Prehistoric Unit Study: Dinos, Fossils, and Palentology

This unit study came about by following my kid’s passions. My middle child LOVES to play in the dirt, dig, explore, and discover. Add that to his interest in dinos and this unit was a no brainer! When creating a unit study the first thing I do is create a Scope and Sequence. Then I fill it in when details on how we are going to cover it trying to add in as many hands-on and immersive experiences as we can. Below is the outline of our unit study. Yours may look different depending on what you want to cover and what you believe. I know when it comes to such primordial history there is a lot we don’t know and it really comes down to what you believe. I personally believe and teach my children about God and Science so you’ll see a hybrid of both below. Each lesson took between 1-3 days depending on their interest level and we reviewed what we had previously learned as we went.

The creation/formation of the Earth
- A documentary on the formation of the earth. It was hard finding an excellent one but the one I settled on was on Youtube called “The History of the Earth, How our planet formed” Which did a good job showing the history of the world from the creation to the present day. My kids called dad afterward to tell them they learned the history of the whole world today lol. I wanted to start here so they could see the world on a geologic time scale and visualize some of the concepts we are going to cover in future lessons. My 6-year-old was able to narrate back to me what happened every time we paused it so it was a great learning tool.
- The story of creation from Genesis.
- We talked about both, comparing the two and what I believe.
Geologic Time
- We used a beautiful quilted timeline to discuss the Eons of Earth’s history. Then we took these cards, along with this cool ribbon timeline I made to show how long each of these phases of earth’s development lasted and what happened at each stage of developent. (Pictures below)
- We read the book “How much is a Million” to try to understand how very long ago these things happened.
- We talked about strata and how we learned the sequence of events from the records of the earth’s crust then did an activity from The Science Penguin on Teachers Pay Teachers to help them learn how to see the geologic time in the earth.
Evolution
- We reviewed animal adaptations which we have already learned about extensively.
- We used the evolution printables from Fiddlesticks Education to show how evolution would have happened over time and talked about fossil evidence for evolution. Emphasizing how it took place over a LONG period of time.
- We discussed how man was made in God’s image and what that means in relation to Evolution.
Gondwana and Plate tectonics
- We reviewed the continents of the earth with our continent song then talked about how while life on earth was changing the land was changing too.
- Then we used the prehistoric earth board by Mirus Toys to show how the fossil evidence that continents drifted over time and what the earth looked like before. We then checked out this AWESOME map where you can see what the earth looked like at different points in its geologic history.
- We also watched “The Magic School Bus Rides Again S2:E1 The land before Tim” available on Netflix to further illustrate the concept.
- (We cover plate tectonics in further detail and review in other units, this time is just to connect the plate tectonics with fossils)
Dinosaurs
- We pulled out their toy dinos and looked up their names and when they lived on earth. We then placed them on the timeline blanket in order (see picture below) before sorting them into large sorting circles labeled Triassic, Jurassic, and Creataceous.
- We then used the book Flip-O-Saurus to learn about the meanings behind dinosaur names and invented a dinosaur of our own.
- We practiced our watercolor skills as we painted dinosaurs and wrote their names. (see pictures below)
- We played a dinosaur food chain game I made a few years ago (see pictures below) and talked about dinosaur diets and how much food it would take to keep a dinosaur alive then read “The Dinosaur” by Anne Milbourne (Cheapest when you buy it through Usborne).
- Then we reviewed The Tree of Life by Waseca Biomes as we talked about fish evolving into amphibians then reptiles. (See here for a $15 off coupon) See below for pictures.
- We took the dinosaur cards and sorted them on a large map of the world by continent where the bones were found. The boys were excited to see how close we are to dinosaur country.
- We took the dinosaur cards and sorted them by period, then matched up predator/prey relationships of dinos that were contemporaries.
- Lastly, for the dinosaur cards, we took a measuring tape and measured out how long each of the dinosaurs on the cards were in the snow (pictures below).
- Our key independent work project was their dinosaur reports that they worked on individually then shared at our monthly presentation night where cousins get together to share what they have been learning and practice presentation skills.
Plants
- We started by watching the beginning of the documentary “Wings of Life” which talks about how plants evolved over time.
- We followed the tree of life from Waseca again to talk about plant evolution then took a tangent to talk about insects and how long they have been on the earth.
The end of the age of Dinos
- We talked about the Chicxulub crater in the Gulf of Mexico and found it on a globe then showed them the Cenotes that scatter the surrounding area.
- We made craters with snow (works even better with dirt but you work with what you have lol) See pictures below.
- We talked about the effects after the initial impact on the earth and how large volcanic eruptions can have a similar effect as in 1816.
- We demonstrated with their toy animals how half of the plants and animals on earth died and guessed why some survived and others didn’t.
Fossils
- We read a biography of Earl Douglass who searched for Dinosaur bones out west where we live and talked about our family ties to his story.
- We reviewed Types of Fossils with the printables from Fiddlesticks Education (Trace vs Body Fossils).
- The boys had a blast sorting fossils with the Dancing Bear Fossil Sorting Kit.
- We learned how Fossils are formed with the book “Fossils for Kids” which honestly was my #1 Favorite book find from the whole unit study.
- We learned where and how to find fossils then practiced using the techniques/tools on bones at home. (see pics below)
- We talked about what we can learn from fossils reviewing the plate tectonics, diets, evolution, and time we had already discussed. We Used a bone we have at home to measure, draw, record, and ask questions in our nature journals to practice thinking like a scientist. (see pics below)
- What other skills would help you learn about dinosaurs? We talked about the practical skills of paleontology, understanding the anatomy/ bone structure of modern animals, and applied sciences.
- When we go to the dinosaur museum I am going to have them look at the skeletons and give me their best guesses about what the dinosaur ate and how it lived by looking at it.
Fossil Fuels
- Since their dad works in the oil fields and their mother is an environmentalist I couldn’t talk about fossils without also talking about fossil fuels and how they are made.
- Since the documentary and the discussion about extinction already mentioned carbon being released into the atmosphere we also talked about releasing carbon into the atmosphere with fossil fuels and how to sequester carbon with plants.
- Finally leading into one of our next units on energy, physics, and machines we talked about alternative fuel sources and what it will take for the world to switch over.
- (Other than how fossil fuels are made I discussed the other parts of this with only my oldest child)

All the other fun things:

During the unit study the kids watched Dino Dan and Dino Dana on Amazon Prime, read the magic tree house “Dinosaurs Before Dark”, and worked with dad to create a Fossil Station from an old playhouse. Before we had snow they took their paleontology tools out to the boneyard in the far corner of our property to search for bones and dug in the dirt hill looking for fossils. After Covid, we plan on going to The Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point in Utah (which we have been to and know is an awesome and educational experience) and to the Dinosaur National Monument in Utah where their ancestor helped Earl Douglas discover a brontosaurus skeleton! They also made dinosaurs out of pattern blocks, played a dinosaur dig game, and helped me make a dinosaur banner for the schoolroom.