UKS2 Topic: Dinosaurs and Fossils Block C: Fossil Footprints

Session 2 Dinosaur footprints
National Curriculum / Science: Recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago; Identify how animals are adapted to their environment.
Teaching Objectives / To learn about dinosaur behaviour and adaptations from their footprints.
National Curriculum / Art: Make dinosaur feet and footprints.
Teaching Objectives / To try different techniques to make dinosaur feet and footprints.
Resources
Presentation on what dinosaur footprints can tell us; Making dinosaur feet and footprints; Different scenarios; Dino-dictionary entries. / Weblinks
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00bkqxv - BBC clip of David Attenborough explaining what dinosaur footprints tell us; http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/dinosaurs-other-extinct-creatures/dino-directory/body-shape/sauropod/gallery.html?selectedBodyShape=Sauropod - Dinosaur species from the Natural History Museum.
Whole class: Show chn the presentation about what dinosaur footprints can tell us (session resources). Ask them to look again at the dinosaur footprints you prepared for the first session and discuss in pairs whether they can work out what was happening when the footprints were made, and then get each pair to explain their scenario to the rest of the class. Ask the class to vote on which is the most likely scenario.
Tell chn that they are going to try out making their own scenario but first they have to make dinosaur feet. Give them the Making dinosaur feet and footprints resource. Ask chn to work in groups of three or four to make a set of feet each (of different types). While children are making the feet, ask them to describe the differences between the types, and why some dinosaurs walked on four feet and why some walked on two. Why did some have round feet and some have three pointed toes? Why were some dinosaurs bigger than others?
When they have some feet, they have to develop a scenario to present to another group, who have to try to work out what is going on. When each scenario is done, get groups to swap with each other to try to work out each other's scenarios. Get each group to present their version and ask the makers of that scenario to explain how close or far from their original version it is.
Easy/ Medium/ Hard
Making flip-flop dinosaur feet may be easier for less able chn. They may also need some help in developing a scenario, and there are some prompts in Different scenarios (session resources). Ask more able chn to write down a narrative of their scenario in a few sentences that can be used as a label on the image they produce afterwards.
Plenary / What can't fossilised footprints tell us? Make a list of questions that chn have about dinosaurs that they can't find out from fossilised footprints (e.g. the colour of the dinosaur skin, what they ate, etc.). What other evidence would you need to find to answer these questions?
Outcomes / Children will
·  Explain how footprints can tell us about dinosaur behaviour
·  Explain some adaptations of dinosaurs to their environment
·  Create a scenario using dinosaur feet that they have created

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