Key Stage 2 teaching resource: Jurassic forest

Script

Before you create your own Jurassic forest, you’ll need to know a little more about what the Jurassic world was like. Here’s an image of how the world looked when Dippy was alive, around 150 million years ago. As you can see, it was very different. Can you see how South America, Africa, Antarctica and Australia were all joined together?

If you look carefully, you can see the UK, much further south and closer to America than it is today. The fact that the UK is closer to the equator means that the Jurassic forest was much warmer than our forests today.

Compare the image of Earth during the Jurassic Period with this image of how the world looks today.

The continents have moved apart and the UK has moved further north. If you look carefully, you can see how the east coast of South America (the right-hand side of South America on the map) still looks as if it would fit into the west coast of Africa (the left-hand side of Africa on the map), like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. Evidence like this helped scientists understand that the continents were moving. 

Now that you know how the world has changed, you can move on to what a Jurassic forest looked like. Take a look at this drawing of a Jurassic forest in Yorkshire. As you can see, there are some things that are similar to a forest today, but other things are very different.

One thing a Jurassic forest had that today’s forests don’t was dinosaurs and pterosaurs. But there’s one important form of life that grows in modern forests that didn’t grow in the Jurassic forest. Have a look at this picture and see if you can spot what’s missing. 

Images to download

Script

Did you guess correctly? The things that grow in our forests today but were missing from a Jurassic forest are flowering plants. Instead of plants with flowers, Jurassic forests were filled with ferns and conifer trees.

This meant that life cycles in a Jurassic forest were very different from today.

Observe this diagram of a flowering plant and a fern and make a list of all the things that are the same and all the things that are different from each other. With your teacher, can you uncover the role that flowers play in the life cycle of flowering plants? 

Images to download

Script

As Dippy was 26 metres long, you can imagine that he had to eat quite a lot of food. But how much? Future Scientists need to prove that they are good with numbers too.

We estimate that Dippy was so huge he needed to eat 20 kilogrammes of vegetation every hour. That’s the same weight as a two-year-old human child!

So if we know that Dippy ate 20 kilogrammes of food per hour:

• How many kilogrammes did Dippy eat in one day?
• How many kilogrammes did Dippy eat in one week?
• How many kilogrammes did Dippy eat in one year? 

Script

It looks like you’re going on an expedition to discover ferns and conifers in your woods – your own forest adventure!

Here are pictures of common ferns and conifers to help you find modern plants that look like those in a Jurassic forest. Before you set off, take a moment to look at these pictures so you know exactly what you’re looking for.

Good luck on your woodland expedition. Dippy’s team can’t wait to see how your Jurassic forests turn out.

The Country Code

Important: Woodland adventuring is really fun, but when you go collecting it’s important that you always keep to the Country Code. The Country Code is a set of rules to protect the countryside so that everyone can keep enjoying it. There are some things you can collect from woodlands, and some things you cannot.

Here is what you can collect:

• leaves, sticks and pine cones that have already fallen off of a plant or a tree
• pick only one leaf from each plant, supplement this with photographs and drawings
• if you are out in a group take one example from each type back to the classroom as a collective, not one each

As for what you cannot collect, remember:

• in some protected areas (eg Sites of Special Scientific Iinterest) you cannot pick anything
• some species are protected by law and cannot be picked – as a general rule if something looks unusual or there isn’t very much of it, don’t pick it
• you must never pull the whole plant out of the ground because it will die
• you must not pick wild flowers
• some mushrooms and other fungi are poisonous so it’s safest not to touch any of them and take photographs instead

Other things to remember in the woods:

• the woods are the home of the plants and animals and you are visitors, so if you meet any animals, do not disturb or frighten them
• don’t trample on any plants
• when on expeditions, Natural History Adventurers should always work in pairs to make sure they stay safe

For further guidelines please download the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland’s Code of Conduct 2017.

Images to download

Script

Now that you understand a little about the Jurassic world, you’re ready to create your own Jurassic forest.

Here are some pictures of ferns and conifers similar to those in a Jurassic forest. Your job is to create your own ferns and conifers from paper, card and other things that you and your teacher can find. Take a look at the images and use them as inspiration for making your forest.

