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EDU 505
Dinosaur Web Quest
Grade 5
Teacher Objectives
• The purpose of this assignment is to give students
experience in research, to learn how to work in a group,
practice persuasive writing, and to learn more about
dinosaurs and their extinction.
• This assignment will help the students learn all about the
extinction theories and help them analyze what they
believe.
•
The teacher could provide detective or police costumes
for the students to dress up in during the presentation to
make the setting more realistic! The teacher could dress
up as the police chief as well
Introduction
Where Have All The
Dinosaurs Gone?
Have you ever wondered why the
dinosaurs became extinct?
Was it a meteorite that hit the earth and
caused major destruction?
Was it a disease that made them all sick,
or was it radiation caused by
a super solar flare?
Well if this question has ever crossed your
mind, we have a job for you
that will help answer all of your questions.
Task
• It has come to our attention at the reptile police station that a
large group of reptiles are missing! We're calling on our topnotch group of students to help us discover the reason for this
disappearance.
• Your mission is to sort through all the theories and choose the
one that seems most likely.
• We need you to persuade our police chief of your reasons for
choosing this certain theory over the others. Be sure to back up
your decision with supporting details!
• So put on your detective's cap and grab your magnifying glass,
we're depending on you!
Process
• In order to complete
the investigation, you
will break into teams
of six and research
the different theories.
Detective One:
• Orbital Change Theory
Detective Two:
• Volcano Theory
Detective Three:
• Climate Change theory
Detective Four:
• Giant Impact Theory
Detective Five:
• Disease Theory
Detective Six:
• Supernova Theory
Process cont…
• Each detective will present their theories to the rest of
the group.
• As a team, they will decide which theory is best.
• Then, the group will make a presentation to present to
the Police Chief and all of the police department.
Process cont…
The presentation will consist of:
1. Each team member will write a persuasive essay about
the theory their team chose.
2. As a group, you will create visual aid (poster, chart, 3-D
model, power point...) describing the theory your group
decided on.
3. Your group will present it to the class (police
department). The police department will then decide if
they believe the group’s theory or if they believe in
another theory.
4. Finally, you will be graded according to the rubric posted
on the evaluation page.
Resources
Below is a list of resources that might be helpful for your
research….
Oribital Change
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/orbital_change.html
http://vilenski.org/science/dinosaur/orbitalchanges.html
Volcanoes
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/volcanoes.html
http://vilenski.org/science/dinosaur/volcano.html
http://filebox.vt.edu/artsci/geology/mclean/Dinosaur_Volcano_Extinction/
Resources cont..
Disease
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/disease.html
http://frederic.malmartel.free.fr/Fin_des_dinosaures/eeclassique.htm#épidémie
http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/dinosaurs/cancer.jsp
Supernova
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/supernova.html
http://town.morrison.co.us/dinosaur/extinction/other.html#nova
Resources cont..
Giant Impact
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaurflr/impact.html
http://www.geocities.com/andy_tejero/HTML/frames.html
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/blast/asteroid_hyp.htm
Climate Change
http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/Communication/Willson/climatechange.html
http://town.morrison.co.us/dinosaur/extinction/other.html#climate
http://frederic.malmartel.free.fr/Fin_des_dinosaures/eeclassique.htm#boulversem
nt climatique
Evaluation
• The groups will be evaluated using a rubric. (Which I
could not figure out how to transfer from Word to Power
Point)
• Components of the rubric include:
- Persuasive oral presentation
- Group work
- Visual aid
- Overall quality of work
• There will be a separate rubric to assess each student’s
persuasive writing piece.
Conclusion
Congratulations!
You have successfully
convinced our police chief
and station of your theory
for the dinosaurs'
disappearance. Your
awesome detective skills
and amazing presentation
are greatly appreciated.
Next time something is
missing, we will know
exactly who to call!