Where Do You Hide a Titanothere?

Age/Grade Appropriate

Kindergarten, Grades 1 through 2

Length

30 minutes

Key Concepts

Measuring
Size
Cooperation
Comparison

Background

Many children are interested in dinosaurs before they can read.   Most people think that Badlands was once an area with dinosaurs and are disappointed to learn that there were none because the area was underwater during the time of the dinosaurs.   However, once the dinosaurs died out and the area was drained through geologic processes, the Badlands were rich with mammal life.   Some of these prehistoric mammals were as strange looking to us as dinosaurs.   A good example is the Titanothere, which was the size of a small elephant and had very large "horns" projecting off its snout.   It was a plant eater and is actually an ancestor of the modern day horse. However, it’s hard to grasp the size of a Titanothere from a picture.   Many children haven’t seen an elephant or other very large land animals as comparison.   A Titanothere would have been 10 feet tall and 13 feet long.  

Procedure

Display a picture of the Titanothere and talk about it.   It’s name means Giant (Titan) Creature (There).   When the Lakota found Titanothere fossils, they called them thunder beasts or thunder horses.   This was very close to the truth because the Titanothere is actually a related to the horse.   The first Titanothere ever found and described was found in the Badlands.  

Ask:

How big do you think a Titanothere was? Would it fill up a car? Would it fill up your classroom? Would it fit in the gym?

What do you think a Titanothere ate? Why do you think that? (If they think meat, it may be simply because of size)

You can use your classroom if convenient.   Otherwise, move outside to the playground or into the gym.   Have the children measure out the length and height of a Titanothere.   They should use sidewalk chalk if they are out on the playground or colored tape if in the classroom or gym to mark the sizes.   Use a ruler and a ball of string to measure the lengths.   Have them start from a marked spot and mark both ends.

They will easily observe how large a Titanothere would have been.   Let them know that the Titanothere was the largest Badlands animal but that there were also very tiny animals, such as a deer the size of a house cat.  

Make simple comparisons - How big do they think one Titanothere tooth would be? (4 inches long by 3 inches tall by 2 inches wide) How many children could ride on its back? If the children laid down head to toe, how many would it take to be as long as Titanothere?

Extension

There is a cut out of a Titanothere skeleton on the wall of the Touch Room of the Ben Reifel Visitor Center.   Bring the students in and let them measure it.

Materials

Ball of string
Picture of a Titanothere
Tape and/or sidewalk chalk
Ruler or yardstick

Vocabulary

Length
Tall
Height
Titanothere
Mammal
Dinosaur

Fun Facts

The largest dinosaur was called ultrasaurus, weighed over 100 tons, and was longer than 400 feet from head to tail.   That’s much bigger than the entire Interior school!

The most common mammal fossil found in Badlands National Park is that of the oreodont, which was about the size of a large dog.

Mesohippus, the early horse of the Badlands, was about the same size as a collie or a medium sized dog.   It would have been too small for anyone other than a 2 year old to ride.

Resources

Williams, Robert. Mudpies to Magnets

A Pre-school science guide full of experiments and activities.

Bowden, Marcia.   Nature for the Very Young

Divided into seasonal activities.   Many are specific to plants or animals not found in South Dakota but some can be adapted to our area.