Introduction to Kindergarten Measurement -Dinosaurs
-Common Core Math CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.MD.A.1-2
We randomly picked up this place mat that had a boat load of dinosaur info on it. I decided to turn it into a project to give Jack enrichment in Common Core Kindergarten Measurement. We decided to measure length, which is a relatively easy concept when it comes to measurement. Also the fact that we were measuring dinosaurs went over very well because we had just visited a dinosaur exhibit at the Naples Botanical Garden.
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Materials List for Kindergarten Measurement -Dinosaurs
–Painless Learning dino size place mat
–measuring tape
–Measuring the Length of Dinosaurs lesson
Step 1: Download the Measuring the Length of Dinosaurs lesson and complete the worksheets
Here is a sample worksheet from our lesson:
Step 2: Read through the information on the place mat and take notes on the size, specifically the length, of the dinosaurs
We purchased the placemat at Walmart, but I checked out Amazon and this one from Painless Learning
Here are some notes we took on the info we read on the place mat. They gave info on 6 different dinosaurs, the Seismosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Allosaurus, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus. We were interested in their length, so that is what we took notes about. Our place mat also had weight info so we wrote that on our notes too. If your place mat doesn’t have weight info, you can use this handy website to find dinosaur weights.
Step 3: Compare the weights of each dinosaur to that of an African Elephant, which weighs about 7.5 tons
To make the weight more real to Jack, we looked up what the weight of an African elephant is to compare to the dinosaurs. The San Diego Zoo website said they weigh about 7.5 tons.
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Step 4: Use the tape measure in a large yard or safely in the street to measure the length of each dinosaur
The place mat said the Seismosaurus was the longest of all 6 dinosaurs at 120 ft (37 m). So we got out the measuring tape, watched carefully for cars, and measured how long 120 ft was. You can very slightly see Jack in this picture, 120 ft is huge for an animal!
The Brachiosaurus came in second and was 65-90 ft (20-27 m).
Jack started to get bored with the measuring and I wanted to be sure we were staying safe in the road. So we did some calculations to see how many elephants each dinosaur was equivalent to while safely sitting in the driveway. Both the Seismosaurus and the Brachiosaurus were equivalent to 4-9 elephants because they weighed between 30-70 tons each! The Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops and Stegosaurus were all equivalent to one elephant because they all fell between 4-9 tons. The “smallest” dinosaur in weight was the Allosaurus. It only weighed 1-4 tons, which is less than an African elephant.
Ok, now we were ready to continue our measurements. The Tyrannosaurus was 42 ft (12.8 m) long.
The Allosaurus was 38 ft (12 m) long.
The Triceratops was 26-33 ft (8-10 m) long.
Finally, the Stegosaurus was 25-40 ft (8-12 m) long. Which seems small in comparison with the other dinosaurs, but in modern terms, I am not interested in meeting any animals that are this big and have sharp plates along their back and tail!
Step 5: Complete the assessment from the Kindergarten Measurement lesson
Here is a sample page from the assessment:
