Level 1 Elementary

Digging for dinos

1 quick quiz
Test your knowledge of dinos (dinosaurs). Circle True or False.
1. There were 300 kinds of dinosaurs.

True

False

2. Dinosaurs ate people.

True

False

3. Some dinosaurs could fly.

True

False

4. Label these three dinosaurs: stegosaurus, tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops.

a) _______________________

b) _______________________

c) _______________________

2 What does it mean?

Match the words from the article with the definitions. The paragraph number will also help you find
the correct word.

fossils

skeletons

footprint

species

shaking

park ranger

down under

huge

plates

Paragraph 1
1.
making lots of quick movements
2.
very big
3.
remains of a plant or animal from a long time ago

_________________
_________________
_________________

Paragraph 2
4.
a heavy metal that also exists in our bodies

_________________

Paragraph 3
5.
type of animal or plant
6.
lived
7.
was the most important

_________________
_________________
_________________

Paragraphs 4 and 5
8.
flat pieces of bone that protect the body of some animals
9.
these cover a birds body

_________________
_________________

Paragraph 6
10.
a mark in the ground made by a foot
11.
someone who works in a park to protect it

_________________
_________________

Paragraph 7
12.
nickname for Australia
13.
human or animal bones
14.
exhibits, objects on show

_________________
_________________
_________________

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2009

SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / Digging for dinos / Elementary

feathers

existed

iron

dominated

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displays

Level 1 Elementary

Digging for dinos

Digging for dinos

by Mary-Lou Gray

Finding fossils

saur
One of the worlds biggest collections of dino
in the US.
eum
Mus
saur
Dino
fossils is at the Mesalands
en
Carm
and
15,
both
e,
Stephen Smith, Donny Pric
nds
Frie
il
Foss
s
eum
mus
Runyan, 14, work on the
programme.
230 teeth
Donny: In the museum there are more than
probably
some of them 220 million years old! Theyre
tosaurs.
teeth from the earliest dinosaurs, called phy
rent colours.
Dinosaur teeth are not white. Theyre diffe
of the iron in
Stephen:Yes, theyre a bit purple because
the ground.

What is the coolest thing about dinosaurs?

ul species ever
Donny: Dinosaurs were the most successf
existed for
y
The
ple.
much more successful than peo
one million
for
lived
nt
around 150 million years. We have
s!
lem
prob
y
man
so
years yet and we already have
s. When
Carmen: There were many different dinosaur
s lived at
I was younger, I thought that all the dinosaur
saur
dino
one
ally,
Usu
.
true
not
the same time. Thats
.
died
they
then
and
dominated for a while

Whats your favourite dinosaur?

biggest
Carmen: The stegosaurus it was one of the
dinosaurs. It had plates on its back.
intelligent
Donny: The troodon this dinosaur was very
70-65 million
and could run 30 kilometres an hour. It lived
years ago.
long as its
Stephen: The seismosaurus its tail was as
s leg.
saur
dino
neck. With its tail it could cut off another

Dinos were here

Many
17-year-old Nicole Cronkhite lives in Canada.
lot that
a
res
The
e.
ther
different dinosaurs once lived

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2009

SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / Digging for dinos / Elementary

Walking the walk

e than 65
Dinosaurs havent walked on earth for mor
es, their
bon
r
thei
find
still
million years. But you can
tries in the
coun
t
mos
in
ts
teeth and even their footprin
saur
Dino
at
time
fullks
wor
world. Toby Marlow, 19,
park
a
is
y
Tob
s.
Texa
of
e
Valley Park in the US stat
the park and
ranger. He spends a lot of time working in
saurs. Toby
dino
ut
abo
s
stion
answering the visitors que
dinosaur
the
s
love
he
and
,
enjoys working at the park
a mile
than
e
mor
are
ks
trac
tracks there. Some of the
here.
lived
once
they
w
kno
long, he says. Its cool to

Dinos down under

Walters are
Luke Woodley-Beattie and Anna Newtonworking
both 17 and live in Australia. They have been
a for
berr
Can
in
eum
Mus
saur
at the National Dino
s to
tour
eum
mus
s
give
Luke
s.
more than three year
s shops.
visitors and also sells fossils in the museum
more than
The museum has 23 complete skeletons and
-themed
300 fossil displays. Anna organizes dinosaur
e Anna
whil
fun
have
kids
The
.
kids
birthday parties for
job because
teaches them about dinosaurs. I love my
in science,
Im helping children to become interested
most
Anna told us. I believe science is one of the
.
learn
can
you
important subjects

Dino facts

to
Dinosaurs lived from about 230 million
ans
hum
about 65 million years ago. Modern
rs.
yea
,000
have lived for only 150,000 to 200
r
pto
rora
mic
Not all dinosaurs were huge. The
was 0.8m tall.
t kinds of
There were more than 700 differen
dinosaurs.

on.de

Spot on, July 2007, www.spot

Nobody
we dont know about dinosaurs, she said.
Experts
ple.
exam
knows what colour they were, for
year. I
y
ever
s
saur
like Nicole learn more about dino
. Some,
lived
s
saur
know a lot about how different dino
rs, like
othe
But
e.
alon
like the tyrannosaurus rex, lived
e
som
And
ps.
grou
the triceratops, lived in families or

me!
to
zing
dinosaurs had feathers. This is ama

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ethings
You hear a sound. The ground is shaking. Som
and
saur
dino
a
Its
coming. Its huge and its hungry.
only
this
like
gs
thin
its coming to get you! Of course,
live
a
seen
ever
has
happen in dinosaur films. No one
on
milli
65
ut
abo
dinosaur because the last one died
dinosaurs are
years before the first people lived. But the
ils all over
foss
saur
still around! Lots of people find dino
ut
abo
rts
expe
the world. We talk to teen dinosaur
their work.

