online RESOURCES Educator’s Guide

GLOSSARY COME PREPARED The World’s Largest Dinosaurs amnh.org/wld DIDOU Y KNOW? coprolite: fossilized animal dung. Plan your visit. For information about reservations, transpor- Access featured content from the exhibition, including videos, Coprolites contain clues to what animals ate tation, and lunchrooms, visit amnh.org/education/plan. interactives, fun facts, and behind-the-scenes photos. The largest sauropod we know of and how their digestive systems worked. Read the Essential Questions in this guide to see how is Argentinosaurus. The Museum’s themes in The World’s Largest Dinosaurs connect to your cur- PaleontOLogy fossil specimen is so big, and the rock fossil: remains or traces of ancient life riculum. Identify the key points that you’d like your students to amnh.org/ology/paleontology around it so hard, that it’s taking years — including bones, teeth, shells, leaf learn from the exhibition. Games, puzzles, and activities help kids explore fossils and the clues for scientists to excavate all of it from impressions, nests, and footprints — that they provide about ancient life and Earth’s history. South America. are usually buried in rocks Review the Teaching in the Exhibition section of this guide for an advance look at the specimens, models, and Sauropods had the longest necks and longest tails of any known dinosaurs. herbivore: an animal that eats only plants interactives that you and your class will be encountering. Download activities and student worksheets at amnh. The head of Diplodocus, a 13-ton metabolism: the set of chemical processes org/resources/rfl/pdf/largestdinos_activities.pdf. Designed (11,800-kg) sauropod, is the same size within organisms that convert food into the for use before, during, and after your visit, these activities focus as the head of a half-ton (450-kg) energy necessary for life — everything from on themes that correlate to the NYS Science Core Curriculum: horse. growing and moving to thinking • K–2: Structures & Functions Many sauropods grew new teeth as • 3–5: Observation & Evidence often as once a month, as old ones paleoclimate: climate from the past, re- THE • 6–8: Body Systems wore out. corded in rocks, ice sheets, tree rings, • 9–12: Size & Scale sediment, corals, and shells WORLD’S Some titanosaurs, one family of LARGEST Decide how your students will explore The World’s Largest sauropods, were covered with bony paleontologist: a scientist who studies Dinosaurs. Suggestions include: plates called osteoderms. the fossil record in order to understand the • You and your chaperones can facilitate the visit using the Scientists think that sauropods might history of life on Earth Teaching in the Exhibition section of this guide. have been brightly colored, like many modern-day birds and reptiles. trachea: the tube that connects the nose • Your students can use the student worksheets to explore DINOSAURS the exhibition on their own or in small groups. and mouth to the lungs We know from trackway evidence, • Students, individually or in groups, can use copies of the which shows smaller sauropods in the trackway: a series of fossilized footprints. map to choose their own paths. middle, that some sauropods traveled Trackways provide clues to the animal’s size, in herds. speed, and behavior. CORRELATIONS TO Will even bigger vertebrae (singular: vertebra): the bones NATIONAL STANDARDS dinosaurs be discovered INSIDE: that form the backbone and give vertebrates some day? Probably! their name. Sauropod necks have between Your visit to The World’s Largest Dinosaurs exhibition can • Suggestions to Help You Come Prepared ten to nineteen cervical vertebrae, whereas be correlated to the national standards below. Visit amnh.org/ • Essential Questions for Student Inquiry most mammals, including giraffes and resources/rfl/pdf/largestdinos_standards.pdf for a full listing • Strategies for Teaching in the Exhibition humans, only have seven. of New York State standards. • Map of the Exhibition Science Education Standards CREDITS Photo Credits • Online Resources for the Classroom A human baby doubles in weight All Grades • A2: Understanding about scientific inquiry The World’s Largest Dinosaurs is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, Cover: sauropod parade, © Raúl Martin; paleontologists at dig, © AMNH. • Correlation to Standards in 5 months, but this took a New York (www.amnh.org) in collaboration with Coolture Marketing, Bogotá, Colombia. Essential Questions: sauropod growth chart, © AMNH. Come Prepared: sauropod only 5 days. Howe Quarry chart, © AMNH/D.Finnin. Teaching in the Exhibition: teeth • Glossary K–4 • C1: Characteristics of organisms • C3: Organisms and The World’s Largest Dinosaurs is proudly supported by Bank of America. and sauropod nest, © AMNH/D.Finnin; vertebra, © AMNH/R.Mickens; horsetail, © J.S.Peterson/ environments USDA; trackway illustration, © AMNH. Insert: Mamenchisaurus, © Raúl Martin. At maturity (about age 20), 5–8 • C1: Structure and function of living systems Additional support is generously provided by Marshall P. and Rachael C. Levine, a human is 17 times its weight at birth, Drs. Harlan B. and Natasha Levine, and Joyce and Bob Giuffra. while a mature sauropod (about age 30) • C3: Regulation and behavior • C5: Diversity and adaptations weighed 10,000 times as much as it did of organisms • G2: Nature of science Funding for the Educator’s Guide has been provided in part by the as a hatchling. Louis and Virginia Clemente Foundation. XX% 9–12 • C6: Behavior of organisms • G2: Nature of science © 2011 American Museum of Natural History. All rights reserved. Cert o.n XXX-XXX-XXXX amnh.org/education/largestdinos 13 tons (11,800 kg) 0.8 tons (725kg) Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis Europasaurus holgeri 90 tons (82,000 kg) essential QUESTIONS teaching in the EXHIBITION Argentinosaurus huinculensis

