By Mike|2023-10-30T08:38:13+00:00September 15th, 2018|Categories: General Teaching|Comments Off on A Beautiful Marine Reptile Model
Wonderful Model of a Pliosaurus
Our thanks to the model collector and prehistoric animal fan who sent in a picture of a wonderful marine reptile diorama. The figure in question is a model of the fearsome, carnivore Pliosaurus. The artist (Martin Garratt), has done a splendid job in making a prehistoric animal model that costs just a few pounds into something truly unique and spectacular.
Prehistoric Pliosaurus Model Display Piece
A customised CollectA Pliosaurus scale model.
Collecta Deluxe Pliosaurus
The image (above) shows the figure. It is a customised CollectA Deluxe Pliosaurus. It has been used to make an amazing marine reptile diorama.
To help depict the model in a dynamic swimming pose, the sculptor moulded a support and incorporated this into the base by making it look like an irregular section of the sandy seabed the marine reptile was cruising past. The fine details on this display piece help to reflect the quality of the craftsmanship involved. The sculptor has even created a coiled ammonite shell and added it to the seabed.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“We enjoy seeing pictures of prehistoric animal dioramas and we get lots sent into our offices. We look at every one, pictures of dinosaur models created by children as well as museum quality dioramas such as this one created by a professional artist.”
By Mike|2024-05-11T16:33:19+01:00September 9th, 2018|Categories: General Teaching, Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on Getting to Grips with an Amazing K-W-L Strategy
Everything Dinosaur Helps Out Primary School with K-W-L Strategy
Team members at Everything Dinosaur have been approached by a primary school teacher to help her introduce a term topic all about dinosaurs for her Year 1 class. The teacher wants to utilise a K-W-L strategy to establish the topic and to identify what the children already know about prehistoric animals and to use the results to direct learning over the coming weeks.
The Use of a K-W-L Strategy in the Classroom
At the start of the dinosaur topic the Year 1 children recorded what they know about dinosaurs. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Defining a K-W-L Strategy
A K-W-L strategy is essentially a tabular method of assessing the level of knowledge that children have at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of a period of work. It can be implemented over a term topic such as “Dinosaur Planet” or “Jurassic Forest” or it can be used at the individual lesson level.
K-W-L – examines:
What the children know = K
What the children would like to learn about = W
What the children have learned = L
A Three-part Strategy for Learning
This teaching tool gives pupils an opportunity to make connections between different topic areas, it appeals to visual learners and allows the teaching team to shape the subject to suit the needs and requirements of the class. It allows the teacher to identify what prior subject knowledge the children possess, in the case of dinosaurs, it is surprising how much information the children know and are very enthusiastic to divulge. The K-W-L strategy can help to guide lesson planning and to focus on appropriate teaching strategies to address the lack of knowledge uncovered during the mapping exercise.
Mind Maps Can Support a K-W-L Strategy
Using the KWL technique to start a term topic all about dinosaurs. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Everything Dinosaur Answering Questions
In order to help support the teacher, Everything Dinosaur team members have promised to answer emails from the children in support of their enquiries about dinosaurs and life in the past.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“The teacher can include the children emailing our dinosaur and fossil experts within their lesson planning. The use of email to answer the children’s questions can help incorporate and develop the ICT element of the curriculum.”
By Mike|2023-10-28T18:30:41+01:00September 3rd, 2018|Categories: General Teaching|Comments Off on Back to School with Everything Dinosaur
Back to School with Everything Dinosaur
It is the start of the new academic year and Everything Dinosaur team members like lots of teachers and teaching assistants, are busy finalising plans for the upcoming autumn term.
Many primary schools are kicking off their Reception (Foundation Stage Two) and Key Stage One schemes of work with a dinosaur themed term topic. Topic areas such as “Jurassic Forest” and “Dinosaur Planet” can be linked to core elements of the national curriculum such as English to help the pupils develop an understanding of non-chronological reports and non-fiction writing, whereas, in science, the topic area can link to work exploring carnivores, herbivores, omnivores and food webs.
Everything Dinosaur Making Preparations for the Autumn Term
Dinosaur fossils have been found all over the world, studying prehistoric animals can assist with the children learning about the world’s continents and oceans, helping to support geography teaching in schools.
The Art and Design element of the curriculum can be included by challenging the children to use drawings and paintings of prehistoric animals to help them develop their imagination and to share their ideas. Lots of different resources such as pasta shapes, straws, stencils and charcoal can be used in creative art and design projects to help the children learn more about the properties of different materials.
