Skip to content
Storiascopio
EN
Back to the event Worksheets to print

One A4 page. In the print window choose “Save as PDF” if you want the file.

Storiascopio · Era 1 of 12 · primary year 3

Extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs

about 66 million years ago · Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

Illustration: Extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs

In short

About 66 million years ago an asteroid 10-15 kilometres wide struck the area of today's Yucatán Peninsula, in Mexico. Soot spread all over the world, dimming the sunlight and throwing climate and food chains into chaos. The non-avian dinosaurs, that is all of them except the birds, disappeared, while mammals and other groups survived the crisis.

Why it matters The extinction closed the Mesozoic and freed up many habitats where mammals branched out into new forms.

Source: Natural History Museum (London), “How an asteroid ended the age of the dinosaurs”

Where we are in the era “The Earth before us”

Your turn

Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________

  1. When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:

  2. Tell it in your own words: what happened?

  3. Draw the scene below.

storiascopio.com/en/event/extinction-of-the-non-avian-dinosaurs/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class