Fossilised Dinosaur Dung

ScienceDinosaurs & PaleontologyAges 7–9

Describe what coprolites are (fossilised dinosaur dung) and how palaeontologists analyse them to discover what dinosaurs ate, including plant fragments, bones, and seeds

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Teaching Table

Set out your lesson

Use fossil contents as clues while keeping an identification tentative.

Activity

Inferred, not a taxonomy edge: learner can access the supplied prompt with agreed support and can explain or mark a response. If earlier skills are unfamiliar, use the prerequisite topic for teaching; an authored prerequisite is not proof this learner is ready.

Sequence

Keep the two adult-only cards off the learner screen. Have a pencil and scrap paper if useful; oral pointing/typing/AAC can replace handwriting unless spelling or composition is the target. No printing, cutting, account or purchase is required.
Open Show first, read the explanation together, and pause to check the central idea. Then do Guided Try together.
For Try, close earlier models and the adult keys unless the task explicitly supplies a reference. Record any hints, read-aloud help or model reopening; do not call supported work independent.
Use only the active learner card. Keep the private key closed until an attempt is recorded. Stop or take a break on request; practical claims stay not observed unless actually done.

No Printer

Use on screen; read aloud or recreate a tactile model only with declared support. No printer or purchased kit.

Privacy

Never display adult keys or dictation spellings with a learner task; no family financial, identity or conflict disclosure.

Use the complete materials on screen or print only the current sheet. Keep adult guidance out of learner view. Retain an earlier model only when the current step supplies it as context.

Teaching limits and safe use

These are finite task opportunities, not proof of mastery. Record what was attempted and what support was used.

Supplied cards support inference practice only, not a verified real dinosaur specimen or palaeontological example.
These bounded examples do not establish independent performance in other situations. Record the support used.

Never display adult keys or dictation spellings with a learner task; no family financial, identity or conflict disclosure.

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Entire curriculum

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Teaching approaches

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Use fossil contents as clues while keeping an identification tentative.

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Learning resources

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Check understanding

Define a coprolite as fossilised dung (animal droppings preserved as rock)
Explain that scientists cut coprolites open to find plant seeds, bone fragments, or fish scales inside
State one example of what coprolite contents reveal about a dinosaur's diet

“Does your child know what a coprolite is? Can they explain — with a giggle — how fossilised poo helps scientists figure out what a dinosaur ate?”

Curriculum record

Type: Conceptual
Subject: Science
Domain: Dinosaurs & Paleontology
Age range: Ages 7–9