Mary Anning's sea dragon · Grade 4

The passage and its 6 questions

Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions in full sentences.

• More than two hundred years ago, a girl named Mary Anning lived in a small town on the south coast of England. The crumbly cliffs near her home were full of strange stones shaped like spirals, snails and bones. Mary's family collected these "curiosities"
• and sold them to visitors.
• In about 1811, Mary's brother Joseph found a long skull with sharp teeth poking out of a cliff. Some months later, Mary, who was only about twelve, uncovered much of the rest of the skeleton. It was about five meters long, with paddles instead of legs.
• Scientists had never seen anything quite like it. It was later named ichthyosaur, which means "fish lizard." It was a reptile that lived in the sea at the same time as the dinosaurs.
• Mary kept searching for the rest of her life. She found the first complete skeleton of a long-necked plesiosaur and studied her fossils closely. Back then, women were not allowed to join the main science society in London, and her name was often left out when her finds were described. Today, Mary Anning is remembered as one of the greatest fossil hunters of all time.
• 1. Where did Mary Anning live?
• 2. What did Mary uncover when she was about twelve?
• 3. What does the word 'ichthyosaur' mean?
• 4. Why do you think Mary's name was often left out?
• 5. Copy the sentence that describes the skeleton's size and shape.
• 6. Write a question you would ask the author.