How Do We Know What Color Dinosaurs Were? is a new TED-Ed lesson that answers a question I often had in school. In the lesson we learn how scientists examine the melanosomes of fossilized feathers to determine the colors of some dinosaurs. The lesson explains how the physics of light and color eventually lead scientists to their conclusions.

How Do We Know What Color Dinosaurs Were? is appropriate for middle school and high school students. Read below the video for some resources appropriate for elementary school students.

Dinosaster is an online game in which students move a dinosaur across a timeline in a Mario Brothers-like style of running and jumping. The object of the game is to hit each dinosaur bone along the way. When a new bone is grabbed a new fact card about a dinosaur appears on the screen. The object is to get all the cards and discover why the dinosaurs became extinct.

The Natural History Museum hosts a directory of names, facts, and figures for more than 300 dinosaurs. One of the ways that you can search through the database is by country. Select the “in your country” option to find the dinosaurs that may have roamed the land in what is now your country. The search results will display a grid of drawings the types of dinosaurs in your country. Click on the images to learn more the dinosaurs.

The Walking With Dinosaurs apps (free iPad app, free Android app) use a bit of augmented reality to take students on a virtual walk with dinosaurs. To use the apps you have to print out the “targets” that when scanned reveal a dinosaur’s story. The apps also allow your students to include pictures of themselves in settings with the dinosaurs that they learn about through the app.