How do we understand the prehistoric world of dinosaurs?
This teaching session uses museum fossils to explore how we build our understanding of the prehistoric world.
Through a series of hands-on activities, students investigate how we use evidence to develop accurate ideas about prehistoric life. The session focuses on three key areas:
Dating fossils through stratigraphy – understanding how the position of fossils in layers of rock can help scientists determine their relative age.
The importance of trace fossils – exploring evidence such as dinosaur footprints, trackways and fossilised dung (coprolites) to find out how dinosaurs lived and behaved.
The role of creativity in science – considering how we use imagination and creative thinking to fill gaps in the fossil record, while ensuring our ideas are supported by evidence.
Students will also learn about the important role museums play in collecting, preserving and studying fossils, as well as developing and sharing scientific ideas about prehistoric life based on reliable evidence.
Science Learning Outcomes
By the end of the session, students will be able to:
Understand how fossil evidence is collected, examined and interpreted.
Recognise that both scientific evidence and creative thinking contribute to our understanding of the prehistoric world.
Understand that scientific ideas can change when new evidence is discovered.
Museum Learning Outcomes
By the end of the session, students will be able to:
Handle museum objects carefully and appropriately.
Make detailed and careful observations of museum objects.
Develop curiosity about real objects and understand why they are collected, cared for and displayed in museums.
