Building a Flying Dinosaur

SCIENCE CONCEPT:

The structure of a flying dinosaur is different from bats and birds, yet effective at flight.

STUDENT OBJECTIVE:

The students will build a flying dinosaur using dinosaur bones and a quick-drying plaster cement.

OVERVIEW:

The students will work as a team to build a flying dinosaur, demonstrating the power of flight among the dinosaur species. It was a very unique time in our earth history - when dinosaurs roamed both the earth and the skies.

PREPARATION TIME:

30 minutes.

LESSON TIME:

60 minutes.

TEACHER PREP:

Gather materials for the construction of the flying dinosaur. Local hobby stores and/or local museums may have model dinosaur bones for sale. (Remember that the scale of the dinosaur can be reduced greatly in the construction by the students).

WORDS TO KNOW:

Pterosaur

Pterodactyls

forearm

Triassic

Cretaceous

TEACHER TEXT:

Pterodactyls, meaning "winged finger", were a part of the broader classification known as Pterosaurs which means "winged lizard". Pterodactyls were referred to as a "winged finger" flyers because of the construction of the wings. Their wings were different than either birds or bats, yet seemingly effective at flight. The inner portion of the wing was formed by the arm and forearm as in birds and bats, but the outer portion was formed by one finger with the other three fingers in the middle front of the wing. Pterosaurs broadly covers all of the varieties of flying dinosaurs.

The Pterosaurs existed from near the beginning of the age of dinosaurs (late Triassic - 220 million years ago) to the end of the age of dinosaurs (late Cretaceous - 63 million years ago). This means that the pterosaurs lived in and dominated the skies for about 157 million years. They were in the air for more than twice as long as they have been gone!

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Last modified: Sun Nov 16 11:30:02 PST 1997