Dinosaur Mystery: What Happened to the Dinosaurs? (Year 1 Quiz)
Learning Objective: To understand the main theories about how dinosaurs became extinct.
About this resource
This engaging Year 1 quiz explores the fascinating question, "What happened to the dinosaurs?", introducing pupils to the main theories surrounding their extinction. Designed for KS1 geography, it helps young learners develop an understanding of past events and scientific concepts in an accessible format. The resource supports the UK National Curriculum by encouraging curiosity about the natural world and historical changes.
Introduction for Teachers
5 minutesHello colleagues! This quiz is designed for Year 1 pupils to explore the fascinating topic of dinosaur extinction, aligning with their natural curiosity and the Key Stage 1 curriculum's focus on understanding the past. While the curriculum doesn't explicitly detail dinosaur extinction in geography, it provides an excellent opportunity to develop historical understanding, scientific inquiry skills, and geographical concepts like Earth's changes over time. This resource aims to introduce the main theories in an age-appropriate and engaging way, encouraging critical thinking and discussion. It's perfect for a plenary, a quick assessment, or as a fun activity after a dinosaur topic block.
Dinosaur Extinction Quiz: Unravelling the Mystery!
20-25 minutesInstructions for Pupils:
Welcome, super paleontologists! Today, we're going to be detectives and try to solve a very old mystery: What happened to all the dinosaurs? Read each question carefully and do your best to answer. Good luck!
Foundation Questions (Q1-3): Getting Started
Q1. Multiple Choice: What is a dinosaur? a) A type of bird that lives today. b) A very old animal that lived long, long ago. c) A plant that grew very big.
Q2. True or False: All dinosaurs were enormous and ate meat. True / False
Q3. Short Answer: Name one type of dinosaur you know.
Core Questions (Q4-7): Digging Deeper
Q4. Multiple Choice: What do scientists think hit the Earth a very long time ago, causing big changes? a) A giant bouncy ball. b) A huge rock from space (an asteroid). c) A big cloud of smoke.
Q5. True or False: When the big rock hit, it made the Earth very warm and sunny everywhere. True / False
Q6. Short Answer: What happened to the plants after the big rock hit?
Q7. Multiple Choice: Why was it hard for plant-eating dinosaurs to find food after the big rock hit? a) All the plants turned into ice cream. b) Many plants died because of the dust and darkness. c) The plants moved to a different planet.
Challenge Questions (Q8-10): Expert Detectives
Q8. True or False: Some scientists think that volcanoes erupting a lot also helped make the dinosaurs disappear. True / False
Q9. Short Answer: If the plants died, what would happen to the dinosaurs that ate those plants?
Q10. Explain: In your own words, what is one idea about why the dinosaurs disappeared?
Answer Key and Marking Guidance
Q1. Multiple Choice: What is a dinosaur? Answer: b) A very old animal that lived long, long ago. (1 mark)
Q2. True or False: All dinosaurs were enormous and ate meat. Answer: False. (Some were small, some ate plants.) (1 mark)
Q3. Short Answer: Name one type of dinosaur you know. Answer: Any correct dinosaur name, e.g., T-Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Diplodocus. (1 mark)
Q4. Multiple Choice: What do scientists think hit the Earth a very long time ago, causing big changes? Answer: b) A huge rock from space (an asteroid). (1 mark)
Q5. True or False: When the big rock hit, it made the Earth very warm and sunny everywhere. Answer: False. (It caused dust, darkness, and cold.) (1 mark)
Q6. Short Answer: What happened to the plants after the big rock hit? Answer: They died/couldn't grow/got covered in dust/it was too dark for them. (1 mark for any reasonable answer related to plant death/struggle).
Q7. Multiple Choice: Why was it hard for plant-eating dinosaurs to find food after the big rock hit? Answer: b) Many plants died because of the dust and darkness. (1 mark)
Q8. True or False: Some scientists think that volcanoes erupting a lot also helped make the dinosaurs disappear. Answer: True. (1 mark)
Q9. Short Answer: If the plants died, what would happen to the dinosaurs that ate those plants? Answer: They would also die/starve/have no food. (1 mark for understanding the food chain link).
Q10. Explain: In your own words, what is one idea about why the dinosaurs disappeared? Answer: Pupils should mention either the asteroid impact (causing dust, darkness, cold, plant death) or volcanic eruptions (causing climate change). Accept any age-appropriate explanation of one of these main theories. (2 marks for a clear explanation, 1 mark for a partial idea).
Differentiation
SEN Support
Provide visual aids for each question (e.g., pictures of dinosaurs, an asteroid, a volcano). Read questions aloud and allow verbal answers. Offer a word bank for short answer questions. Pair pupils with a supportive peer or adult. Reduce the number of questions if needed, focusing on Foundation and Core.
EAL Support
Pre-teach key vocabulary (dinosaur, extinct, asteroid, volcano, plants, food, dark, cold). Provide questions with accompanying pictures or symbols. Allow pupils to answer in their first language if possible, with translation support. Simplify sentence structures. Provide sentence starters for explanation questions (e.g., 'I think dinosaurs disappeared because...').
Gifted & Talented
Encourage pupils to research other theories about dinosaur extinction (e.g., disease, changes in sea level). Ask them to draw a picture illustrating their favourite extinction theory. Challenge them to think about what other animals might have survived and why. They could create a short 'news report' about the asteroid impact.
Key Vocabulary
Assessment Criteria
- Pupils can identify that dinosaurs lived a long time ago.
- Pupils can recall the main theory of an asteroid impact causing dinosaur extinction.
- Pupils can describe some of the environmental changes that occurred after the asteroid impact (e.g., darkness, cold, plant death).
- Pupils can make simple connections between environmental changes and the dinosaurs' survival (e.g., no plants means no food for plant-eaters).
- Pupils can articulate at least one theory of dinosaur extinction in their own words.
