Dinosaurs are back, but are we ready?
Science is racing toward possibilities that once lived only in movies. This Australian curriculum-aligned classroom guide invites students from Early Years to Year 8 to explore what might happen if dinosaurs walked the Earth again through research, reasoning, and imagination.
Each hands-on challenge integrates Britannica School with creative thinking, digital creation, and real-world ethical inquiry with no planning required.
Each challenge includes:
- A real-world inspired task
- Guiding questions to promote critical thinking
- Integration with Britannica School
- Opportunities for creativity and digital creation
- Curriculum links
Let’s jump in to a future with dinosaurs!
Activity Snapshot: At a Glance
Here’s a quick guide for teachers to preview the challenges and their learning focus.
Early Years
- Bone Clue Builder – Reconstruct a dinosaur using clues from bones.
- Dino Dance Moves – Use movement to show how different dinosaurs moved.
Foundation – Year 2
- Design-a-Dino – Invent a dinosaur that could survive in your town today.
- Dino Café Menu – Create a fun menu for carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs.
Years 3–4
- Survival Test – Explore whether a dinosaur could live in our world now.
- Dino Timeline – Map out major events across the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.
Years 5–6
- De-extinction Debate – Argue for or against bringing dinosaurs back through science.
- What Went Wrong? – Investigate how and why the dinosaurs became extinct.
Years 7–8
- Fossil Rebuild – Reimagine a dinosaur from limited fossil evidence.
- Dino Newsroom – Create a breaking news report about a fossil discovery.
Early Years (Kindergarten/Prep School)
Challenge: Bone Clue Builder
Curriculum Links: ACSSU003, ACELY1646
🏆 Challenge: A mysterious bone has been discovered. Can you build the dinosaur it belonged to?
🕵🏻♀️ Investigate: Look at images of dinosaur bones, teeth, and tails on Britannica School.
✏️ Create: Draw or build a model of your dinosaur using what you learned.
🧠 Think & Talk: What do the bones tell us about its size or diet?
🔮 Reflect: What was the most surprising clue you noticed?
🧗♂️ Level Up: Take a photo of your model and label its features.
💡 Optional Support: Start with: “This dinosaur might walk on four legs because…” or “The teeth are sharp, so it probably…”
💻 Suggested Resources:
Look up “Dinosaurs” on the Britannica School Early Primary Level
Challenge: Dino Dance Moves
🏆Challenge: Can you move like a dinosaur?
🕵🏻♀️Investigate: Use Britannica to see how dinosaurs walked, swam, or flew.
✏️Create: Design a movement or dance to show how 3 dinosaurs moved.
🧠Think & Talk: How did you decide on each movement?
🔮Reflect: How is dinosaur movement similar or different to animals today?
🧗♂️Level Up: Film your dance and narrate it.
💡Optional Support: Ask a partner, “What kind of dinosaur am I being?” or say, “I moved like a T-Rex because…”
💻Suggested Resources: Look up “Dinosaurs” on the Britannica School Early Primary Level
Foundation – Year 2
Challenge: Design-a-Dino
Curriculum Links: ACSSU017, ACELY1651, ACTDIP003
🏆Challenge: A dinosaur must live in your town today. What features would it need to survive?
🕵🏻♀️Investigate: Explore habitats, climate, and features on Britannica.
✏️Create: Draw, build or digitally design a dinosaur adapted to your town.
🧠Think & Talk: What helps your dinosaur survive? What puts it at risk?
🔮Reflect: Which adaptations were most important and why?
🧗♂️Level Up: Turn your dinosaur into a digital poster with labels.
💡Optional Support: “My dinosaur has ___ to help it survive in ___” or draw where your dinosaur lives.
Challenge: Dino Café Menu
Curriculum Links: ACSSU002, ACELY1654
🏆 Challenge: Open a café for dinosaurs! But first — figure out what they eat.
🕵🏻♀️ Investigate: Study carnivores and herbivores on Britannica.
✏️ Create: Make a menu with meals for meat- and plant-eating dinosaurs.
🧠 Think & Talk: How can we tell what a dinosaur ate from its bones?
🔮 Reflect: What surprised you about their diets?
🧗♂️ Level Up: Create a food web using paper or digital design tools like Canva.
💡 Optional Support: “This dinosaur eats ___ because it has ___” or draw a herbivore/carnivore plate.