For 140 million years sauropods — humongous plant-eating dinosaurs — roamed the planet. This exhibition Size affects just about everything an animal does: eating, breath- Stomach & Digestion WHAT DO FOSSILS TELL US? explores how scientists study fossils and living animals to understand sauropod biology, and what we can ing, moving, and reproducing. This exhibition takes a look at how sau- The Importance Column of leaves and learn from these extinct animals about what it means to be big. Use the Essential Questions below to ropods, the biggest land animals ever, pulled it off. You and your students of Size metabolism interactive: How massive were sauropods? connect the exhibition to your curriculum. will be exploring a large, open space surrounding a full-scale model of In this introductory section Tell students that this case Calculate weight and size interactives: Point Mamenchisaurus, an exceptionally long-necked sauropod species that lived students can compare skel- shows how much food this out that scientists study living animals to under- storage sacs ensured a constant flow of fresh air about 160 million years ago in present-day China. Use the Explorations etons representing the range Mamenchisaurus might stand the biology of extinct ones. Have students use What is a sauropod? through the lungs. Today’s birds breathe the same way. below, which are organized around body systems, to guide your of sizes of animals both living have had to eat in one both the computer interactive and the hands-on Sauropods were an extraordinarily successful group Sauropods swallowed without chewing, so they could visit. Refer at any point to the Biology Theater in the center of the exhibi- and extinct — from the tiny hour. Invite students to use interactive to understand how scientists extrapolate of dinosaurs notable for their enormous size. These eat massive amounts rapidly. They processed the food tion, where projections tie together all the processes that enabled sauropod Rufous Hummingbird to the the interactive to learn the weight of an animal from a single bone. herbivores were the biggest land animals ever. They in their enormous stomachs. Bacteria in these “fermen- Argentinosaurus looming about the relationship inhabited every continent and lived from the Early Juras- dinosaurs to grow to enormous sizes. Answers to the questions can be tation tanks” took up to two weeks to break down found online at amnh.org/resources/rfl/pdf/largestdinos_teaching.pdf overhead. among body plans, food sic period, about 200 million year ago, until 65.5 million tough plants and extract energy. Another adaptation type, and energy require- What did sauropods look like? years ago, when most dinosaurs became extinct. Over was cavities in the bones of sauropod necks (cervical ments. Ask: What are Skin interactive: Ask students why it’s so that period sauropods evolved a range of shapes and vertebrae), which made those necks lighter and easier some of the factors that sizes, although all walked on four legs, were covered challenging to determine the color and pattern of to maneuver. And those long, flexible necks — as long GUIDED EXPLORATIONS influenced how much sauropod skin. in small bumps and scales, and had small heads. Their as 40 feet (12 meters)! — allowed sauropods to stand food the animal needed The tough but nutritious brains were small relative to body size, but sauropods in one place and eat a lot. Their large, powerful hearts to consume? were smart enough to engage in social behaviors like horsetail was a staple of the beat very slowly to move massive amounts of blood up Camarasaurus sauropod diet. How did sauropods behave? herding. Like many modern reptiles, they reproduced Teeth & Eating to their brains and around their huge bodies. vertebra and vertebrae by laying many eggs and left the young to fend for Sauropod footprints and zoetrope: Guide Touchable teeth and skulls: comparison interactive: themselves. The biggest eggs were about the size of a Eggs & Reproduction students’ attention to the stickers on the floor that Invite students to touch the Point out that cavities in volleyball. Hatchlings grew fast — gaining weight more How do scientists study teeth at this table and compare Display of model eggs: Have students look at a range represent a series of life-size footprints, called a sauropod vertebrae made trackway. Ask them what kinds of clues to sauropod quickly than any other land animal that’s ever lived. sauropods? their shapes and sizes. Ask of eggs laid by both living and extinct species. Ask them necks light and easy to behavior are contained in trackways. Invite them to To learn about ancient life, scientists study