1. pets
2. reptiles

Teacher Instructions
for
Discover y Guide to
Hall of Ancient Life
for grades 6 through 8
Before Your Visit:
• This activity was developed by the Education Department to help your
students focus on learning while at the museum.
• Please make copies of this activity and bring it with you to the museum. The museum does not provide copies for your students.
• Please remind your students to use pencil, not pen, when completing
this Discovery Guide. Encourage your students to fold this guide in
half so it will be easier to write on. Students should not place their
papers on exhibit walls, cases, or labels, as this can damage them.
• Save paper! Print pages 2-3, and copy them one to two sided, so that
you have a one piece of paper with questions on both sides.
Answers
1. 4.5 billion year ago
2. A.
3. Stromatolites
4. B.; eyes, arms, mouth, grasping spikes
5. coal bearing
6. C.
7. Oxygen levels were higher in the atmosphere
8. millipede and cockroach
9. mammals
10. Eoraptor; Its legs were under its belly; Eoraptor
11. C.
While at the Museum:
12. gastroliths; birds
• These questions will encourage students to look closely at museum
13. 6
exhibits, think critically about what they are seeing, and discuss their
14. B.
findings with their classmates and chaperones.
15. Saurophagonax
• Most of the questions can be answered by reading the labels, but there
16. water or ocean
are several thought and open-ended questions, and students are en17. Protostega - marine turtle, Platecarpus - swimming lizard, Pteranodon couraged to give an original answer.
flying reptile, Hesperornis - flightless bird, Xiphactinus - bony fish; none
• Students may not always come up with the “right” answer, so if this
18. hunted in packs with other Deinonychus; wolves, lions
activity is to be used for a graded assignment, we suggest that you
19. 10.5
grade more on participation and thoughtfulness than accuracy.
20. plants
• Volunteers are frequently available in the galleries to answer questions.
21. 85 million years
22. A.
Other Information:
23. mammals; dinosaurs were extinct and mammals filled this niche
• This is one of three Discovery Guides for grades 6-8. Discovery Guides 24. mammoth tooth
are available for the Halls of Ancient Life, People of Oklahoma, and
25. Arctodus (bear) and Smilodon (cat)
Natural Wonders.
• Have questions or suggestions? Send us your feedback at
education@snomnh.ou.edu, or Education Department, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, OK,
73072.
6. In this Period, what new adaptation allowed vertebrates to reproduce
on land? (circle your answer)
A. Scales B. Plants on the land C. Amniotic eggs
Discover y Guide
Hall of Ancient Life
for grades 6 through 8
7. Why were insects like dragonflies so large during this time?
_____________________________________________________
Are these conditions the same today? (circle one)
Directions: Questions begin at the entry of the Ancient Life gallery in the (Hint: are dragonflies still large?)
Yes
No
PaleozoicEraandgoinsequencethroughthegallery.Findingtheanswerswill
beeasierifyouanswerthequestionsinorder.Toanswerthequestionslabeled Permian Period
Think, you have to use information on the label, common sense, and talk to 8. Captorhinus is the most common fossil at the Fort Sill site in Lawton,
Oklahoma. Its teeth are arranged in multiple rows and are just right for
your friends and to the volunteers to think of the answer.
eating what kind of animals? (circle your answers)
Paleozoic Era
1. The Earth formed from stellar debris __________ billion years ago.
2. What term describes the movement of continental plates over the
Earth’s surface?
A. Plate tectonics B. Floating C. Half-life
3. _______________________________ are rocks built by bacteria.
There are several in this gallery that you can sit on.
Cambrian Period - look for the models hanging from the ceiling.
4. The largest predatory animal in the Burgess Shale was: (circle one)
A. Olenoides B. Anomalocaris C. Pikaia
Name two features that helped this predator find and catch prey.
________________________ and ________________________
Carboniferous Period - look for the tropical forest
5. Oklahoma has many excellent fossils from the Carboniferous period.
Carboniferous means _____________ _____________________.
millipede
butterfly
cockroach
mouse
9. The top predator of the Permian Period was sail-backed Dimetrodon.
Dimetrodon was a synapsid. Synapsids are related to which modern
group? ______________________
Mesozoic Era: The Age of Dinosaurs
Triassic Period
10. Find the Alligator, Marasuchus and Eoraptor skeletons and models.
Think - which animal could run the fastest? ____________________
Why? ________________________________________________
Which of the three was a dinosaur? __________________________
11. Find the moving jaw models and compare the reptile and mammal
teeth. Why can’t an alligator (or dinosaur) chew gum? (circle one)
A. Alligators (and dinosaurs) have no teeth
B. It’s not cool for an alligator (or dinosaur) to chew gum
C. Alligators (and dinosaurs) have teeth, but they don’t fit together
Jurassic Period
12. _____________________________ are “stomach stones” used
by herbivorous dinosaurs to help grind up their food.
Cretaceous Period – Coastal Community
18. Look at the diorama with Deinonychus and Tenontosaurus.
Deinonychus was a light weight but vicious predator. How did Deinonychus
attack a large, heavy animal like Tenontosaurus?
What modern animals swallow sand and grit to help digest their food?
__________________________________________________
_____________________
What modern animal hunts in a similar way?
13. Find the Saurophaganax foot in the case on the wall. Most of the
__________________________________________________
bones are actual fossils, but some are casts, or carfeully-sculpted replicas.
19. The Pentaceratops record-setting skull is ________ feet long.
How many foot bones are casts? ________
14. Why are some bones casts instead of fossils? (circle your answer)
A. Paleontologists are lazy.
B. Some bones were missing when the foot was excavated.
C. The missing bones were used for bookends.
20. What did Ceratopsians like Pentaceratops eat? ________________
15. Which dinosaur in the Jurassic Period is Oklahoma’s State Fossil?
(Hint: look for the sign that proclaims this honor)
22. The end of the Mesozoic Era is defined by the extinction of nonavian dinosaurs. This extinction event is one of many major extinctions in
Earth’s history. What do scientists think caused the Mesozoic extinction?
A. An asteroid B. Smoking C. Dinosaurs got eaten
_________________________________________
Cretaceous Period – Marine Community
16. Large, swimming reptiles and other marine animals were able to live
in Oklahoma during this period because a large portion of the state was
covered by ______________________.
17. Match the animal name with the type of animal.
Protostega
marine turtle
Platecarpus
flying reptile
Pteranodon
flightless bird
Hesperornis
bony fish
Xiphactinus
swimming lizard
How many dinosaurs are in this marine exhibit? ______
21. Flowering plants did not appear on Earth until the Cretaceous
Period. How old are the flower specimens in the case? ____________
Cenozoic Era
23. The Cenozoic Era is called the Age of ______________________
Why? ________________________________________________
24. Feel both the mammoth and mastodon teeth. Which tooth would be
better for grinding up grass? __________________________
Pleistocene Community
25. Circle the mammals below that were carnivores.
Arctodus
Bison latifrons
Mammoth
Smilodon
Created by Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Education Department, 2009