Activity 3: Do at School!

Dinosaur or Mammal?

Not all fossils are dinosaurs!

Circle all of the mammals you see here.

Teacher instructions:

1. Often when people see mastodon bones on display they say "look at the dinosaur bones!" But is a mastodon a dinosaur or a mammal? How would you tell apart a dinosaur and a mammal?
2. These pictures are of mammals and dinosaurs that have lived in the past. Circle all of the mammals.
3. What do all the animals that you circled have in common?
4. Did all of these animals live during the same time period?
   Clue: Look at the time line on the last page of this booklet.

Did you get them all right? Check the answers.

Fact: Humans are mammals!

Discuss: How are you like the animals you circled?

Main Message: Organisms are classified according to their characteristics rather than size or age. Not all fossil creatures, or all large creatures, are dinosaurs.

Connections: In activity 5, "Extinction," students examine different mammals and determine which are extinct and what characteristics these extinct animals may have in common.