fossils. them what these teeth might why the eggs of sauropods are similar in size to those of move, without sacrificing spin the zoetrope for a 3-D image of what moving Finding these traces of ancient life takes time and be good for, and how that much smaller animals. Ask them to compare sauropod How do sauropods vary? The spoon-shaped tooth (left) strength. Have students dinosaurs may have looked like. experience. Paleontologists search carefully for bits would help a huge animal eggs to those of other dinosaurs, including birds. What Like many groups of animals, sauropods came in differ- belonged to Camarasaurus, look at the vertebra and of exposed bone, then typically transport the large get enough to eat. the pencil-shaped one to do they observe? ent sizes and body shapes. Their average weight was a ask them what’s unique Cavities and hollows in neck piece of rock that contains the fossil back to the lab. Diplodocus. hefty 12 tons, with some dwarf species weighing only as Mamenchisaurus head about these bones. Ask bones like this one gave Eggshell magnifier interactive: Have students use Trackways provide some of the best clues about sau- Camarasaurus its name. It much as a cow and Argentinosaurus tipping the scales at and foliage: Look up! Tell students that sauropods what the advantage of the magnifier to look at the pores, or tiny holes, of the ropod behavior. Studying living birds and other reptiles, means “chambered reptile.” up to 90 tons (82,000 kg), which is 15 times heavier than were herbivores — they ate only plants. Have them having such a long, flexible eggshells of modern animals. Then invite students to which are related to dinosaurs, gives insight into the African elephant. Variations included: tail length, the observe the Mamenchisaurus’ head and neck, and ask neck might be. Invite them to use the interactive to com- look at the diorama and touch the fossil eggs to see the behavior and biology. Paleontologists also turn relative proportion of hindlimbs to forelimbs, the shape how these body parts help the animal find and eat a lot pare how much giraffe and sauropod vertebrae weigh. evidence for what sauropod nests, eggs, and embryos to experts in other fields. For example, geochemists of the skull and placement of teeth, and in a few cases, of food. were like. analyze fossil bones and teeth for clues about the presence of features such as scales and giant spikes Heart & Circulation paleoclimate, while paleobotanists examine down the neck. Teeth ranged from large spoon-shaped Check out the Stomach & Digestion section to learn coprolites for the physical and chemical traces of Model of sauropod heart: Tell students that the HOW DO PALEONTOLOGISTS ones for biting branches to small pencil-shaped ones for more about sauropod diet and metabolism. ancient plants. Together, these scientists are filling in bigger the animal, the more powerful its heart has to be. raking and stripping leaves. Each species had only one EXCAVATE FOSSILS? the picture of what these giant dinosaurs ate, how Have students observe the heart model and describe the type of tooth. Head, Neck & Movement Dig pit: Have students look at the wall graphic fast they grew, and how long they lived. characteristics that help a sauropod heart pump Model of Diplodocus brain: Point out that despite oxygen-rich blood from head to tail. surrounding the dig site to familiarize themselves with the kinds of bones they’ll be uncovering. Ask How do sauropod bodies work? having small brains relative to body size, this group To reach their massive sizes, sauropods grew of dinosaurs flourished on Earth for 140 million years. Pumping heart interactive: Invite students to them to watch the video of paleontologists at work While some structures in sauropods’ bodies look faster than any known land-living Have students look at this “big-enough” brain. Ask determine how much effort it takes to circulate blood for a sense of what it’s like to be on a dig and to see much like those in animals alive today, others are quite mammal, bird, or throughout a sauropod’s body, especially to its brain. the tools they use. Suggest that they think about different. Many aspects of sauropod anatomy are key to other reptile. them to consider, as they go through the exhibition, what behaviors this brain made possible. Encourage them to experiment with other animals, like how to uncover fossils without damaging them, and their giant sizes. For example, a highly efficient breathing a giraffe. then try it themselves in the dig pit. Make sure each system enabled them to expend less energy breathing student collects a sticker on the way out. than other animals, including mammals. A system of air Lungs & Breathing A titanosaur Scale model of lung and trachea: Have students hatchling gets ready to look closely at the model of a sauropod lung and leave the nest. It’s on its own! Have students go to Sauropods probably farted a lot. compare it to the diagram of a mammal lung. Ask what amnh.org/ology/livinglarge They may have released around the differences are, and what the effects might be. to gather clues about sauropod fossils. 13 gallons (50 liters) of gas per day! Point out that the sauropod lung was twice as efficient Mamenchisaurus as a mammal lung. Why is this important? weight gain