Download Name Dinosaur Ghosts by J. Lynett Gillette Literary Genre

Name
Literary Genre: Nonfiction
Dinosaur Ghosts by J. Lynett Gillette
Vocabulary – Due: _________- Syllabicate, write definitions on cards, write one sentence each.
1. erosion: all the processes that wear away earth and rock
2. evidence: the data used to draw a conclusion
3. excavation: the process of finding something by digging for it
4. extinct: no longer living on the earth; having died out
5. fossils: the hardened skeletons or other remains of creatures of prehistoric times
6. geologists: scientists who study the earth’s crust and the rocks it is made of
7. hypotheses: scientific suggestions based on what is known so far
8. paleontologist: a scientist who studies prehistoric life
9. specimens: samples taken for scientific study
10. theory: an idea that is based on evidence but that cannot be stated as fact
11. treacherous: dangerous
12. catastrophes: great and sudden disasters
13. traces: extremely small amounts
14. asteroids: small, often irregularly-shaped bodies that orbit the sun
15. climatic: relating to weather conditions over a long period of time
16. seeped: passed slowly through small openings
17. channel: the deepest part of a stream or river
18. churning: moving or swirling violently
19. ligaments: tough tissues that connect two bones or hold organs in place
20. burrowing: making a tunnel, hole, or shelter by digging
21. drought: a long period of little or no rainfall
22. surge: a sudden onrush or increase
23. young: offspring
24. expedition: a trip made by a group of people with a definite purpose
25. joints: points at which movable body parts are connected
Structural Analysis: Adjective Suffixes –al, -ive, -ous
Spelling: Final / ər/, /ən/, and /əl/ sounds
1. struggle
6. frighten
2. director
7. channel
3. weapon
8. messenger
4. similar
9. familiar
5. mental
10. acre
21. agricultural
22. colonel
23. predator
11. error
12. gallon
13. rural
14. calendar
15. elevator
24. corridor
25. Maneuver
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Grammar Skills: Transitive and Intransitive Verbs; Being Verbs and Linking Verbs
A transitive verb is an action verb that has a direct object.
An intransitive verb has no direct object.
A being verb shows a state of being. It is called linking verb when it links the subject
with a predicate noun or a predicate adjective.
A predicate noun renames or identifies the subject.
A predicate adjective describes the subject.
stumble
youngster
kitchen
passenger
quarrel
Comprehension Questions:
1. What clues does the author give to show that Professor Camp had been a meticulous researcher?
Why do you think the author gives that information here? Pg.192 _________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Why was Colbert’s find so much more well publicized than Cope’s earlier discovery of
Coelophysis bones? Pg. 193 _______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Why are skeleton parts such as sharp teeth and claws good clues about what a dinosaur ate?
Pg. 194 _______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. How do you think paleontologists know Coelophysis didn’t have armor? Pg. 195 _____________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Why do you think the author begins each section with a description of a different possible
scenario? Pg. 199 _______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. Explain why these descriptions of hypotheses make sense with what the author has told us so far
about how scientists work. Pg. 199 _________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Why do you think the author doesn’t rule out these hypotheses completely? Pg. 199 __________
______________________________________________________________________________
8. Why doesn’t the iridium found in 65 million-year-old rocks support the theory that the dinosaurs
died from starvation after an asteroid crash? Pg. 200 ____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
9. What is the author’s explanation for the arsenic in the dinosaur bones? Pg. 200 _______________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Why does the author mention that a flood could have covered the dinosaur bodies with mud and
water before other predators arrived? Pg. 203 _________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
11. What detail does the author include to show the strength of the flood hypothesis? Pg. 203 ______
______________________________________________________________________________
12. How does the author create the sense that scientists were getting closer to an explanation of what
happened at Ghost Ranch? Pg. 203 _________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
13. What detail does the author include to show the strengths of the drought hypothesis? Pg. 204 ___
______________________________________________________________________________
14. What does the author indicate by not including a question mark at the end of the heading “Too
Little Water – Then Too Much”? Pg. 204 ___________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
15. How does the author’s description of how scientists combined these two theories fit with what
she has told us so far about how scientists do their work? Pg. 205 _________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
16. Why does the author call the flood/drought hypothesis our best idea? Pg. 206 _______________
______________________________________________________________________________
17. What type of information does the author mean when she says Could more information turn up
…? Pg. 206 ____________________________________________________________________
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