Dinosaurs & Paleontology

29 Skills in Science. 23 are ready to try — three verified questions each, no account needed.

Ready to try

Ages 5–7
Dinosaurs Were Real
Understand that dinosaurs were real animals that lived on Earth a very long time ago and are now extinct — none are alive today
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 5–7
Famous Dinosaur Species
Recognise and name common well-known dinosaur species: Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Brachiosaurus/Diplodocus, describing a basic feature of each
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 5–7
Fossils & Palaeontologists
Understand that fossils are the remains of ancient living things preserved in rock, and that scientists called palaeontologists study fossils to learn about dinosaurs
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 5–7
Plant-Eaters vs Meat-Eaters
Sort dinosaurs into plant-eaters (herbivores) and meat-eaters (carnivores) by looking at clues like tooth shape — flat teeth for plants, sharp teeth for meat
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 5–7
Real Dinosaurs vs Fiction
Distinguish real dinosaurs from fictional or commonly confused creatures — pterosaurs (flying reptiles) and plesiosaurs (marine reptiles) were not dinosaurs, and movie dinosaurs are not always accurate
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 7–9
Dinosaurs Around the World
Understand that different dinosaurs lived on different continents and that fossil discoveries around the world show dinosaurs were a global phenomenon, with some species found only in certain regions
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 7–9
Fossilised Dinosaur Dung
Describe what coprolites are (fossilised dinosaur dung) and how palaeontologists analyse them to discover what dinosaurs ate, including plant fragments, bones, and seeds
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 7–9
Fossils Reveal Ancient Environments
Understand that fossils tell us not only about ancient animals but also about ancient environments — for example, marine fossils found on a mountaintop show that area was once underwater
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 7–9
How Fossils Form
Explain in simple terms how fossils form: an organism dies and is quickly buried in sediment; over millions of years minerals replace the remains and the sediment turns to rock, preserving the shape
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 7–9
Mary Anning, Fossil Hunter
Know who Mary Anning was — a pioneering fossil hunter from Lyme Regis, England, who discovered ichthyosaur and plesiosaur skeletons in the early 1800s and contributed to our understanding of prehistoric life
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 7–9
Types of Fossils
Distinguish body fossils (preserved bones, teeth, shells) from trace fossils (footprints, trackways, eggs, burrows, coprolites) and explain what each type can tell scientists
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 8–11
Fossils as Evidence
Analyse and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of organisms and environments that existed long ago
22 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 9–11
Changing Scientific Knowledge
Evaluate competing scientific explanations about dinosaurs by weighing fossil evidence — understanding that scientific knowledge changes as new fossils are discovered and new methods of analysis are developed
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 9–11
How Palaeontologists Work
Describe how palaeontologists work in the field and lab: prospecting for exposed fossils, careful excavation with hand tools, plaster jacketing for transport, preparation in the lab, and scientific description and publication
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 9–11
Palaeoart & Speculation
Understand that palaeoart — scientific illustrations and models of dinosaurs — is based on fossil evidence but involves informed speculation about skin colour, feathers, and soft tissues that don't usually fossilise
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 9–11
Reading Cladograms
Read and create simple cladograms (branching diagrams) that show how groups of dinosaurs are related based on shared features, understanding that species sharing more features are more closely related
5 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 9–11
Rock Layers & Relative Dating
Understand that rock layers (strata) form in sequence with the oldest at the bottom and the youngest at the top, and that fossils found in deeper layers are older — this is the principle of relative dating
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 9–11
The K-Pg Extinction Event
Describe the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K-Pg) extinction event approximately 66 million years ago, including the asteroid impact theory and its evidence (iridium layer, Chicxulub crater), and understand that this ended the reign of non-avian d…
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 10–11
Life Changed Over Time
Recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about organisms that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago
17 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 11–13
Dinosaur-to-Bird Transition
Trace the evidence for the dinosaur-to-bird transition in depth: feathered theropods from the Liaoning Formation (China), the mix of dinosaur and bird features in Archaeopteryx, and the competing ground-up versus trees-down hypotheses for…
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 11–13
Radiometric Dating
Explain how radiometric dating works — radioactive isotopes decay at a known rate (half-life), so measuring the ratio of parent to daughter isotope in a rock or fossil gives an absolute age; distinguish between carbon-14 (useful up to ~50,…
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 12–14
Mass Extinctions in Earth History
Compare the five major mass extinction events in Earth history (End-Ordovician, Late Devonian, End-Permian, End-Triassic, K-Pg), describe proposed kill mechanisms for each (glaciation, oceanic anoxia, volcanic mega-eruptions, asteroid impa…
9 verified questions on this shelf
Ages 12–14
Reconstructing Ancient Ecosystems
Reconstruct an ancient ecosystem using multiple independent lines of evidence: isotope analysis of teeth to infer diet and migration, bone histology (growth rings) to estimate age and growth rate, coprolite chemistry for diet, and palaeobo…
9 verified questions on this shelf

Being planted

These Skills are on the map, but their questions are still being written and checked.

Ages 5–7
Dinosaur Sizes
Coming soon
Ages 7–9
Reading Dinosaur Trackways
Coming soon
Ages 7–9
The Mesozoic Era
Coming soon
Ages 9–11
Birds Evolved from Dinosaurs
Coming soon
Ages 9–11
Dinosaur Hip Groups
Coming soon
Ages 13–14
Megafauna Extinction & De-Extinction
Coming soon

Skill names and descriptions include the Marble Skill Taxonomy © Generative Spark, Inc. (withmarble.com), licensed under ODbL 1.0 (database) and CC BY-SA 4.0 (content). Practice questions are GlowGrades's own, each checked by independent verifiers that must agree before a child ever sees it.