St Aiden’s Homeschool

Footsteps on the Road to Learning

I’m Learning About Dinosaurs

Velociraptor
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

Velociraptor

Velociraptor means "swift thief". This is a good name because Velociraptor was a
small dinosaur that could run fast. Velociraptor was a theropod. The theropods
were a group of dinosaurs that walked on two legs. This group of dinosaurs are the
ancestors of birds. Velociraptor brains were bigger than most other dinosaurs
compared to the size of their bodies. Velociraptor was a smart dinosaur.

What did they look like?

The Velociraptor was just under a meter tall (about three feet), usually about 5-6
feet long from nose to tail, and weighed anywhere from 7-15 kilograms (15-33
pounds). Velociraptor had feathers on its skin, the same as birds do today. These
dinosaurs walked on two legs and had two hands with three fingers and sharp
claws. Their heads were long and narrow like a crocodile, and had a mouth with 26
or more teeth which was able to close very quickly. On each foot, they had a large
dangerous curved toe claw. Velociraptor had a stiff tail that it used for balance.
The tail could only flex from side to side, not up and down; this helped the dinosaur
run fast and change directions quickly. Velociraptor had two legs which means it
was bipedal. Its legs were strong and sturdy and it may have used them to jump.
Velociraptors were also very agile.

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 Learning About Dinosaurs K-6

A Deinonychus fossil replica stands behind a

Buitreraptor replica, at the Field Museum of
Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.

What did they eat?

Velociraptor was a carnivore. This means that it ate meat. It slashed or punctured its
victims with its very long toe claw. Closely related dinosaurs like Deinonychus and
Dromeosaurus hunted in packs and Velociraptor probably did too.

Alone a Velociraptor could have killed and eaten animals like lizards, early
mammals and small or young dinosaurs. In a pack, Velociraptor may have hunted
even larger prey such as Homocephale and even the large hadrosaurs!

One meal that was definitely on a Velociraptor’s menu was Protoceratops.

Protoceratops was a plant-eating dinosaur that was a relative of Triceratops, but
had no horns and was the size of a pig. Scientists have found a fossil of Velociraptor
locked in a fight with a Protoceratops. The animals killed each other during the fight
and a sand dune collapsed on top of them.

In a group, Velociraptor could have quickly and quietly circled around an animal
that was alone to trap it. Velociraptor hunted by separating a victim from the herd.
They killed their prey by piercing its vital organs with their claws or teeth.
Velociraptor would stalk up on their prey and pounce on it then it will slash through
its prey with its claws and then eat it.

When did they live?

Velociraptors lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 80 - 85 million years
ago. This was only 15 million years before the dinosaurs became extinct. The world
was much hotter than it is today, and there were no polar ice caps. There were
small mammals and birds living at the same time as Velociraptor. There were
flowering plants and many insects similar to the ones we see today.

Where did they live?

Velociraptor lived in Asia. Fossils have been fond in Russia, China and Mongolia.
They lived in a place that was hot and covered by sand dunes. There were streams
of water close to where some fossils have been found. They may have lived near

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 Learning About Dinosaurs K-6
the water and preyed on animals that came to drink. Some predators do this
today.

How were they discovered?

The first Velociraptor was discovered by Paleontologist Henry Osborn in Mongolia in

1924. A Paleontologist is a scientist that studies dinosaurs. The first fossils found were
a skull with jaws and some toes with a claw. The skull was found next to a
Protoceratops skull. Palaeontologists have found 12 different examples of the
animal so far.

Velociraptors and "Jurassic Park"

In a popular film called Jurassic Park, Velociraptor did not look like it would have in
real life. The movie's Velociraptors were twice as tall as they really were, they were
scaly instead of feathered and their tails were too flexible. The Velociraptors in
Jurassic Park look more like a Dromeosaur (Raptor) called Deinonychus, which was
Velociraptor's much bigger cousin. But don't let that fool you, these little creatures
could kill you.

What do we still need to learn?

• How did they use their long claw when hunting? Did they slash or stab with it?
It is likely they slashed at large blood vessels, given the position of the
velociraptor found fossilized while attacking a protoceratops.
• Did they really hunt in packs? All the fossils found have been alone.
• Did they live in packs or did they live alone?
• How much did they eat each day?

A Velociraptor and Protoceratops fossilized in a fight to the death.

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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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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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 Learning About Dinosaurs K-6
Acknowledgements, Thanks & Terms of Use
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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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AND
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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
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