Every dinosaur picture is part fact and part reasoning. Bones fossilise; skin colour usually does not. Students sort claims about a specimen into what the fossil actually shows and what has been inferred — then draw their own reconstruction, marking in two colours which parts they can defend and which they invented.
It is the observation-versus-inference distinction that sits under every “working scientifically” strand, taught with the one subject children already care about.
Three pages: two student sheets and a teacher page with expected responses.
Every dinosaur picture you have ever seen is part fact and part reasoning. Bones fossilise. Skin colour usually does not. This sheet is about telling the two apart — and about what a scientist is allowed to say when the evidence runs out.
Choose any dinosaur in the atlas and read its dossier. Then decide where each fact belongs.
| Claim about the dinosaur | Directly from the fossil | Worked out from other evidence |
|---|---|---|
| How long it was | ||
| What colour it was | ||
| What it ate | ||
| How fast it could run | ||
| What sound it made |
Tick one column for each row. If you think neither fits, say so in the margin — that is a legitimate answer.
Pick the row you found most difficult. Explain why it was hard to place.
Diet is written on every dossier. But nobody watched these animals eat.
How could a scientist work out what a dinosaur ate, using only the fossil? Write two different kinds of clue.
Draw your dinosaur as you think it looked. Then label your drawing in two colours, or with two kinds of line.
| Something I drew | Why I drew it that way |
|---|---|
What discovery would make you redraw your dinosaur? Be specific.
Students are usually taught the products of science — the finished dinosaur, correctly coloured, running at a stated speed. This sheet asks them to take that picture apart and mark which bits the evidence actually supports.
The aim is not scepticism for its own sake. It is the distinction between observation and inference, which sits at the centre of every “working scientifically” strand and is far easier to teach with dinosaurs than with almost anything else.
Students who write “neither — we just don’t know” for sound have understood the sheet.
Two clue types, at least one from each group:
The two-colour rule is the whole exercise. Expect solid lines for skeleton, proportions, teeth and claws; dashed for skin texture, colour, patterning, feathers where undocumented, eye colour, soft tissue such as lips and cheeks.
A common and interesting error is drawing the outline solid. Body outline depends on soft tissue that rarely fossilises — how much muscle sat on those bones is itself an inference. Worth raising once students have committed to their drawings.
The 1996 discovery in Liaoning, China, is in the atlas as Sinosauropteryx prima — the first non-avian dinosaur found with clear evidence of feathers. It is the model answer to “what would change your mind”, because something did. Students who name a specific, findable piece of evidence are reasoning like scientists; “if someone found a photo” is worth pushing back on.
| Curriculum | Strand |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | Nature of Science — Understanding about science; Investigating in science: distinguishing observation from inference, evaluating evidence. |
| England (KS2–KS3) | Working scientifically — identifying evidence used to support or refute ideas; evolution and inheritance; scientific attitudes. |
| NGSS (USA) | Science and Engineering Practices 6–7 — constructing explanations, engaging in argument from evidence. 3-LS4-1. |
| Australia | Science as a Human Endeavour — nature and development of science. Science Inquiry Skills — evaluating. |