Dinosaurs - Lesson 7: Nature and Change
ACTIVITY: Dinosaur Mathematics

Objective
The students count, add and subtract to make dinosaurs.

Materials

• Shapes and counters to construct figures for each student pair or student group
  
• Poster board for chart
  
• Cardboard boxes or other materials to make dinosaur cages
  
• Paper clips or other objects to use as nonstandard units of measure
  

Procedures
1. Students design dinosaur shapes from various objects such as shapes or counters and other objects available.
2. Students consider the following questions before designing the dinosaur.

• How much does a dinosaur weigh? (From two to three pounds to between 35 and 50 tons.)
• How many scales will you draw along the dinosaur's back?
• Will it have four legs, or two legs and two arms?
• How long in number of paper clips will your dinosaur be?
• How tall in number of paper clips will your dinosaur be?
• How long will your dinosaur's tail be?
• How long will your dinosaur's legs and/or arms be?
• If your dinosaur has only two legs and has two arms, how much longer will you make the legs than the arms?

3. Make a cage for the dinosaur. How big will the cage be?
4. After designing and making the dinosaur, decide what food it would need. Make a chart to show how much he/she eats every day and each week.
5. After constructing the dinosaurs, the students sequence them by length, then by height.
6. The students sort the dinosaurs they made into carnivores and herbivores.