The Mom I Want to Be

Measuring Dinosaurs

 

Identify and compare the length of four dinosaurs.

State that dinosaurs needed food to grow and that food helps us to grow too.

 

Prepare the Dinosaur Cards (PDF)

Cut 144 feet string to the length shown on each dinosaur card.

Attach and wrap length around each card as follows:

 

70 feet for Apatosaurus

40 feet for Tyrannosaurus Rex

25 feet for Stegosaurus

9 feet for Protoceratops

 

Take the children out to the playground or into the hall. One at a time, show children the dinosaur cards. If students can read numbers, have them identify how long each dinosaur was. For each card, have one child hold the end of the string. Have another child unwind the string and walk forward to show the full length of the dinosaur.  Let the other children form a chain by holding hands. Have them stretch out the chain, arms length, and count how many children it takes to reach from the head to the tail of each dinosaur.  When you are done measuring, explain that in order to grow so big, dinosaurs had to eat nutritious foods. Point out that eating nutritious foods also helps children grow.