Extinction: What Happened to the Dinosaurs, Mastodons, and Dodo Birds? With 25 Projects

Build it Yourself

by Laura Perdew, Tom Casteel (Illustrations)

Have you seen a dodo bird recently? Do you have mastodons playing in your back yard? Not likely―these species are both extinct, which means the entire population has died out. More than 99 percent of all species, or about 5 billion, have gone extinct since life first formed on Earth 4.5 billion years ago. Some of those species went extinct at the same time in an event know as a mass extinction. What type of event could cause such a massive die off? This is a question that scientists have asked for decades as they explore the causes of extinction. In What Happened to the Dinosaurs, Mastodons, and Dodo Birds? readers ages 9 to 12 learn about the scientific investigative work necessary to answer these questions and find the culprit behind mass extinctions. Follow the scientists as they look at all potential reasons for extinction, including asteroid impacts, massive volcanic eruptions, excessive gases in the atmosphere, climate change, and more. Where do scientists find clues to help them answer their questions? In rocks―scientists travel the globe to excavate the evidence. They look for fossils that might tell them what lived before an extinction and what lived after. They also examine the chemical elements in rocks at the boundaries between geologic eras, as well as the structure of rocks. As they follow the evidence, the pieces of the puzzle come together to form a clearer picture of events that happened millions of years ago, whether it’s an asteroid strike or a massive volcanic eruption. Extinction is not just a thing of the past. It is happening right now, at a higher rate than is typical. Because of this, there is debate about whether or not the presence of humans on Earth is having the same effect as an asteroid strike or a massive volcanic eruption. Are we currently experiencing the sixth mass extinction? And if so, what are the causes? Can we stop it? What Happened to the Dinosaurs, Mastodons, and Dodo Birds? includes hands-on activities and critical thinking exercises to encourage readers to consider humans’ role in the current extinction, what we can learn from past extinction events, and how they can be part of efforts to prevent extinction. Hands-on activities, a fun narrative style, interesting facts, species spotlights, and links to primary sources combine to bring the subject of extinction to life in a fun and engaging way.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

Published September 15, 2017

About the author

I am a mom, author, writing consultant, and former middle school teacher. I write fiction and nonfiction for kids, including over 30 books for the education market on a variety of topics including wetland conservation, renewable energy, extinction, and animal adaptations. BIODIVERSITY: EXPLORE THE DIVERSITY OF LIFE ON EARTH (Nomad Press, 2019) earned a starred review from Booklist and is a Junior Library Guild selection. My first fiction picture book is THE FORT (Page Street Kids, 2020). My goal is to inspire the next generation of conservationists through books.

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Discovering fossils, finding out and explaining the causes of species extinction, and looking at whether we are in the middle of a sixth mass extinction event is all included in Extinction: What Happened to the Dinosaurs, Mastodons, and Dodo Birds? This book has background knowledge and a timeline for young people new to the idea, but it also has a deep dive into “how scientists know what they know” and explanations of extinctions in each era.

There are several aspects especially appealing to families with motivated learners. One is the focus on primary sources. The book’s sections have QR codes for easy online research and a list of resources for further learning. The other is the inclusion of essential questions for focus and critical thinking.

The 25 projects in Extinction are easily adapted for different ages and abilities. And while many use kitchen supplies, some will take kids outdoors and into parks. They range from simple and familiar projects to more complex activities that include record keeping and long-term observations.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extinction: What happened to the dinosaurs, mastodons, and dodo birds? by Laura Perdew thoroughly describes the earth's geologic time scale incorporating the mass extinction events in the timeline, the discovery of fossils with species spotlighted in fact boxes, the causes of extinction, vocabulary words within each chapter, graphs for simulating an asteroid impact crater, creating stratas, food webs, and the possibility of a sixth mass extinction. 25 projects were added for students to become aware of extinction and fossils; activity pages are clearly marked. Easy to understand, comprehensive, clear directions for the activities. Highly recommended.

[Roberta Decenzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. I read it as an adult trying to rediscover my passion for dinosaurs and found this book to be fun for any age. This easily explained the 5 extinctions in our world history as well as giving a time line of the different eras, periods, and epochs our world has gone through in a memorable way. It also had multiple fun projects for kids and adults alike! This would be a good grade school book for teachers looking for a hands on teaching experience with all the projects!