What's The Point
It is important to drink lots of water when you play sports. This is especially true for the dinosaur athletes at Troodon Town’s annual sporting event, the Classic in the Jurassic Jr. In this activity, your child will explore the concept of capacity while helping dinosaurs of different sizes get just the right amount of water that they need.
– Bring the water up to the right level by choosing a big, medium, or little diver.
Hydration Station – Your friends are thirsty. Pour the right amount of water into their watering holes.
This Activity Will Help Your Child
- Compare size and capacity
- Use vocabulary to describe size and capacity
- A House for Birdie
by Stuart J. Murphy
How Do I Do It?
- With your child, explore the Dinosaur Train Field Guide (links to url above).
- Find four dinosaurs of very different sizes that lived during the Jurassic period. For example: Allosaurus, Apatosaurus, Archaeopteryx, and Brachiosaurus. Print out the cards for your chosen dinosaurs. Talk about how the four dinosaurs compare in size.
- Tell your child that the four dinosaurs are very thirsty, and it is up to the two of you to make sure each one gets the right amount of water for its size. Help your child match a cup size to the size of each dinosaur. For example, put the smallest cup next to the smallest dinosaur, and the largest cup next to the largest dinosaur, and so on.
- Use comparative vocabulary such as more, less, most, and least. Which dinosaur needs the most water? The least water? Pointing to the smallest dinosaur, ask “Does this dinosaur need more or less water than that very big dinosaur?”
- Ask your child to pour water into each cup, but don’t let it spill over!
Take It Further
Extend the fun with some dinosaur munchies. Cut out pictures of fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat from a grocery store ad. Explain to your child what it means to be an herbivore (eats only plants), carnivore (eats only meats) and omnivore (eats plants and meats). Look at each dinosaur card to see what your four dinosaurs eat. Based on that information, ask your child to give each dinosaur an appropriate “snack.”