About This Lesson
Focus:
In this unit, students explore the young lives and current professional careers of two researchers, Daniela and Thaís. Daniela studies the fossils of dinosaurs both in Mexico and in Montana. Thaís is an expert on the large, and now extinct animals that use to roam the earth, especially the megafauna of Brazil. Students start out by seeing incidents of the young lives of each of these people and they then see the current, active lives of both. They see how inspiration, experiences, and challenges in life can lead to decisions that led to exciting, rewarding careers in science through a person’s life. Students will also learn how scientists from the past inspired these researchers. Along the way students learn scientific facts that are an integral part of the lives of these science researchers.
- Who are some of the people that inspired these two scientists when they were young?
- What experiences first awakened scholarly interest in these two people?
- How did going to school help both people recognize their interests and achieve their goals?
- How did going to college help these researchers become mature thinkers?
- What skills are necessary for discovering and uncovering dinosaur fossils?
- How does careful research lead scientists to reconstruct a dinosaur skeleton?
- What are reptiles and what are some kinds of dinosaurs that once roamed earth?
- What are some kinds of megafossil mammals?
- How does going to a museum help people understand the animals of the past?
- What scientists from the past have inspired these researchers?
Number of Lessons: 4
Instruction Time:
- Each Chapter is designed to be completed in one 30-45-minute class period.
- Some single-day activities and performance tasks might require setting aside a longer block of time.
- This Unit should be completed in about 4-5 classroom days.
- A complete list of Materials needed to complete the unit is provided in Online Resources.
- Activity pages and answers are included in the Teacher Guide.
- Online Resources contain a wealth of additional teacher support.
