Science // Dinosaurs & Paleontology

Dinosaurs Were Real

Understand that dinosaurs were real animals that lived on Earth a very long time ago and are now extinct — none are alive today

Ages
5 to 7
Type
Concept
Builds on
0 topics
Leads to
6 topics

Quick check

If the learner sees a dinosaur toy, can they tell you that real dinosaurs lived long ago but aren't alive any more?

Ask this to see whether the topic is secure.

Topic // Mastery

What mastery looks like

What a learner can do once this topic is secure.
  • State that dinosaurs were real animals, not made up
  • Explain that 'extinct' means no living ones are left anywhere
  • Distinguish between 'a long time ago' and recent events like last year

Topic // Map

Where this fits

What to learn first and what this topic opens up, with the reason for each link. Required links come first.
  • RequiredMust come first
  • HelpfulHelps, but not essential

Before this

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Dinosaurs Were Real

Ages 5 to 7 // Concept

Leads to

6 topics
  • Fossils & PalaeontologistsRequired

    Dinosaurs & Paleontology // Ages 5 to 7

    Must understand dinosaurs are extinct before learning fossils are how we know about them

  • Famous Dinosaur SpeciesRequired

    Dinosaurs & Paleontology // Ages 5 to 7

    Must understand dinosaurs existed before learning to name species

  • Plant-Eaters vs Meat-EatersRequired

    Dinosaurs & Paleontology // Ages 5 to 7

    Must understand dinosaurs existed before classifying their diets

  • The Mesozoic EraRequired

    Dinosaurs & Paleontology // Ages 7 to 9

    Must understand dinosaurs existed long ago before placing them in geological periods

  • Dinosaurs Around the WorldRequired

    Dinosaurs & Paleontology // Ages 7 to 9

    Must understand dinosaurs existed before learning about their global distribution

  • The K-Pg Extinction EventRequired

    Dinosaurs & Paleontology // Ages 9 to 11

    Must understand extinction concept before learning about the K-Pg extinction event

Topic // Research-informed

Teaching notes

From the Marble Skill Taxonomy. These notes have not been validated in classrooms, so treat them as a starting point for your own judgement.

The approach

For children aged 5–7 learning that dinosaurs were real animals that lived an enormously long time ago and that the non-bird dinosaurs (such as T. rex) are now extinct. Two load-bearing ideas: (1) dinosaurs were REAL, known from real bones/fossils, unlike made-up creatures such as dragons; (2) non-bird dinosaurs are EXTINCT (none left alive anywhere) and died out long before any people existed, so people and non-bird dinosaurs never lived together (birds are the one dinosaur group still alive). Use relative time language ('before grandparents, before any people, a very very long time ago') rather than abstract millions of years. The preferred route lets children discover the coexistence myth by placing time markers themselves; alternatives (a museum scene, a few picture questions, a palaeontologist character) are retained for different purposes.

Common misconceptions

  • 'Dinosaurs and people (cavemen) lived at the same time' — dinosaurs died out long before any humans existed.
  • 'Dinosaurs are made up, like dragons' — dinosaurs were real animals known from real fossils.
  • 'Some dinosaurs are still alive today' (confusing them with living reptiles like crocodiles or lizards) — non-bird dinosaurs are all extinct.
  • 'Extinct means asleep / hiding / will come back' — extinct means none are left alive anywhere.
  • 'All dinosaurs lived at the same time' — different dinosaurs lived in different ages (introduced more fully later).

Useful representations

  • A simple deep-time ribbon/timeline with 'dinosaurs' far from 'people/now', showing the gap.
  • A sorting frame: alive today vs only known from fossils (e.g. elephant vs dinosaur), and real vs pretend (dinosaur vs dragon).
  • Museum fossil skeleton photos as the 'proof they were real'.
  • A 'long ago' vs 'last year' comparison to build the sense of scale.

Teaching practices

  • Lead with 'real animals, known from real bones' and explicitly contrast with made-up creatures (dragons) so 'real vs pretend' is the anchoring distinction.
  • Teach 'extinct' concretely as 'none left alive anywhere' and connect to the Y2 living/dead/never-lived sorting children already meet.
  • Directly confront the coexistence myth (people + dinosaurs together): show a simple time gap so children learn dinosaurs were gone long before any people existed.
  • Use relative time language ('before grandparents, before any people, a very very long time ago') rather than abstract millions — deep-time number sense is not developmentally available yet.
  • Anchor 'how do we know they were real?' in fossils/bones you can see in a museum, seeding the fossils-as-evidence idea.

Activities to try

  1. 1

    Time ribbon: place the markers and find the gap

    Why it works: Non-bird dinosaurs (like T. rex) lived an enormously long time ago and died out long before any people existed — people and these dinosaurs never lived at the same time (busting the cartoon 'cave people + dinosaurs' myth).

    1. Take a simple long time ribbon/strip and a handful of markers: 'dinosaurs', 'the first people', 'grandparents', 'now'.
    2. Place each marker where you think it belongs along the ribbon.
    3. If you put 'people' next to 'dinosaurs', watch as the grown-up (or the app) stretches the ribbon to open up a huge empty gap, moving 'people' far away from 'dinosaurs'.
    4. Say out loud what the gap shows: the big dinosaurs like T. rex were gone long, long before any people were born.
  2. 2

    Two sorters: alive-today vs only-fossils, and real vs pretend

    Why it works: Dinosaurs were real animals known from real bones/fossils, unlike made-up creatures; 'extinct' means none are left alive anywhere, as with T. rex and the other non-bird dinosaurs, and this connects to sorting things that are alive, dead, or never alive.

    1. Sort animals into 'alive today' or 'only known from fossils': crocodile, elephant, chicken, T. rex. (The crocodile, elephant and chicken stay in 'alive today'; T. rex moves to 'only fossils'.)
    2. Sort pictures into 'real' or 'pretend': a dinosaur vs a dragon.
    3. When you tap/choose the dinosaur, look at the photo of its actual museum bones that appears; the dragon gets a 'made-up' tag.
    4. Say why a dinosaur is 'real' and a dragon is 'pretend'.
  3. 3

    Museum-hall scene: bones, time signpost, and 'is it alive today?'

    Why it works: Dinosaurs were real (here are the bones), lived long ago, and are extinct.

    1. Explore a scene with a dinosaur skeleton and a present-day street.
    2. Tap/look at the skeleton to reveal 'real bones, real animal'.
    3. Tap/look at a 'time signpost' to reveal 'lived long before people'.
    4. Lift a flap on 'is it alive today?' to reveal 'no — extinct'.

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