This is a ginkgo. It is a relative of the conifer trees that were common in Jurassic forests. Its leaves were shaped like fans. Can you make your own gingko leaves for your classroom forest?

Images to download

Script

If you’re reading this, it must mean that you have created your amazing Jurassic forest. Dippy’s team can’t wait to see how it looks - and sounds. All forests today are pretty noisy places, as were Jurassic forests.

Of course, we don’t know exactly what noises dinosaurs made, but we have some theories. Some noises we know a Diplodocus would have made are the thunderous, crashing sounds as it walked through the forest.

Your next challenge is to bring your forest to life by recreating the sounds in it. Your teacher has links to sounds that scientists think would have filled a Jurassic forest. You could listen to some of these now.

We’ve started a list of creatures who lived in the Jurassic forest and the sounds we think they might have made.

Your next challenge is to work out how to bring these sounds to life.

One musical instrument that humans have is their voice. Your teacher may be able to find other things to help you make your sounds. Once you have experimented with your soundscape, your teacher can record it.

Once you’ve done this, you’re ready to put together your own Jurassic forest movie.

Script

The final step is to film a journey through the Jurassic forest you’ve made.

Your movie should take us back in time to a Jurassic forest, complete with trees, plants and the sounds of distant dinosaurs.

Using a tablet or video camera, please film a first-person journey through the world. A first-person perspective is when we see the world from the point of view of one character. We see what the character in the film is seeing. Computer games like Minecraft use a first-person point of view – we play a character and see what they see.

Some of you can be the narrators for the journey, telling the story of what happens. Here’s a film of Sir David Attenborough, one of the greatest Natural History Adventurers of them all, talking about life in the rainforest. He’s the master of narration, so use him for inspiration!

We also need at least one of you to be the camera operator. Who has the steadiest hands?

Finally, some of you can take turns to be directors. A director makes sure that everyone knows what they are doing and when they should do it. The director also says ‘action’ to tell the camera operator to start filming.

Here are some tips for creating the best films:

• once the director has said ‘action’ make sure that the only noises made are by the person narrating and the people making the sounds of the forest
• try and keep the camera or tablet as steady as possible
• write a short script to practice your narration
• remember to have some rehearsals before filming the final version

When you have finished, your teacher can email images and films to DippyOnTour@nhm.ac.uk with the subject line Forests so Dippy’s team can see what you have made.

Conifer
A tree (or sometimes a bush) that has cones and needle-like or scale-like leaves. It is generally evergreen, meaning it keeps its leaves in winter.

Continent
One of Earth’s seven major areas of land. The continents are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.

Dinosaurs
A group of reptiles that lived on land. Dinosaurs lived on Earth from around 231 million years ago to 66 million years ago. Most dinosaur groups are now extinct.

Diplodocus
Diplodocus was a dinosaur that lived about 150 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period. It grew up to 30 metres long and weighed up to 20 tonnes. It ate plants and had four legs, a long neck and a long tail.

Dippy
Dippy is the name given to the Natural History Museum’s cast of a Diplodocus skeleton. He was cast from original fossil bones discovered in the USA in 1898. He came to the Natural History Museum in 1905.

Expedition
A journey or trip that people go on for a particular reason. For example, some scientists go on an expedition to find rare fish.

Fern
A common plant that has feathery leaves called fronds and does not produce flowers.

Flowering plant
A plant that produces flowers that are used for reproduction.

Fossil
The remains or impression of a prehistoric plant or animal embedded and preserved in rock. Fossils can be the actual remains of a once living thing, such as bones or seeds, or traces of past events, such as dinosaur footprints.

Herbivore
An animal that feeds on plants.

Jurassic
The Jurassic Period was a geologic period that lasted 56 million years from the end of the Triassic Period (201.3 million years ago) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period (145 million years ago). It is sometimes known as the Age of Reptiles.

Life cycle
The stages a living thing goes through during its life.

Pterosaurs
A group of large, flying reptiles that lived from around 228 million years ago to 66 million years ago.