INTRODUCTION
April Archosaur Absurdity (AAA) is an alternate March Madness tournament or the popular Who Would Win books, focusing on simulated encounters between archosaurs (a large group of reptiles that include dinosaurs, pterosaurs, crocodilians, and birds).The bracket is run by a team of palaeontologists at the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, using science and probability to determine the outcomes of the “battles”. The goal of AAA is to provide a fun and exciting way to spread scientific knowledge about this year’s competing archosaurs.
With your registration, you will receive both a March and an April Educator Guide including materials to help you bring AAA into the classroom. These lesson plans are designed to align with curriculum goals required by provincial standards.
IS AAA RIGHT FOR MY STUDENTS?
- We offer Educator Guides for three different grade ranges (K-3, 4-6, 7-12), you can request a specific grade to match your students' needs.
- Choose your level of engagement: you can watch the battles and predict the winners, or fully engage with our palaeontologist-curated lesson plans.
OBJECTIVES
- Students will have all of March to research the 8 archosaur competitors and create competitor profiles for each one
- Students will create their own personal predictive AAA brackets
- Students will develop their research, critical thinking, presentation and story telling skills
- Students will have all of April to watch the battles and complete additional lesson plans
- Students are encouraged to participate in our Student Contest to win an amazing prize for their class/school... A Virtual Program with Dr. Emily Bamforth!
TIMING AND IMPLEMENTATION
- Lesson plans will be made available via DropBox and you can follow along with AAA via the AAA 2025 webpage and social media
- Lesson plans can be made into a full classroom activity or take place over shorter sessions
- Lesson plans can be implemented weekly, with the final lesson completed before the final battle
