A model dinosaur: determining the Plateosaurus breathing rate via conservation of energy
A model dinosaur: determining the Plateosaurus breathing rate via conservation of energy lead image
Though long extinct, dinosaurs can help introductory physics students grasp one of the most foundational concepts in physics: conservation of energy. The bipedal herbivore, Plateosaurus trossingensis is the subject of a lesson plan created by Scott Lee and Justyna Slowiak-Morkovina which uses physics concepts to calculate the dinosaur’s breathing rate.
“This lesson is targeted at students in the introductory physics sequence (either algebra-based or calculus-based),” said author Scott Lee. “One of the main points of that course is to build a strong foundation in the breadth of physics.”
An animal’s total metabolism is a function of its mass and is the sum of the energy needed to sustain living cells and create new ones and is produced by the oxidization of glucose. The resting metabolism of an animal is determined by fitting its mass growth curve.
Based on the dinosaur’s metabolism, students determine how much oxygen is needed to sustain its life. When provided with estimates of the Plateosaurus’s lung tidal volume and efficiency as well as the oxygen content of the Late Triassic Period atmosphere, students can calculate its breathing rate.
This process has been validated against living, dinosaur-adjacent species such as birds and alligators.
Exercises like this require students to consider uncertainty in their calculations and whether their answer is reasonable. Applying physics in this multidisciplinary way showcases the subject’s variety while reinforcing fundamental concepts.
“Virtually every student has a range of interests,” said Lee. “Multidisciplinary lessons help them understand the unity of science and how science can address a variety of issues. Also, it is just plain fun to consider a problem involving a dinosaur!”
Source: “The resting breathing rate of the dinosaur Plateosaurus trossingensis via conservation of energy,” by Scott Lee and Justyna Slowiak-Morkovina, The Physics Teacher (2023). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0077948 .
