Familiar dinosaurs did not necessarily live at the same time

Use sourced date ranges rather than grouping every well-known name into one scene. A timeline makes possible overlap worth checking and shows why a shared dinosaur label does not establish that two animals met.

To hand: Museum dates and a timeline strip.

1. Read the dates.
2. Locate each example.
3. Compare overlap.

Keep the intervals visible

Use date ranges as ranges rather than replacing them with a single convenient point. Overlap needs to be checked, not assumed from familiarity.

Two familiar dinosaur names need not belong to the same time interval.

A shared label does not mean they lived together. Do the intervals overlap?

Use broad labelled bands.

Resources

• Fossil Clue Partner Game — Use the paper clues as a classroom evidence model.

Further reading

• Smithsonian — palaeontology teaching resources

Read next

• A pretend fossil dig can teach documentation honestly
• The complete museum skeleton may include restored parts
• Let one fossil clue lead to a focused research question

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