Re: Dinosaur Sorting Exercise for Primary Students

[Tom Holtz <tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov>]

>I am planning a dinosaur unit for primary grade students, and one of the
>exercises is sorting dinosaurs by different characteristics. They will
>have the following models from the Carnegie Collection:
>        Apatosaurus     Brachiosaurus
>        Diploducus      Stegosaurus
>        Allosaurus      Tyrannosaurus
>        Triceratops     Iguanodon
>        Euoplocephalus
>They will sort the dinosaurs as 1) plant eaters vs meat eaters; 2) biped vs
>quadruped (with Iguanodon as a sort of fence sitter); 3) lizard-hipped or
>bird-hipped.
>
>My question is: If I also want the kids to sort them as sauropod,
>theropod, or ornithopod--what can I do about Stegosaurus, Triceratops and
>Euoplocephalus?
>Any suggestions? (The easiest thing would be to just leave them out and
>have them sort only the other six. But the brighter kids might ask why
>there isn't a "-pod" classification for the omitted ones.)

Forget the significance of the "-pod" at the end, which are confusing
anyway (e.g., Apatosaurus feet are anything but lizard-like, and
Tyrannosaurus feet are more bird-like than are Iguanodon's...).

Try - Theropod, Sauropod, Ornithischian

or

-Theropod, Sauropod, Thyreophoran (armored dinosaurs), Ornithopod, Ceratopsian

                                
Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.                                   
tholtz@geochange.er.usgs.gov
Vertebrate Paleontologist in Exile                  Phone:      703-648-5280
U.S. Geological Survey                                FAX:      703-648-5420
Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy
MS 970 National Center
Reston, VA  22092
U.S.A.