St Aiden’s Homeschool

Footsteps on the Road to Learning

I’m Learning About Dinosaurs

Allosaurus
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

Allosaurus

The Allosaurus was one of the largest predators of its time.

What did they look like?

The Allosaurus was a large carnivorous dinosaur that walked on two legs and had
two arms on the front of its body. This dinosaur could grow to be 12 metres long (38
feet) 5 metres tall (16.5 feet) and weigh up to about 1.4 tonnes (3086 lbs)! This
dinosaur had a very long head, 90cm (3 ft), with many 5 to 10 cm teeth. The
Allosaurus did not look like the other dinosaurs that existed at that time. Because of
this, the word Allosaurus means "different lizard".

The Allosaurus is in the theropod (meaning "beast foot") family. Allosaurus had two
arms. Its arms were longer than those of the T.Rex with large wicked claws.
Allosaurus was bipedal.

Allosaurus had 2 crests above its eyes which may have been used for mating
display.

What did they eat?

Allosaurus were carnivorous dinosaurs. Allosaurus hunted in small groups which

allowed them to take down even the largest prey. They even ate the gigantic
Apatosaurus (which used to be called Brontosaurus) even though the Apatosaurus
was more than three times the size of an Allosaurus. The Allosaurus was also likely to
have hunted Stegosaurus, and Iguanodonts such as Camptosaurus.

Young baby Allosaurus might have eaten insects like dragonflies and centipedes,
and other small animals. When about two years old, Allosaurus might have eaten
small dinosaurs (Othnielia, Dryosaurs and so on).
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 Learning About Dinosaurs K-6
Allosaurs competed for food with ceratosaurs when they first arrived but may have
eventually driven the ceratosaurs to extinction. Allosaurus's teeth were thin and
serrated not made to puncture bone but to strip bits of meat off a carcus. Often
Allosaurus left pieces of meat on the bone which other predators like Ornithelestes
would scavenge

When did they live?

Like all dinosaurs, Allosaurus lived in the Mesozoic era mezzo means middle so
Allosaurus lived in the middle era. They lived in that era's late Jurassic period,
between about 154 and 115 million years ago.

Where did they live?

Allosaurus was a very common dinosaur around 135 million years ago. It lived on the
land that now makes up the USA and Portugal. A major discovery was made in
Colorado when a rancher named M. P. Felch discovered an almost perfect
skeleton of an Allosaurus. They have also been found in Africa, which was
connected to North America by a land bridge at the time. There is a site in Utah
where the fossils of more than 40 allosaurs have been found. Some close relatives
lived in Asia.

Allosaurus probably lived on the plains and lowlands where groups could hunt
easily. Some allosaurs lived in Europe. There is proof that Allosaurus lived in wetlands.
On find in Utah shows that a "predator trap" may have made plant eating dinosaurs
trapped in sticky mud, and the allosaurs wanted an easy snack, but they soon were
caught, and died one by one. More than 50 allosaurs were found.

How were they discovered?

The first fossil of an Allosaurus to be discovered was found in the USA state of
Colorado, in 1869. At first, the people who found it thought it was a petrified horse
hoof instead of a dinosaur bone. In 1991 a complete Allosaurus skeleton was
discovered. This Allosaurus was named "Big Al". When scientists looked at the
skeleton they discovered that "Big Al" was actually an Allosaurus teenager. They
also discovered that this young Allosaurus was about 8 meters (26 feet) long! "Big Al"
was made famous by a TV programme called The Ballad of Big Al also called
Walking with Dinosaurs: Allosaurus. This program showed what Big Al's life could
have been like.

What do we need to learn?

• The colour of their skin.

• How big their hunting groups were.
• How much did they eat each day?

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 Learning About Dinosaurs K-6

NOTES:
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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
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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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
www.staidenshomeschool.com

Donnette E Davis 2009 www.staidenshomeschool.com 266