3 Find the information

a) Complete the museum identity cards for Carmen, Toby, Luke and Anna. Which job would you
like? Why? Can you find someone who agrees with you?
Mesalands Dinosaur Museum

Dinosaur Valley Park

Name:

Carmen

Name:

Toby

Surname:

________________

Surname:

Marlow

Age:

14

Age:

19

Nationality:

American

Nationality:

American

Job:

Fossil Friend

Job:

Park ____________

National Dinosaur Museum

Level 1 Elementary

Digging for dinos

National Dinosaur Museum

Name:

Anna

Name:

Luke

Surname:

Newton-Walters

Surname:

Woodley-Beattie

Age:

________________

Age:

17

Nationality:

Australian

Nationality:

________________

Job:

Birthday Party
Organizer

Job:

Tour Guide and

Shop Assistant

b) Read the information below. Label the museums: Dinosaur Valley Park (USA), National Dinosaur
Museum (Australia), Mesalands Dinosaur Museum (USA). Which museum do you think is the most
interesting? Why?

Museum

Museum information

1.

There are more than 230 fossil teeth. Some of them

are 220 million years old!

2.

There are lots of great dinosaur tracks in the park.

Some tracks are more than a mile long!

3.

There are 300 fossil displays and 23 complete

skeletons. You can buy fossils in the shop too!

4 teen talk
Cool. Read paragraph 6. Write the name of the person who said

Its cool to know

they once lived here.

SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / Digging for dinos / Elementary

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Cool means interesting or amazing.

5 WRITE AN EMAIL
You visited one of the museums yesterday. Write an email to one of your friends.

Level 1 Elementary

Digging for dinos

Hi _____________ (your friends name),

How are you? Yesterday I went to a dinosaur museum in ____________________ (city/state). It
was really cool! In the museum there are ________________________________ (objects) and you
can __________________________________ (activity).
Its cool to know that _________________________________________________________ (an
interesting fact about dinosaurs).
My favourite dinosaur is the ___________________________ (name of a dinosaur)!
CU soon,
___________________ (your name).

6 Webquest
Alone or in small groups, choose a museum about dinosaurs. Look on the Internet and find out.
What can you see there? What can you do? What can you buy in the shop? What kind of parties
do they organize? Make a poster about one of these: (a) the museum exhibits, (b) the museum
activities/parties or (c) the shop. Present it to your class.

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: http://paleobiology.si.edu/dinosaurs/

Natural History Museum: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/kids-only/dinosaurs/

The Dinosaur Museum: http://www.thedinosaurmuseum.com/

Dinosaurs for Kids: http://www.kidsdinos.com/

BBC Walking With Dinosaurs: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2009

SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / Digging for dinos / Elementary

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Other interesting sites:

7 DINO FACTS
In groups of three, find out about these three dinosaurs. Dont look at the other cards! Ask the
other students questions and write their answers in your spaces. Continue until you have all the
information. Which is the coolest dinosaur?
Student A
QUESTIONS

Apatosaurus

Tyrannosaurus rex

Velociraptor

How big was the

_____________?

_______ metres long

12 metres long

1.8 metres long

What did the

___________ eat?

plants and stones

________________

meat

Where did the

____________ live?

North America

North America

______________

What was the coolest

thing about the
____________?

Its ______________
was on the top of its
head.

It had tiny arms.

It could run and jump

quickly.

Level 1 Elementary

Digging for dinos

Compare the size! A car is about 4.5 metres long and a school bus is about 12 metres long.
Student B
QUESTIONS

Apatosaurus

Tyrannosaurus rex

Velociraptor

How big was the

_____________?

21 metres long

_______ metres long

1.8 metres long

What did the

___________ eat?

plants and stones

meat

________________

Where did the

____________ live?

________________

North America

China and Russia

What was the coolest

thing about the
____________?

Its nose was on the top It had tiny ________.

of its head.

It could run and jump

quickly.

Compare the size! A car is about 4.5 metres long and a school bus is about 12 metres long.
Student C
QUESTIONS

Apatosaurus

Tyrannosaurus rex

Velociraptor

How big was the

_____________?

21 metres long

12 metres long

________ metres long

What did the

___________ eat?

________________

meat

meat

Where did the

____________ live?

North America

__________________

China and Russia

What was the coolest

thing about the
____________?

Its nose was on the top It had tiny arms.

of its head.

It could ________ and

_________ quickly.

SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / Digging for dinos / Elementary

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2009

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Compare the size! A car is about 4.5 metres long and a school bus is about 12 metres long.

Key
1
1.
2.
3.
4.

False
False
True
a) tyrannosaurus rex; b) triceratops; c) stegosaurus

2
1. shaking
8. plates
14. displays

2.huge
9. feathers

3. fossils
4. iron
5. species
10. footprint
11. park ranger

6. existed
12. down under

7. dominated
13. skeletons

Level 1 Elementary

Digging for dinos

3
a) Carmens surname is Runyan.
Toby is a park ranger.
Anna is 17.
Luke is Australian.
b) 1.
2.
3.

Mesalands Dinosaur Museum (USA)

Dinosaur Valley Park (USA)
National Dinosaur Museum (Australia)

4
Toby

7
Complete information:

QUESTIONS

Apatosaurus

Tyrannosaurus rex

Velociraptor

How big was the

_____________?

21 metres long

12 metres long

1.8 metres long

What did the

___________ eat?

plants and stones

meat

meat

Where did the

____________ live?

North America

North America

China and Russia

What was the coolest

thing about the
____________?

Its nose was on the top It had tiny arms.

of its head.

SPOT ON NEWS LESSON / Digging for dinos / Elementary

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Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2009

It could run and jump

quickly.