinobase

• Dinobase is a dinosaur database that contains a list of dinosaurs, their classification, pictures of them, what dinosaurs were like, why they became extinct, and more. These links are useful in developing a unit about dinosaurs. This site is helpful for students to get the answers to common dinosaur questions.

Dinosaur Pictures

• This site provides a variety of dinosaur pictures that would be useful in the classroom. This is a nice site for students to find dinosaur pictures, but it doesn't contain any information about dinosaurs. It has a list from a to z of all the different types of dinosaurs to choose from.

Walking With Dinosaurs

• The walking with dinosaurs site has facts and information about dinosaurs, games that students can play (The Big Al Game, puzzles, and The Lost World), dinosaur fossil records, and dinosaur timeline. It also contains many other links that allow the students to explore. These links are also good sources where students can gain knowledge about dinosaurs.

The Children's Stomping Ground

• This site is geared towards children and provides them with information about dinosaurs. It briefly describes the time before dinosaurs existed and then when they ruled the Earth. This page gives the exact years of when species lived on the Earth. It also contains brief information about the most common types of dinosaurs.

Dino Directory

• The Dino Directory explains how dinosaurs roamed the Earth for 160 million years. It has a short introduction of what dinosaurs were and describes them. It contains a timeline about which dinosaurs lived during a certain time period. The students can also click on a particular country to find out what dinosaur lived there. It also has dinosaur body shapes that you can go to (has pictures of them too) and find out what dinosaurs fit into each category.

Zooish Dinos

• The Dinosaur Den provides information about dinosaurs. It answers the questions: What were the largest dinosaurs on earth? What were the tallest dinosaurs on earth? What was the largest flying dinosaur? What was the heaviest dinosaur? It has some facts about dinosaurs that kids would find interesting and would help them learn more about dinosaurs. It has different types of dinosaurs and briefly explains where they lived (on land, the sky, or the sea), the time period that they lived in, and has a picture of them.

Link to the three most and the three least effective resources

My Critiques

Links

CS255 Computers in El Ed Home Page

Link to Northern Michigan University

S. Gregurash: sgregura@nmu.edu