Explore the sections of the Dinosaur World learning module. Check out the video guide to the interactive in Teaching Module 2 or the written guide at the Dinosaur World home page. (All Scale City written guides include printable forms that can be used to record the answers to the interactives.) Printable lesson plans, handouts, paper dolls, and pre- and post-assessments can be found in the Teacher’s Diner.

First view "Greetings from Dinosaur World," the video visit found on the Dinosaur World page. Then click on the Flash Activity: Size-O-Rama, which helps students build a concrete understanding of scale as they compare the heights of various figures, including a boy, dinosaurs, a woolly mammoth, and a horse.

Answer the questions in the interactive yourself and then choose other figures to compare and repeat the questions. Think about the varying levels of difficulty as you compare different pairs of figures.

Try this yourself and then play with the ruler, tape and percent tool. Think about the different levels of understanding that are developed and reinforced with each of these tools. Answer the questions in the interactive yourself and then choose another dinosaur, the horse, or the wooly mammoth and repeat the questions. Think about the varying levels of difficulty as you change the animal being compared to the height of the boy.

After viewing the video, but before they do the interactive, students might explore one-dimensional comparisons using the “paper dolls” and worksheet that are supplied with Dinosaur World: Handout 3 "Din-O-Rama" Exploration (PDF)

Students in the following three videos (pages 3, 4, and 5) use the paper dolls to determine the height of the dinosaur after learning that the cutout of the boy is a scale model of Chi’Kah, who is five feet tall.

Click "view" on the left to watch a video of Lily as she attempts to find the height of the T.rex.

For personal reflection or discussion with a partner or a professional learning community, answer the following questions:

• Why did Lily attempt to count the dots around the two figures? What difficulty would arise in using the dots to determine the height of the T.rex?
• Does Lily seem to have an understanding of proportional reasoning on a concrete level? What questions might you ask to make sure?

Record your responses in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.

Click "view" on the left to watch a video of Laura as she attempts to solve the same problem.

For personal reflection or discussion with a partner or a professional learning community, answer the following questions:

• Laura has used a ruler to find the height of the model of Chi’Kah is 6½ cm and the height the model of the T.rex is 20 cm. She then finds a unit rate. What is the meaning of the unit rate that she finds? Is she correct?
• Using this unit rate, Laura then applies it to finding the actual height of the T.rex. When she uses long division, Laura determines that the T.rex is 10 feet 7 inches. Is her method incorrect or is her computation incorrect? What might you do next?

Click here for an answer...

Record your responses in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.

Click "view" on the left to watch a video of Christopher as he solves the same problem.

For personal reflection or discussion with a partner or a professional learning community, answer the following questions:

• Compare the three students' understanding of one-dimensional scaling based on the three videos you just viewed.
• If you had these three students in your class, what might you do next? Would you differentiate your instruction to accommodate their different levels of understanding? If so, what might you do? If not, why do you feel it is not necessary?

Record your responses in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.

Dinosaur World has two sections, Size-O-Rama and Din-O-Rama. In Din-O-Rama, students explore scaling to re-size two figures so they are in the correct proportion for a diorama.

Click "view" on the left to open the Flash interactive "Size-O-Rama" and then click on "On to Din-O-Rama" to go to the second part of the interactive. Type in different possible heights for the T.rex figure and see what happens. After you have had a chance to explore, click on the Calculate button and answer the questions. Click on the Hints and Help button, and check your answers. Think about how you might use these materials to strengthen students’ concepts of scaling.

Next, Click "view" on the left to watch a video of Lily as she tries to determine proper height and scale of a man and a trolley.

For personal reflection or discussion with a partner or a professional learning community, answer the following questions:

• If students build a diorama on a 1:24 scale, how might you help them understand the proper size of the figures in the diorama?
• Even though the diorama is three-dimensional, it is included in the section on one-dimensional scaling. Do you think it fits in this section? Why or why not?

Record your responses in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.

Click "view" on the left to see how Laura solves this problem.

• How did Laura’s methods compare to your answers in the box above?
• What might you suggest Laura do next?

Add your comparison and suggestion to the box above.

Click "view" on the left to see how Christopher solves this problem.

Now that you have seen Christopher’s response, what would you suggest next?
Add your suggestion to the box above.

In Miniature Land, the video takes you on a tour of two miniature collections. Watch the video, paying particular attention to the Math Alerts.

Note that the miniatures in the video are built using different scales. In the interactive, students begin by scaling up the dimensions of a tiny house to a larger version using a ratio of 1:10.

Click "view" on the left to explore the Flash interactive.

For personal reflection or discussion with a partner or a professional learning community, answer the following:

• What learning targets might be met using the materials in this interactive?

Record your responses in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.

Click "view" on the left to watch Laura as she determines the volume of a box that has used a scale factor of 10 to scale up a cubic centimeter.

• How well do you think Laura has met the learning targets you have outlined?
• What might you do to help her continue to build these concepts?

Record your responses in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.

You have seen Laura making three-dimensional scale models using a ratio of 1:10. Click "view" on the left to watch Christopher as he explores three-dimensional scaling using a variety of scale factors.

• How well do you think Christopher understands the effects of different scale factors on volume?
• What questions might you ask to determine whether he has mastered your learning targets?

Record your responses in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.

Now, watch Christopher as he applies his understanding of scale to the scale model of the trolley car that you viewed in the video.

• Did Christopher have the understanding you predicted? Explain.
• How would you differentiate a classroom that has Christopher, Laura, and several other students with varying levels as they develop an understanding of three-dimensional scaling?

Record your responses in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.

As you view the "Greetings from the Kentucky Horse Park" video, think about learning targets related to the Standards.

• List two learning targets based on the Standards above that are addressed in this video.

Record your learning targets in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.

As you explore the interactives for this module, think about how students might use them to meet your learning targets. First explore racing different horses or people against each other. Then complete the charts and questions on the handouts below (also found at the Scale City Teacher’s Diner).

At the Track Handouts
Horse Park: Handout 4 "At the Track" (PDF)

• How might you use this module to help students make sense of the difference between direct and inverse proportional reasoning?
• Add two additional learning targets that might be addressed using the interactives and other materials from this module.

Record your responses in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.

View the video of Harper as she completes some of the questions from this module.

• What difficulties does Harper have with direct and inverse proportions?
• How well has Harper met your learning targets?
• What might you suggest next?

Record your responses in the box below and click the save button when you are finished.