Homeschool Unit Study: Dinosaurs

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Dinosaurs are a group of reptiles that lived millions of years ago. Today, scientists are still uncovering more and more things about these legendary creatures. Dinosaurs sported a wide array of shapes, sizes, and habits to fit their various ecosystems all across the planet. Some were extremely small, like the Microraptor, while others were massive, terrifying animals, like the Spinosaurus. Most everything about them evolved to survive in their assorted climates, making them an extremely diverse, unusual group.

While people tend to think of dinosaurs as being extinct, scientists believe birds are a group of living dinosaurs that have survived the test of time. Non-bird dinosaurs lived in the Mesozoic Era, also called the Age of Reptiles, which lasted 180 million years. The Mesozoic Era can be divided into three, smaller periods: the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods. Each period had their own, unique creatures, vegetation, and climates. The Mesozoic Era in total lasted between about 245 and 66 million years ago, long before modern humans, Homo sapiens, existed.

Dinosaurs came in three basic categories: carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. Carnivores, often associated with the aggressive “show” dinosaurs such as the legendary Tyrannosaurus rex, ate meat, while their vegetation-devouring counterparts were herbivores. Finally, those who ate whatever they could get their hands on are omnivores.

Interestingly, many ancient creatures have been incorrectly identified as dinosaurs. Dinosaurs have straight back legs, allowing them to move in a different, more efficient manner than most modern-day reptiles, such as lizards. As such, marine reptiles, such as Mosasaurs and Plesiosaurs, are not classified as dinosaurs, nor are Dimetrodons or other types in the same group.

Interestingly, about 66 million years ago, all non-bird dinosaurs and many other species simply vanished. Though the exact reason behind their extinction remains up to debate, there is strong evidence that their extinction was caused by an enormous asteroid striking the earth. Unable to keep up and evolve in time to survive to the sudden change in atmosphere by such a catastrophe, the already declining dinosaurs went extinct.

Millions of years later, dinosaurs remain an iconic, important part of history.