Dinosaur Trading Cards
Students will learn facts about the behavior, habitat, and appearance of dinosaurs.
What You Need
- Dinocards (PDF file)
- Books, encyclopedias, and other sources of information about dinosaurs
- Crayons or markers
What to Do
- Brainstorm with students a list of favorite dinosaurs.
- Give each student a copy of the Dinocards, and tell them that they will make trading cards for two different dinosaurs.
- Have students research the following information about each dinosaur: its size, its diet, when it lived (how many millions of years ago), and where it lived.
- Students should use the information they find to complete their cards. Students may wish to print pictures from Internet sites or to photocopy them from printed sources and then glue them onto the cards. Students may also wish to draw their own pictures.
- Have students cut out the cards and then fold and tape them closed.
- Have students create a dinosaur timeline, using the trading cards as markers.
- Have students locate on a world map where the dinosaurs lived. Then have students place their trading cards on those locations.
- The Natural History Museum’s Dino Directory
- This website from London’s Natural History Museum is a useful resource for sketches and basic facts about a wide range of dinosaurs. You can search by name or by period. Measurements are given in metric units.
- Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries
- This tour features pictures of a handful of dinosaurs and information on how computer technology is that is helping us learn more about how dinosaurs looked and moved, and what led to their extinction. Educational Resources include a teachers' guide for classroom use.
- Dino Russ’s Lair
- “Dino Russ,” a geologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey, covers everything from dinosaur eggs to places to see dinosaur fossils.
- This site brings together a great deal of information about dinosaurs and their world. Students will find it easy to use.