Nearly everyone has thought about it at one time or another...

Suppose dinosaurs were NOT extinct? What would the world be like now if they had never died out... or if scientists could clone them today from fossilized DNA? What if dinosaurs still roamed the earth?

When you stop and think about how much dinosaurs have captured our imaginations as extinct beasts, we can only begin to imagine what things might be like IF DINOSAURS WERE ALIVE TODAY!

"If Dinosaurs Were Alive Today" Activity

1. Use your imagination, combined with your factual knowledge, to develop your ideas. Very often, the best fictional stories have a strong factual basis, so do some background reading or search the Internet. You might want to think about such questions as:

• How might the dinosaurs have survived into the 20th century?

• Have they evolved into very different kinds of creatures from the ones paleontologists have pieced together for us?

• Have humans found ways to tame these wild beasts?

• Are they aiding scientific research? Are they hunted or protected? Do they perform any useful functions for humankind? Or are they simply big, adorable pets?

• In your story, are we coexisting peacefully with the dinosaurs or living in terror?

These are just some suggestions to get your creative juices flowing. No doubt, you'll have many more terrific ideas!

2. When you have a great concept and are ready to begin writing, pick any FORMAT that you like: story, play, poem, newspaper article, radio or TV news script, mock interview (perhaps with a dino himself, a paleontologist, or a "person on the street"), pretend diary or journal... perhaps even a song! You could write from your own point of view, or even from the perspective of the mega-beast himself!

3. You might want to share these stories with the rest of the class. Or make a gallery of the final drafts and some great illustrations for the rest of the school to see and enjoy!

Have fun working on your stories and pictures!