💻 Suggested Resources:
“Dinosaurs” article on the Britannica School Primary Level
Years 3 – 4
Challenge: Survival Test
Curriculum Links: ACSSU073, ACELY1694
🏆Challenge: A dinosaur has appeared in your town or suburb. Could it survive?
🕵🏻♀️Investigate: Use Britannica to find out how your dinosaur lived.
✏️Create: Make a survival guide, comic, or poster showing how it might adapt.
🧠Think & Talk: What would be its biggest challenge?
🔮Reflect: What did you learn about animals and survival?
🧗♂️Level Up: Record a news video announcing the dinosaur’s arrival.
💡Optional Support: “In today’s world, my dinosaur would…” or list: diet, shelter, dangers.
💻Suggested Resources: Look up “Dinosaurs” on the Britannica School Primary Level
Challenge: Dino Timeline
🏆 Challenge: When did dinosaurs live, and what came before and after?
🕵🏻♀️ Investigate: Use Britannica to explore Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods.
✏️ Create: Make a timeline with illustrations of key events.
🧠 Think & Talk: What changed across the three periods?
🔮 Reflect: What helps us understand the history of life?
🧗♂️ Level Up: Animate your timeline digitally.
💡 Optional Support: “In the Jurassic period, ___ happened” or use coloured labels for each era.
💻 Suggested Resources:
Look up “Dinosaurs” on the Britannica School High Level
Years 5 – 6
Challenge: De-extinction Debate
Curriculum Links: ACSHE083, ACELY1704, ACHASSI102
🏆Challenge: Scientists can bring back extinct species. Should they bring back dinosaurs?
🕵🏻♀️Investigate: Use Britannica to explore cloning, extinction, and scientific responsibility.
✏️Create: Write or perform a persuasive piece explaining your opinion.
🧠Think & Talk: What are the risks or benefits of de-extinction?
🔮Reflect: What does this teach us about power, science, and decision-making?
🧗♂️Level Up: Record your opinion as a video or podcast with music and visuals.
💡Optional Support: “I believe we should/shouldn’t bring back dinosaurs because…” List three reasons.
💻Suggested Resources: Look up “Dinosaurs” on the Britannica School Primary Level
Challenge: What Went Wrong?
Curriculum Links: ACSSU094, ACSIS107
🏆 Challenge: Explore why dinosaurs disappeared and what it teaches us today.
🕵🏻♀️ Investigate: Use Britannica to research extinction theories and dinosaur ecosystems.
✏️ Create: Design a cause-and-effect flowchart, comic strip, or ecosystem map showing how collapse happened.
🧠 Think & Talk: What was the tipping point? Could something like this happen again?
🔮 Reflect: Why is protecting ecosystems important?
🧗♂️ Level Up: Make a digital explainer using Canva or Jamboard.
💡 Optional Support: Use a cause-and-effect sentence like: “First ___, then ___, which led to ___”.
💻 Suggested Resources:
Look up “Dinosaurs” on the Britannica School High Level
Years 7 – 8
Challenge: Fossil Rebuild
Curriculum Links: ACSHE119, ACSIS125
🏆Challenge: You’ve found part of a fossil. Reconstruct the dinosaur it came from.
🕵🏻♀️Investigate: Use Britannica to explore fossil records, anatomy, and comparison species.
✏️Create: Sketch or 3D-model a dinosaur based on your fossil. Add reasoning notes for each feature.
🧠Think & Talk: What evidence helped you decide how the dinosaur looked and lived?
🔮Reflect: How do scientists work with limited data and evidence?
🧗♂️Level Up: Present your model in a short video or slideshow with voiceover.
💡Optional Support: “I think this feature helped the dinosaur because…” or list 3 fossil clues you used.
💻Suggested Resources: Look up “Dinosaurs” on the Britannica School High Level
Challenge: Dino Newsroom
Curriculum Links: ACELY1721, ACSIS148
🏆 Challenge: A fossil discovery has made headlines. You’re the reporter — break the story.
🕵🏻♀️ Investigate: Use Britannica to find out how real fossil discoveries are reported.
✏️ Create: Script and record a news segment with interviews (scientist, local, reporter).
🧠 Think & Talk: Why is this discovery significant? What evidence needs to be included?
🔮 Reflect: What role does communication play in science?
🧗♂️ Level Up: Film and edit your story as a short news-style video.
💡 Optional Support: Start your story with: “Breaking news! Scientists have discovered…”
💻 Suggested Resources:
Look up “Dinosaurs” on the Britannica School High Level
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