Tally and Create a Dinosaur Pictogram

Resources needed:

  • Dinosaur pictures
  • Paper
  • Glue sticks
  • Scissors
  • Pencils

 

  1. Show the children some pictures of five different kinds of dinosaur and ask of anyone knows their names. Look at the different features of each dinosaur and talk about how long ago they roamed the planet.
  2. Write the name for each dinosaur on the board and give a brief description of it – what it ate, where it lived, how long/tall/fast it was.
  3. Ask the children to think about which one is their favourite. They don’t need to tell you at this stage. Give the children some paper and small pictures of each of the five types and let them practise cutting and sticking skills to stick them all down in a column. Remind the children that they should leave enough space next to each dinosaur to complete the next part of the task.

Teaching point: Remind children how to tally, by counting four vertical strokes and then a fifth, horizontal stroke to group in fives. Practise counting in fives, and then counting any extras in ones

  1. The children should then ask their friends which one of the dinosaurs they liked the most (emphasise that each child may only choose one favourite). The children should then tally on their chart to show their friends’ responses. They may not have time to get round the whole class but should aim to ask at least ten children.
  2. Now either choose one child to share their tallying results, or else conduct a whole class survey through a show of hands. Convert the tallying into a simple pictogram to show the results. Reconcile the tallying done with the pictogram produced and check it carefully for accuracy.

 

Further Activities:

Ask the children to write either a sentence or a caption about their favourite dinosaur. They could draw pictures of their favourite dinosaurs to make a class collage.

Read fiction and non-fiction books about dinosaurs and compare the features of each. What is the difference between a fiction and a non-fiction book?

Make a dinosaur number line to use for the duration of the topic.

Make simple laminated play dough mats where the children have to give the dinosaur some legs, or put the correct number of eggs in a nest etc.

Curriculum Areas covered:

The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • Gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, regional, national and international history; between cultural, economic, military, political, religious and social history; and between short- and long-term timescales.

(Y2) Pupils should be taught to:

  • Interpret and construct simple pictograms, tally charts, block diagrams and simple tables
  • Ask and answer simple questions by counting the number of objects in each category and sorting the categories by quantity
  • Ask and answer questions about totalling and comparing categorical data.