| Lesson Plan |
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| This lesson plan is designed for grades
5-8 life sciences class. It addresses National
Science Education Standards for science as inquiry, and content standards
for life science (structure and function in living systems; diversity and
adaptation of organisms). |
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| Content: |
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| The students will learn about
fossilized dinosaur teeth. By exploring either the fossils themselves if
available, or by using the computer activity with slides of fossils, the
students will gain a sense of how the structure of dinosaur teeth relates
to their function. They will also learn how the many systems of an animal
(of which the digestive system, including teeth, is just one) work together
to optimize the animal's survival in its ecological niche. |
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| Instructional Objective: |
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| Students are introduced to the idea that
the structure of an organ/system corresponds to its function and can be
informative about it. They should be able describe the relationship between
the structure of dinosaur teeth and their function, and extrapolate this
concept to present day animals. The students should also have an understanding
of how the various systems of the animal cooperate to suit its mode of nutrition. |
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| Instructional Procedure: |
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| 1. Introduce students to/remind them of
the concept of fossils. Fossils are petrified organic matter preserved in
this form from the distant past. In most cases the matter has to be durable
(such as bone, egg shells, sea shells) to be preserved in this way. |
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| 2. Discuss the importance of fossils with
the class. What can fossils tell us? Why do we care? |
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| 3. Teeth are one of the most abundant fossils
available from the time of the dinosaurs. They are numerous, since in the
dinosaurs' teeth constantly renewed themselves. They were preserved, because
bone and enamel are some of the most durable forms of organic material.
For several dinosaurs, teeth are the only available fossil. Discuss with
the class what information the teeth can give about their owner. |
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| 4. Activity: if fossils are available,
divide the class into small groups and let each group explore a couple of
fossil teeth. Have them write a description of each tooth (how are they
shaped, what size are they). Have the students decide, based on their description,
whether the tooth's owner was big or small, carnivore or herbivore, and
whether it was more likely to chew its food or swallow it immediately. Then
tell the students what animals the teeth came from and have them look up
some information on that dinosaur, either in a book or on the internet.
Ask them to write down whether their guesses based on the tooth are in agreement
with other information available on the animal. If not, why? If no fossils
are available, substitute the dinosaur teeth activity
and proceed as above. |
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| 5. As an extra activity/homework/assessment,
have the students choose a contemporary animal and write a short description
of what teeth it is likely to have, based on its diet, and why. The students
might also look at other structures or adaptations that make this animal
particularly good at obtaining its meals. Alternatively, use the assessment
activity for the same purpose. |
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| Materials: |
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| Projector and overheads/board and markers,
computers if you plan to use the computer activities, fossilized dinosaur
teeth, books/other resourses on dinosaurs, pictures of contemporary animals
(with lots of teeth showing). |
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| Assessment: |
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| One option is student journals, or a piece
of paper on which they record their observations about tooth samples, their
hypothesis as to the eating habits of the animal the teeth belonged to,
and the information they have found on their dinosaur. |
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| The assessment activity or a short written
description of possible teeth of a contemporary animal with functional reasons
for the choice of structure is another possibility. |
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Return to Dinosaur Teeth page
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