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A Skeletal Plan Teacher’s Information Standards: Grade Six Illinois State Goal
11 Grade Eight Illinois State Goal
11 Topics:
Panel Summary: Last expedition, the exposed edge of a hip bone was the initial clue that led the team to uncover more of the skeleton of a new theropod - Afrovenator, meaning “African hunter.” The skeleton is 30 feet long. Bones of plant-eating sauropods were found at the site of the Afrovenator skeleton, providing good evidence that they lived at the same time in the same environments (predator and prey). Materials: A copy of A Skeletal
Plan Teacher’s Directions: Make sure the students see the parallel between the bones of a human skeleton and that of the included dinosaurs. If this is difficult for students to grasp, direct one student to GET DOWN ON ALL FOURS, and it will be more apparent! The Predator They stopped and stared. Only the edge of one hip bone and claw were exposed at the surface. The team immediately recognized the characteristic shape of these bones- they belonged to a predatory dinosaur. Everyone was wondering how much of the animal lay beneath the surface. With each passing day, the team found more bones. Unlike those of the sauropod, the bones of the theropod were scattered around the site and were located within inches of the surface. The team soon realized they had found bones from all parts of the skeleton included the skull. It was the most important find of the field season - a new theropod! Theropods are bipedal (two-legged), carnivorous (meat-eating) dinosaurs. Their short, strong front limbs are adapted for grasping and tearing flesh. Their three-toed limbs are built for running. The long tail is used for balance and the narrow skull has rows of long curved teeth for holding onto live prey. The team named the new theropod from Niger Afrovenator, meaning “African hunter.” Afrovenator has a particularly long skull (more than 2 feet long) and a lightly-built skeleton about 30 feet long. The long hind limbs indicate that Afrovenator was a particularly fast predator. Sauropod bones were found close to the Afrovenator site, and it is very likely that Afrovenator preyed upon the large plant-eating sauropods. A Skeletal Plan Background Did you know that you can match almost all the bones in your skeleton with those in a dinosaur skeleton? Humans and dinosaurs belong to a large group of animals called vertebrates, all of which have bones that follow a similar skeletal plan. The vertebrate skeletal plan evolved long ago (about 350 million years ago) in the ancestors of the vertebrates and was inherited by all of their descendants. Vertebrate Skeletal Plan
Directions: Study the labeled diagram of the human skeleton (next page). Learn the names of the major bones. 1. The bones in a skeleton of a sauropod dinosaur (following pages) are labeled with letters. Name each bone next to the same letter listed below (use the technical bone names). (HINT: look for the same bones in the human skeleton) A_______________ B_______________ D_______________ E_______________ F_______________ G_______________ H_______________ I_______________ J_______________ K_______________ L_______________ M_______________ 2. List the bones that are missing in the skeleton of Afrovenator. Human Skeleton: Many bones have two names, a technical name for the bone (“femur”), and a name that refers to the body part that contains the bone (“thigh bone”). Teacher’s Answer Key: 1. The bones in a skeleton of a sauropod dinosaur (following pages) are labeled with letters. Name each bone next to the same letter listed below (use the technical bone names). (HINT: look for the same bones in the human skeleton)
2. List the bones that are missing in the skeleton of Afrovenator.
Dinosaurs and Paleontology Links The UC-Berkeley’s Museum of Paleontology http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/index.html The Rex Files http://www.newscientist.com/nsplus/insight/rexfiles/ The Fundy Museum Fossil Lab http://www.fundygeomuseum.com/lab/lab.html Dinologues http://www.webcom.com/museum/Dinologues/welcome.html Zoom Dinosaurs http://www.ZoomDinosaurs.com/subjects/dinosaurs/toc.shtml/ Discovering Dinosaurs http://dinosaurs.eb.com/dinosaurs/index2.html Dinosaur Eggs http://www.nationalgeographic.com/dinoeggs/fintro.html Learning from the Fossil Record http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fosrec/ PaleoNet http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/Paleonet/home.html Society of Vertebrate Paleontology http://www.museum.state.il.us/svp Graduate Opportunities in Vertebrate Paleonology http://www.med.jhu.edu/FAE/weishampel/grad.html AMNH Electronic Newspaper http://www.amnh.org/enews/index.html O’Dem Bones http://www.imcpl.org/bones.htm Education Standards: Chicago Public Schools http://www.cps.k12.il.us/Instruction/CAS/ National Geographic’s Geography Standards http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/main.html?main=standards American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science Benchmarks http://www.project2061.org//tools/benchol/bolframe.html Dinosaurs and Paleontology Bibliography Aliki, My Visit to the Dinosaurs (HarperCollins, New York, 1984) $4.95. Barton, B., Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1989) $10.95. Barton, B., Des os, des os de dinosaures, l'ecole des loisirs (Paris, 1991) $3.91. Bausum, A., Dragon Bones and Dinosaur Eggs, A Photobiography of Explorer Roy Chapman Andrews (National Geographic Society, Washington, DC, 2000) $17.95. Berger, M. & G., Did Dinosaurs Live in Your Backyard: Questions and Answers About Dinosaurs (Scholastic Inc., New York, 1998) $5.95. Benton, M., The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Dinosaurs (Penguin Group, London, 1996) $16.95. Bishop, N., Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs: An Expedition to Madagascar (Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, 2000) $16.00. Booth, J., The Big Beast Book: Dinosaurs and How They Got That Way (Yolla Bolly Press, Covelo, CA., 1988) $10.95. Costa, V., Dinosaur Safari Guide: Tracking North America's Prehistoric Past (Voyageur Press, Stillwater, MN, 1994) $14.95. Eldredge, N., The Fossil Factory: A Kid's Guide to Digging Up Dinosaurs, Exploring Evolution, and Finding Fossils (Addison Wesley Publishing Co., Reading, MA. 1989) $9.95. Dixon, D., The New Dinosaurs: An Alternative Evolution (Salem House Publishers, Topsfield, MA, 1988) $19.95. Gaffnew, E., Dinosaurs (Golden Press, New York, 1990) $5.95 Gardom, T., The Book of Dinosaurs: The Natural History Museum Guide (Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, 1993) $14.95. Kittinger, J., Stories in Stone: The World of Animal Fossils (Grolier Publishing, New York. 1998) $6.95. Lindsey, W., The Great Dinosaur Atlas (DK Publishing, New York, 1991) $19.95. Lindsay, W., On the Trail of Incredible Dinosaurs (American Museum of Natural History, DK Publishing, New York, 1998) $14.95. Matt, Margaret. Human Anatomy Coloring Book (Dover, 1981) $2.95. McGowan, C., T-Rex To Go: Build Your Own from Chicken Bones, (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1999) $14.00. McGowan, C., Make Your Own Dinosaur Out of Chicken Bones: Foolproof Instructions for Budding Paleontologists (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1989) $13.00. McGowan, C., Discover Dinosaurs: Become a Dinosaur Detective (Kids Can Press Ltd., Toronto, 1992) $9.95. Munsart, C., Investigating Science with Dinosaurs (Teacher Ideas Press, Englewood, CO. 1993) $24.95. National Wildlife Learning Federation, Digging Into Dinosaur: Ranger Rick's Nature Scope (Triangle Press/McGraw Hill, NY. 1997.) $12.95 Norell, M., and L., A Nest of Dinosaurs: The Story of Oviraptor (Random House, New York, 1999) $17.95. Parker, S., The Practical Paleontologist: A step-by-step guide to finding, studying, and interpreting fossils - from searching for sites to extracting, cleaning, and restoring finds (Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, 1990) $15.00. Sachatello-Sawyer, From the Museum of the Rockies, (Scholastic Inc., New York, 1995) $12.95. Wade, N., The Science Times Book of Fossils and Evolution: The best science reporting from the acclaimed weekly section of The New York Times, (The Lyons Press, New York, 1998) $25.00. Wilkes, A., The Big Book of Dinosaurs, A First Book for Young Children (DK Publishing, New York, 1994) $14.95. Zallinger, P., Dinosaurs and Other Archosaurs (The Random House Library of Knowledge, Random House, New York, 1986) $12.99. Zoehfeld, K., Fossil Fever (Golden Books Publishing, New York, 2000) $3.99. Dinosaurs and Paleontology Glossary bipedal: walking on two legs carnivore: meat-eating animal carpal bone: any of the eight small bones of the wrist excavate: to dig-up or unearth femur: bone of the leg situated between the pelvis and knee in human beings, or a functionally similar bone in the leg or hind limb of a vertebrate animal. It is the largest and strongest bone in the body. Also called thighbone. fibula: the outer and narrower of two bones of the human lower leg, extending from the knee to the ankle, or the corresponding bone in the hind leg of an animal. herbivore: plant-eating animal humerus: the long bone of the arm or forelimb, extending from the shoulder to the elbow. invertebrate: an animal that has no backbone. The vast majority of animals are invertebrates mammals: animals with backbones that have hair, give live birth, and feed their young milk metacarpals: any of the five bones between the fingers and the wrist. metatarsals: any of the five bones between the toes and the ankle. Ornithischians: “bird-hipped” dinosaurs with a hip structure in which the two lower bones on each side lie parallel; all ornithischians were plant eaters paleontologist: a scientist who studies fossils and organisms in ancient times by determining their lifestyles and relationship to other organisms pelvic girdle: plate-shaped bones for limb attachment phalanges: bone of a finger or toe prospect: to explore or search quadrapedal: walking on four legs radius: a long slightly curved bone, the shorter and thicker of the two forearm bones reptiles: animals with backbones that are “cold-blooded”, have scaly skin and lay leathery eggs Saurischians “lizard-hipped” dinosaurs with a hip structure in which the two lower bones on each side point in opposite directions Sauropods: large quadrupedal, saurischian, plant-eating dinosaurs, with very long necks and tails scapula: either of two large, flat, triangular bones forming the back part of the shoulder. Also called shoulder blade. skeleton: the internal structure composed of bone and cartilage that protects and supports the soft organs, tissues, and other parts of a vertebrate organism skull: the bony framework of the head of vertebrates that contains the brain, jaws, and teeth tarsal bones: any of the seven small bones of the human ankle Therapods : carnivorous, bipedal dinosaurs tibia: the inner and larger of the two bones of the lower human leg, extending from the knee to the ankle, or a corresponding bone in other vertebrates. Also called shinbone. ulna: the bone extending from the elbow to the wrist on the side opposite to the thumb in human beings, or the corresponding bone in other vertebrates vertebrae: bones that form the backbone vertebrate: an animal with a backbone |
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