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Pre-Reading
Activities
Ask students to think
about how they imagine life in prehistoric times. Could it be
different from what they imagine? How do they think cave people
lived? Point out that there might similarities between how dinosaurs
and early people survived, including how and what they ate,
and the type of shelter they sought.
Have students think
about how dinosaurs became extinct. Many scientists think dinosaurs
died from large glaciers or even a comet hitting the earth.
How do they think the dinosaurs died out?
Classroom
Connections
Activities
for use with
Sabertooths
and the Ice Age:
A
Nonfiction Companion to Sunset of the
Sabertooth
Future Fossil
Facts
Fossils provide researchers with information about the past.
Several Internet sites give students opportunities to learn
about fossils and the facts they provide. An especially good
site is the Ultimate
Dino and Fossil Page.
Have students make
modern fossils. First, they should select an object that represents
something about modern life—a state quarter, a pen, a key, or
any object that reflects modern culture in some way. Pour plaster
of paris into paper muffin cups, filling the cup about halfway.
When the plaster of paris begins to harden, ask students to
press the object into the top. After the “fossils” are hardened,
put them in a fossil bed, a container large enough to hold all
of the fossils.
Students should then
select a fossil that they didn’t make, and become a researcher
from the future. Have them suggest what someone from the future
might think the item is, and write a description for the fossil
that could appear in a museum, indicating what the fossil is,
and how it was used.
Icy Ancestors
Ask students to identify a modern day descendent of one of the
animals of the Ice Age. Each child should make a reversible
stick puppet that shows the Ice Age animal on one side and the
modern day animal on the other. Use a wooden paint stirrer or
a large tongue depressor for the stick and glue the pictures
on either side. Students should write the most interesting characteristic
of the animal on either side of the stick. They can introduce
their animals and ancestors to their classmates, identifying
their characteristics, size, habitat, enemies, and habits.
Ivory Carvings—The Legal Kind
During the Ice Age people
made carvings from ivory. Although ivory carvings are no longer
legal, it legal to make carvings from Ivory soap! Have students
carefully carve an Ice Age animal from a bar of soap
using a plastic knife. The first step is to make an outline
drawing of the animal on thin paper. Next, pin the drawing to
a bar of soap. Finally, using the knife, carve around the drawing
to create the animal.
Cave Dwellers
There is an extensive
description of the cave that Jack and Annie enter in their adventure
in Sunset of the Sabertooth . Break your class up into
groups and have each one make a diorama of the cave that the
characters discover. You may want to have students use papier
mâché or clay to add texture to the cave and to make replicas
of the animals and other details inside.
Students can identify
well-known caves and identify the unique features of this unusual
environment. Have them compare the caves that people can visit
today with those visited by Jack and Annie. For a virtual trip
through a cave visit the Arizona
State Parks Web site.
 Descendants
on Ice Activity Sheet
Guide prepared
by Dr. Peggy A. Sharp, a national children's literature consultant.
Activities
for use with
Sunset
of the Sabertooth
Viva the Evolution!
Upon entering the
cave home of Cro-Magnon Man 25,000 years ago, Jack and Annie
see first hand how these ancestors, from whom many believe we
have descended, distinguished themselves from earlier Neanderthal
Man who became extinct.
Discuss with students
the differences between the Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic
Era and the Ice Age of the Pleistocene Era in terms of time,
climate, vegetation, human, and animal inhabitants.
Based on Jack's
note-taking techniques, have students write an "Eyewitness
Report" in which they provide factual information on Cro-Magnon
Man, as hunter, toolmaker, artist, and music maker as well
as on the animals that lived during the Ice Age.
The
Cro-Magnon
Cave Painting is great for budding artists!
Certificate
of Achievement
Teaching ideas
by Rosemary B. Stimola, Ph.D., professor of children's literature
at City University of New York, and educational and editorial
consultant to publishers of children's books.
Activities
for use with
Dinosaurs:
A
Nonfiction Companion to Dinosaurs Before Dark
Be a Fact
Finder!
Jack and Annie collect many facts during their research.
To make the information easy to find, they created an index–an
alphabetical list in the back of the book. Using the index,
have students find 10 dinosaurs and list a fascinating fact
about each one, including the page number where the fact was
found. Students can create a chart to record the information.
Who’s My Kin?
Students learn that dinosaurs are classified as reptiles.
Have students generate a list of the characteristics of reptiles
and of dinosaurs. Then have them compare and contrast present
day reptiles, such as snakes, turtles, and lizards, to the dinosaurs
and illustrate.
Who’s Who?
Discuss the many different types of dinosaurs and the
characteristics of each. Have each student write the name of
a type of dinosaur on a piece of paper and tape it to another
student’s back. Students travel around the room asking each
other only "yes" or "no" questions trying to guess the type
of dinosaur taped to their back.
Can You Dig It?
Paleontologists are scientists who study dinosaur fossils.
Discuss how these scientists locate fossils, and describe the
tools necessary for excavation. Place items in a tray and cover
them with sand. Use string to construct a grid to divide the
areas to be studied. Students can record their findings in a
notebook similar to Jack and Annie’s.
What’s in a Name?
Jack and Annie learn that dinosaurs are named in various
ways. Have students create their own "Sillyaurus" (p. 33) dinosaurs
by using different parts of dinosaur names. Ask students to
name their dinosaurs and write about what they eat and how to
care for them. Then have students draw their new dinosaur creations
to exhibit in a classroom Dinosaur Hall of Fame.
Teaching ideas
provided by Jamay Johnson, second grade teacher, and Melinda
Murphy, media specialist, Reed Elementary School, Cypress Fairbranks
Independent School District, Houston, Texas.
Activities
for use with
Dinosaurs
Before Dark
The
Land Before Time
When Jack and Annie
are whisked off to the time of the dinosaurs, they find themselves
in the Cretaceous Period, the last part of the Mesozoic Era,
whose ending is marked by the great extinction of the dinosaur
population 65 million years ago. Details provided in the story
help to paint a picture of this post-Jurassic period, which,
for 80 million years, provided a nourishing environment for
its many reptilian inhabitants.
Identify with students
the different dinosaurs that lived during this period, labeling
them as "carnivores" or "herbivores." Highlight how distinguishing
physical characteristics enabled them to draw on aspects of
their environment to survive as plant or meat eaters.
Divide the class
into groups. Using a cardboard box with its front cut out,
have each bring the Cretaceous Period to three-dimensional
life through the construction of a diorama. Students can create
the natural landscape of hills and valleys, open plains and
volcanoes, tall grasses, ferns, and magnolia trees from a
combination of paint and natural materials. Dinosaur figures
can be made from clay. Encourage each group to share its 3-D
scene with classmates, describing how it was made and what
it shows.
Check
out Dinosaur Who
Am I?
Answer Key for the
Dinosaur Who Am I?
1. Pteranodon
2. Triceratops
3. Anatosaurus
4. Tyrannosaurus Rex
5. Velociraptor
6. Parasaurolophus
Teaching ideas
by Rosemary B. Stimola, Ph.D., professor of children's literature
at City University of New York, and educational and editorial
consultant to publishers of children's books.
* All activities require Adobe
Acrobat |
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