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Reading Dinosaur Trackways

PROCEDURAL
Science›Dinosaurs & Paleontology|Ages 7—9|ID: mt_Wpvuz3mvBq

Use dinosaur trackways (fossilised footprints) to make inferences about a dinosaur's size, speed, and behaviour — widely spaced prints suggest running, closely spaced suggest walking

Mastery Evidence

  • Explain that larger footprints generally mean a larger dinosaur
  • Compare spacing between prints to infer walking versus running
  • Suggest what a set of parallel trackways might mean (e.g. dinosaurs travelling in a group)

Assessment Prompt

“If [child] saw a line of dinosaur footprints at a museum, could they figure out whether the dinosaur was walking or running based on how far apart the prints are?”

Prerequisites1

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  • Types of Fossils hard

    Must understand trace fossils before analysing trackways

    • Fossils & Palaeontologists hard

      Must understand what fossils are before distinguishing body vs trace fossils

      • Dinosaurs Were Real hard

        Must understand dinosaurs are extinct before learning fossils are how we know about them

    • How Fossils Form soft

      Understanding formation helps contextualise different fossil types

      • Fossils & Palaeontologists hard

        Must understand what fossils are before learning how they form in detail

        • Dinosaurs Were Real hard

          Must understand dinosaurs are extinct before learning fossils are how we know about them

      • Real Dinosaurs vs Fiction soft

        Understanding how fossils form (and that fossil evidence is the basis of dinosaur science) is enriched by the prior understanding that dinosaurs are real animals distinct from fictional or commonly-confused creatures — scientific reasoning starts from accurate categorisation

      • How fossils form soft

        Curriculum fossil formation topic (GB Y3) directly underpins detailed dinosaur fossil formation understanding

Unlocks1