Note on Pedagogy and Context

Stegosaurus, possibly one of the most iconic dinosaurs, sported large plates protruding off the back of the animal and four large bony spikes called dagger miser’s coming off the tail. The goal of this weeks activity is to let students explore the idea that these plates are used for communication and/or defense, therefore information is presented to students with several possibilities in terms of what the plates might have been used for and then they are asked to communicate with each other from across the room using only the plates to see if they can model how plates could’ve been used for these animals in communication for meeting Meeting competition and or predation deterrence this exercise also challenges students to place plates along the spine of stegosaurus, noting that if they placed them in one single row down the spinal column, this would not work as there are too many plates in comparison to the space that is provided along the back, therefore, Steensma stagger the plates, and it maximize the surface area and coverage from head to tail of the stegosaurus The second exercise for this week is to demonstrate how students might fill the gap in our understanding of what stegosaurus plates are used for and where they might go to find that information in an experimental or field setting so students really shoot a short report about if they were a field paleontologist what feature they would want to try to find in the fossil record, and where they might go to find that record this challenge as a student not only do you think about the fossilization potential of certain features, i.e. blood vessels And demonstrate an understanding of the formation of fossils, and the geologic location of those things. Students should use the Internet and other resources about where stegosaurus has been found in the past to propose a specific area where they would want to go and look for stegosaurus fossils with a potential finding the features they’re interested in to Fill the gap in our information in the experimental sense students are encouraged to think up and possibly even design and execute a mock experiment, but in the experimental setting, if you were able to reconstruct a certain feature or set of features and test a hypothesis that the plates were used for something like thermal regulation, what would you build? How would you build it and how would you interpret the results?

Let Me Introduce: Stegosaurus!

Who doesn’t love the Stegosaurus? So many unanswered questions. Was it unintelligent given its tiny brain cavity? What’s with the plates? Did they live together or apart? Most importantly, how epic were their battles with T. rex?

This week we will answer, or at least try to figure out, answers to all these burning questions about one of the most iconic dinosaurs ever. Plus everyone loves Spike in The Land Before Time. Here are the Notes with Gaps and the PowerPoint for the week.
This week is all about Stegosaurus! Let’s dive into the details.

Now let’s get into the basics of the features Stegosaurus has!

[INSERT lecture video, plates?]

Before you continue, print out the Stegosaur Plates exercise, cut out the plates and spikes, and arrange them in the top view of the Stegosaurus.

How will you arrange the plates? Are they in 2 parallel lines or staggered? Remember, you have to make them all fit! This model is to scale! Once you have completed putting your plates on (with glue, sticky tac, or tape) take a picture and upload it here: [LINK Stegosaurus Plate Arrangement]

[LINK Stegasaurus Plate Arrangement Video]

1. For this assignment, print out the Stegosaur Plates exercise. This is also available in your Notes with Gaps.
    

   

    

2. Cut out the plates and spike and arrange them in the top view of the Stegosaurus.
   • How will you arrange the plates?
   • Are they in 2 parallel lines or staggered? Remember you have to make them all fit! This model is to scale!
3. Once you have completed putting your plates on (with glue, sticky tac, or tape) take a picture and upload it here: [LINK to upload site]

What’s with the Plates?

There are 4 main proposed uses of the plates. in this video I will review those uses. Which proposal grabs your attention the most? You can use this video to help you generate your “stegosaurs experiment” for the weekly assignment.

[INSERT Stegosaurus_Plates.mp4]

What Do YOU Think? Design an EXPERIMENT!

[INSERT Stegosaurus_StegoAssignment.mp4]

So, what you will do this week for the hands-on activity you will be designing a scientific experiment to assess the uses of the Stegosaurs’ plates! You have a couple options, the experiment you design could be field-based (e.g., go into the field and look for a certain fossil structure) or lab-based (where you “build” and design something in the lab to test) experimentation. Check out this video for more info:

To submit your experiment you can either submit a video of you explaining your experiment or submit a written report. To obtain full credit your submission should include:

Part 1: EVERYONE

1. Identification of which “proposed uses of the plates” idea you are testing.
2. A stated hypothesis your experiment will test (see the Week 1 Scientific Hypothesis video here (Links to an external site.) to remind yourself of how to construct this).
3. What you expect the results of the experiment to be.

Part 2A: Field Paleontologist- If you do the field-based experiment be sure to include:

1. What you are going to look for in the fossil record
2. The likelihood that you will be able to find it
3. Potential dig site location

Part 2B: Lab Paleontologist- If you do the lab-based experiment be sure to include:

1. What will you build to test your hypothesis?
2.  What variables or parameters that you will you be measuring?
3. Likely outcomes of your experiment.
4. How you would modify it based on the results?

Submit your experimental designs here: [LINK Stegosaurus Experimental Designs]

Weekly Wrap-Up!

Complete the following exercises this week: 

1. [Weekly Quiz 6a]
2. [Stegosaurus Plate Arrangement]
3. [Stegosaurus Experimental Designs]
4. [Weekly Quiz 6b]