Introduction:
A team of paleontologists has just found eight complete dinosaur skeletons from all over the world.  They are carefully packaging them and sending them to The Brookwood Natural History Museum, where you work.  An Iguanodon is coming from Germany.  The same team of paleontologists that found an Allosaurus in Utah will also ship an Apatosaurus and a Stegosaurus from Colorado.  Another team will send  a T-Rex, a Triceratops,and an Anklyosaurus from Canada. The team farthest away in Mongolia will send you a fossil of a Velociraptor.  You are excited about the new dinosaur fossils show, but you know that you and your fellow staff members have lots of things to do to get ready for the Dino Show 2003 that opens April 16.

Task:
As part of The Brookwood Natural History Museum staff, you are a member of one of the 8 teams responsible for getting the Dino Show ready for visitors.  As a team, you will collect information from the Internet and other sources on your dinosaur.  After you have organized your information about your dinosaur using the Research chart, you will choose a job to make your part of the museum’s Dino Show. Your team will make a room display, present an oral report of interesting facts to museum visitors, and create a brochure about your dinosaur as well as make a hallway timeline and mural for the dinosaurs we study. You will also contribute a dinosaur poem to a class book.

Process:
1.    Your teacher will put you into groups with your Dino Show team.
2.    The teacher will then assign your team a dinosaur to research.
3.    Using the links in the Resources section, complete the Research Chart on your    dinosaur together as a team.  You may also use offline sources such as books or encyclopedias found in the room or library.  Click here for a page of dinosaur pictures to print and use in your projects.
4.    After your group has finished the research, choose which of the following jobs you want at The Brookwood Natural History Museum. Click on your title to find worksheets to help you do your job.

• Room Designer—You will create a diorama of your dinosaur's room.  Be sure to include a picture or model of your dinosaur, a picture or model of its habitat, and a fact card with three interesting facts on it about your dinosaur.
• Tour Guide—You will prepare the tour comments for visitors. Your oral presentation will include important information about your team's dinosaur  such as where your dinosaur lived, when it lived, what it ate, and 3 other interesting facts.
• Brochure Writer--You will create a brochure to get people to visit the Dino Show; be sure to put this information on your brochure: the name of the museum, its location, its telephone number, dates of the Dino Show (April 16, 2003, until May 23, 2003), a brief description of your group's contribution to the Dino Show, and a picture of your group's dinosaur.

6.    Display your "room" at the opening of The Brookwood Natural History Museum on Wednesday, April 16, 2003.

Evaluation:

Each group will receive a grade for their Research Chart.
Each student will receive individual grades based on their job.  Click here to see the rubrics.

Conclusion:
Congratulations!  Your staff did a great job getting the Dino Show ready for visitors.  The Brookwood Natural History Museum's eight new dinosaur fossils are very happy in their new home.  Lots of dinosaur lovers are expected to visit the museum from April 16, 2003 until it closes on May 23, 2003.

Credits and References