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Can you outrun a dinosaur?
Animals Through Time Unit | Lesson 3 of 3

Can you outrun a dinosaur?

Animals Through Time Unit | Lesson 3 of 3
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Discuss: What can you figure out about these two animals, just by looking at their footprints? (For hint, see next slide.)

footprints

Hint: You can tell a few different things. For example, you can tell whether the animal walks on two legs or four legs. You can also tell how many toes and what shaped feet the animal had.

Reveal answer

footprints

Discuss: Which ostrich do you think was moving faster? How do you know?

OstrichFootprints

Quick Practice before the next video: Look at this image and decide: Where was Pat walking? Where was Pat running? Why do you think that? (Answer on next slide.)

MapWalkingQuestion

Answer:

Map-AnswersToDiscussionQuestions

Discuss: Here are CeeLo’s footprints when he was running his fastest. How could you figure out if you could run faster than CeeLo?

CeeLoFootprints

Reveal answer

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# Extensions
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Image & Video Credits

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Exploration
running near water by MATHIAS, M H , used under CC BY
posing by footprint by RRNeal
size comparison by Zachi Evenor , used under CC BY
T-Rex drawing by Nobu Tamura , used under CC BY-SA
long neck skeleton by Everything is Fiction
size chart by Conty , used under CC BY
footprint fossils by James St. John , used under CC BY
Coelophysis by Matt Celeskey , used under CC BY-SA
footprint fossil up close by Tui Snider
footprints in mud by R.T. Bird
Coelophysis size chart by Petrified Forest , used under CC BY
fossil foot drawing by Taylor Made Fossils
fossil footprints by The Natural American
lion by SA Star Tours
cat in snow by Rosana Prada , used under CC BY
ostrich by 7naturalwonders

Lesson details

Grade 3

Fossils & Changing Environments

Fossil Evidence, Behavior

3-LS4-1

9710 reviews

Activity Prep

Print Prep
To view a revised version of this lesson, please click here.
In this Mystery, students will learn how a dinosaur’s footprints reveal how quickly a dinosaur was running.
Preview activity

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Exploration

18 mins

Lesson details

Grade 3

Fossils & Changing Environments

Fossil Evidence, Behavior

3-LS4-1

9710 reviews

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Animals Lesson 3: Can you outrun a dinosaur?

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