St Aiden’s Homeschool

Footsteps on the Road to Learning

I’m Learning About Dinosaurs

Plesiosaur
Includes activities on Earth Science & Palaeontology
Lesson Plans, Crafts, Activity Sheets & Teacher/Parent Guides/Resources

Gr K-6
www.staidenshomeschool.com
Donnette E Davis
 Learning About Dinosaurs K-6

Plesiosaur

The Plesiosaur is not

actually a dinosaur, but
rather a large swimming
reptile. Plesiosaur is
Greek for "nearer to the
reptiles". This name is
given to this creature
because it is something
in-between reptiles and
fish.

What did they look like?

There were different types of Plesiosaurs which were different from each other in
size and in shape. The shortest were 2.5 metres long and the longest were 14 metres
long! That is about as long as 8 adults lying in one long line! They all had long necks
with small heads on the end. Their tummies were oval-shaped with two front flippers
and two back flippers. They had long tails, though much shorter than their necks.

Scientists first thought that they swam close to the surface of the water (as the
picture on the left shows). This way they could stick their head above the water and
look down on fish. But because their eyes are placed facing slightly upwards, this is
probably not true. They probably swam completely underwater and used their long
necks to dart their heads towards fish. Plesiosaurs were very successful, and there
were many types.

What did they eat?

They ate fish, squids, molluscs and other small sea creatures. Recently, scientists
have found evidence that the Plesiosaurs may have also been "bottom-feeders".
That is they would feed from the bottom of the sea - on things like clams and snails.

When did they live?

They lived from the early Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous period. That is from
about 220 million years to about 65 million years ago. Plesiosaurs, like dinosaurs,
lived in the Mesozoic era.
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 Learning About Dinosaurs K-6
Where did they live?

Some people think that they could climb out of the water and crawl around on
land, like seals. But other scientists disagree with this. Either way they would have
spent a lot of their time under water. And because they were air-breathing animals,
they would have to come up to the water surface for air every now and then.

Their fossils were found in England, Germany, Japan, Australia and USA. They lived
also in Manitoba, Canada, and Mexico

How were they discovered?

The first Plesiosaur was discovered in 1821 by Mary Anning, in England.

Modern mysteries around the Plesiosaurs

The most famous mysteries around these creatures is the Loch Ness Monster. There
are a lot of stories of some large creature in the lake called Loch Ness in Scotland.
Most descriptions of the monster are close to what the Plesiosaurs must have looked
like. Some of the sightings have been proven to be a hoax and at present there are
not scientific proof of the existence of the animal but many people believe in it. The
study and search for animals which fall outside of contemporary zoological
catalogues has the name of Cryptozoology.

In 1977, some Japanese fishermen off the coast of New Zealand found a very rotten
carcass of some large creature with flippers. It was so rotten that it was very hard to
tell anything from it, but some people believed that it was a Plesiosaur. Scientists
however ascertained it was a certain type of shark, fallen to bits because it was so
rotten.

What do we need to learn?

• How flexible were their necks? Scientists don't agree on this.

• Is there any truth to the stories around them?

An early image of the Plesiosaurus,

surprisingly accurate. Source PD

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 Learning About Dinosaurs K-6

In your own words answer the following questions in as much detail as you possibly can. For younger
learners it would be beneficial for the parent/educator to make notes based on the child’s answers.

What did they look like? (Their size, how they walked, some interesting facts
about their different parts, etc)
______________________________________________________________________________
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What did they eat? (Plant-eaters, omnivorous, or carnivorous, or more?)

______________________________________________________________________________
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When did they live? (Not all species of dinosaurs were alive during the K-T event.
There were several development periods for different dinosaur species and some
were likely "ancestors" of other dinosaurs found in later periods.)
______________________________________________________________________________
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 Learning About Dinosaurs K-6

Where did they live? (Ocean, shallow seas, jungle, grasslands, etc.)
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
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How were they discovered? (Discussions about where the fossils were found and
perhaps even names and information about the discoverer.)
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________

What do we need to learn? (To demonstrate that science is still evolving and
that we don't know all of the answers.)
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________

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 Learning About Dinosaurs K-6
Acknowledgements, Thanks & Terms of Use
We would love to hear your comments on this workbook. If you have a moment please email your
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Other Volumes In Our Series Of Workbooks

AFRICA
ALPHABET, VOWELS & CONSONANTS
ANIMALS
COLOURS, SHAPES, PUZZLES
DOLCH WORDS , WORD FAMILIES & PHONICS
NUMBERS AND COUNTING

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Special thanks to:

U.S. Department of Education, Office of
Communications and Outreach,
Helping Your Child Learn Science,
Washington, D.C., 2005.
AND
http://edc2.usgs.gov

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Donnette E Davis © 2009

St Aiden’s Homeschool, South Africa & The Child Development Spot
P O Box 13720
Cascades
3202
KwaZulu-Natal
Republic of South Africa
www.staidenshomeschool.com

Donnette E Davis 2009 www.staidenshomeschool.com 266