This was the most fun week! This is the first year I've ever taught about dinosaurs and we had so much fun!
Monday was our intro to dinosaurs. We talked about what we knew (which was mostly from watching Jurassic Park.) Then we talked about the fact that they are all extinct. One smarty asked, "If they're all dead, then how do we know anything about them? So I was able to bust out this cool visual for them. I found this awesome T-Rex at Walmart for $5! We talked about how the dinosaurs died, and then all that was left was the bones. And that scientists can study those bones to find out things about them. The reaction while I peeled the skin off this guy was priceless. A mix between horror and fascination. Then the same smarty asked, "What happened to the skin? Where did it go?" I was not about to explain decomposition to 5 year olds (I don't want to terrify them about what happens to things when they die!) So I just said, "Well, it just kind of goes away after awhile." They seemed to think that was an acceptable answer.
Tuesday we learned all about carnivores and herbivores. We put food in each dino's belly based on what kind of dinosaur he was. We did some research and learned that carnivores had sharp teeth and walked on two legs. Herbivores had flat teeth and walked on all four legs. So the rest of the day, each time the kiddos saw a dinosaur, they were analyzing it to see whether it was a carnivore or an herbivore! So fun!
Thursday was all about the T-Rex. Throughout the week, he was clearly the class favorite, so we did some in-depth learning about them.
Friday was time to wrap it all up. We reviewed what fossils are and then we got to make our own! I got this tub of Crayola Air-Dry Clay. I gave each student a scoop of clay and they got to push their dinosaur into it. We're letting them dry over the weekend, and then each student will have their very own fossil to take home! They loved this!
Monday was our intro to dinosaurs. We talked about what we knew (which was mostly from watching Jurassic Park.) Then we talked about the fact that they are all extinct. One smarty asked, "If they're all dead, then how do we know anything about them? So I was able to bust out this cool visual for them. I found this awesome T-Rex at Walmart for $5! We talked about how the dinosaurs died, and then all that was left was the bones. And that scientists can study those bones to find out things about them. The reaction while I peeled the skin off this guy was priceless. A mix between horror and fascination. Then the same smarty asked, "What happened to the skin? Where did it go?" I was not about to explain decomposition to 5 year olds (I don't want to terrify them about what happens to things when they die!) So I just said, "Well, it just kind of goes away after awhile." They seemed to think that was an acceptable answer.
Tuesday we learned all about carnivores and herbivores. We put food in each dino's belly based on what kind of dinosaur he was. We did some research and learned that carnivores had sharp teeth and walked on two legs. Herbivores had flat teeth and walked on all four legs. So the rest of the day, each time the kiddos saw a dinosaur, they were analyzing it to see whether it was a carnivore or an herbivore! So fun!
Then we did some writing based on our research!
Wednesday was for learning about paleontologists. We learned about the different tools these scientists use to help dig up bones and study them. One tool we learned about was a magnifying glass. So we got to be student-paleontologists and use magnifying glasses to get an up-close look at our dinosaurs! (This was a hit!)
Thursday was all about the T-Rex. Throughout the week, he was clearly the class favorite, so we did some in-depth learning about them.
Friday was time to wrap it all up. We reviewed what fossils are and then we got to make our own! I got this tub of Crayola Air-Dry Clay. I gave each student a scoop of clay and they got to push their dinosaur into it. We're letting them dry over the weekend, and then each student will have their very own fossil to take home! They loved this!
We also examined a life-size dinosaur footprint. We estimated how many of our feet it would take to equal a dinosaur foot. Then we experimented by putting our shoes in it. It took 33 of our shoes!
They wanted to take a "foot picture," so I obliged. Now I'm looking at it and realizing how many of them are wearing mismatched socks haha!
We ended our dino week with writing. I asked students to write as many facts about dinosaurs as they could.
"Dinosaurs are dead. Carnivores eat any kind of meat. Herbivores eat plants. All kind of dinosaurs lays eggs. Carnivore eats turkey. Herbivore eats flowers."
The major take-away this week is that they're dead. But I'm about to teach you something new:
To be a dinosaur, you have to:
-Lay eggs
-Walk on toes
- Have an s-curved neck
- Have skin or feathers (no fur)
So we learned that chickens are modern-day dinosaurs. The freaked out about this!
And that concludes Dino Week 2015.
(Congrats if you made it to the end of this long post!)
xoxo, Mrs. Miller
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