Using this as a premise, students devise a system for estimating dinosaur running speed based on leg measurements. The lab begins by projecting 2x2 transparencies onto a screen at the front of the room. These are pictures of mammals of various running speed abilities. The next step is to plot the lower leg - thigh ratios of the mammals against their running speeds on graph paper. Onto this graph a line of best-fit is applied.
Students now have a tool for predicting dinosaur running speeds.
By moving across to the line of best-fit, and then proceeding downward vertically to the running speed, the estimated speed of the dinosaur in question can be determined. You may evaluate the lab by stopping at this point and seeing if the speed estimates the students derived were accurate based upon their graphic data. However, this is more an exercise in thinking. It is not without sources of error and offers opportunities for extension. All these can be points for further discussion.