Description
What our Dinos A to Z: Argentinosaurus lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Dinos A to Z: Argentinosaurus is a high-interest reading comprehension lesson plan. As such, students will practice various close reading and comprehension skills. In addition, they will learn some basic information about these large dinos. This lesson is for students in 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade.
DINOS A TO Z: ARGENTINOSAURUS LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
Argentinosaurus
The Dinos A to Z: Argentinosaurus lesson plan contains one content page. If you wanted to see a really, really big dinosaur, then you may be looking for the Argentinosaurus (ARE·juhn·TEE·nuh·SOAR·russ)! Some scientists believe it was the largest living dinosaur to walk the planet. Its fossils were discovered in Argentina, a country in South America. That is how it got its name, which means “Argentine lizard.” The species roamed the earth about 90 million years ago.
Argentinosauruses are in the sauropod family, a group of enormous dinosaurs. Sauropods have elongated necks. Their heads are small, and their tails are long. The legs of sauropods are built like columns in a building. They have to be able to hold the enormous weight of the species.
How much did an Argentinosaurus weigh? It weighed between 65 and 75 tons. That is nearly as much as a single-aisle commercial airplane! An adult could reach between 95 and 115 feet in length. Their large size kept these dinosaurs from moving at a fast pace. They meandered at about five miles per hour. Paleontologists think they lived in herds. Argentinosauruses were herbivores that munched on grasses, stems, and tree leaves. The females laid up to 10 or 15 eggs at a time that were nearly a foot in diameter!
The Mystery
There is a scientific mystery surrounding these great beasts. There are no complete skeletons of the dinosaur. Scientists have used computer models and comparisons of similar sauropods to reconstruct what they think is how they looked. But the mystery is how these and other sauropods held up their extraordinarily long necks. To keep its neck vertical to munch on tender leaves high in the trees, the Argentinosaurus would have to pump blood from its heart 40 feet in the air. This would put an incredible amount of stress on the animal’s heart!
Is the Argentinosaurus the world’s largest dinosaur? No one knows for certain. Scientists need more fossil evidence to answer that question!
DINOS A TO Z: ARGENTINOSAURUS LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Dinos A to Z: Argentinosaurus lesson plan includes two worksheets: an activity worksheet and a practice worksheet. Each one will help students solidify their grasp of the material they learned throughout the lesson.
MEASURE THE DINO ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
For this activity, students will do their best to measure how big this dinosaur was by using the supplies you provide.
REVIEW PRACTICE WORKSHEET
The practice worksheet requires students to answer a series of 5 questions. These questions all relate to the content pages, so students will need to refer to them for the answers.