Prehistoric Animals Helping to Support the Art and Design Elements of the Curriculum
Dinosaur salt dough fossils spotted at a school. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur
The Creative Curriculum – History
Learning about events beyond living memory by studying the time of the dinosaurs – the Triassic, Jurassic and the Cretaceous geological periods. The science element can further be supported by incorporating how and why palaeontologists study fossils. Learning about fossils can provide a real sense of discovery at the heart of the term topic.
Historical figures can be introduced, such as learning about the life and contribution to science made by Mary Anning, a fossil collector and amateur palaeontologist from Dorset (southern England).
Studying the Life and Works of Mary Anning Dove-tails into the History Section of the National Curriculum
Helping Year 4 to learn all about scientists.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Dinosaurs as a term topic provides lots of important “touch points” to the curriculum. Furthermore, such an exciting and challenging topic area can really help young learners to settle down and to make good progress as they start the new school year.
For further information about Everything Dinosaur’s work in schools and outreach work: Email Everything Dinosaur.
Please remember to include the name and postcode of your school, plus, it would be helpful if you could let us know the age of the children.
By Mike|2024-05-11T08:15:30+01:00August 23rd, 2018|Categories: General Teaching|Comments Off on William Draws Wonderful Dinosaurs
Dinosaur Drawings By William
Our thanks to young dinosaur fan William who kindly sent in a drawing of two of his favourite dinosaur models. At Everything Dinosaur, we get sent lots of dinosaur and prehistoric illustrations and we like to post these up in our warehouse. William wrote to thank Everything Dinosaur team members for supplying the dinosaur figures.
A Young Dinosaur Fan (William) Draws Prehistoric Animals
William draws dinosaurs and the Everything Dinosaur logo. Picture credit: William.
Picture credit: William
Not only has William chosen to illustrate some dinosaurs for us, but he also sent to us a lovely copy of our company logo, a large letter “e” that represents a three-toed dinosaur footprint as well as the first letter of our company’s name. Congratulations to William, for the drawings and for the clear and well-spaced writing.
Everything Dinosaur registered trade mark.
Dinosaur Drawings from Children
Lots of children are fascinated by dinosaurs and many schools utilise this love of all things dinosaur as they deliver dinosaur-themed term topics. Learning about ferocious and thankfully, extinct creatures from the past can really help to motivate and enthuse young learners when it comes to gaining confidence with numbers and improving writing skills. William for example, as chosen to illustrate one of his favourite dinosaur models – Ankylosaurus. It we compare William’s drawing to a model of this armoured dinosaur, it is clear that William has taken great care over his work.
William Draws an Ankylosaurus
William draws Ankylosaurus. The model (top) compared to William’s illustration (bottom). Picture credit: William.
In addition, to his armoured dinosaur illustration, William chose to draw a picture of a Mapusaurus. Mapusaurus, (as we are sure William will know), was a large, carnivorous dinosaur, fossils of which come from Argentina. It was probably the largest predator in its environment, with some palaeontologists estimating that Mapusaurus weighed around six tonnes and measured more than twelve metres long.
William Draws Mapusaurus
William draws a Mapusaurus. Picture credit: William.
Picture credit: William/Everything Dinosaur
Once again, we congratulate William on the accuracy of his drawing, team members at Everything Dinosaur were able to recognise that this was an illustration of the CollectA Mapusaurus dinosaur model.
Our thanks to William for his drawing and to his kind mum Anna who gave it to us. We hope you liked the fact sheets that accompanied the models that we supplied.
We noted the suggestion for CollectA to produce a model of a Sabre-tooth Cat cub, this suggestion along with the illustration will be forwarded onto our chums at CollectA.
By Mike|2023-10-28T08:51:16+01:00August 22nd, 2018|Categories: General Teaching|Comments Off on Take Care When Visiting the Beach this Bank Holiday
Everything Dinosaur Issues a Warning About Dangerous Cliffs
This weekend, it is the August Bank Holiday here in the UK. This is the last national Bank Holiday before Christmas, a sobering thought, but with lots of families heading to the beach to make the most of the summer weather, team members at Everything Dinosaur have issued a warning about dangerous cliffs on many of the UK’s coasts.
Dangerous Cliffs
Families will be visiting the seaside for lots of reasons, some might even be amateur fossil collectors, keen to find a few choice specimens before the autumn weather rolls in. However, the exceptional hot, dry spells that much of the country has experienced over the last three months or so has left many of the cliffs overlooking beaches even more dangerous than ever.
A Recent Cliff Collapse at Happisburgh Beach on the Norfolk Coast
Dangerous cliffs along the coast. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Sandstone and chalk cliffs are particularly vulnerable. These cliffs have become increasingly dry over the summer and when it does rain, the water can make overlying rocks heavier and these overhangs can collapse. The dry weather followed by sudden downpours makes cliffs very unstable and rock falls are more likely to occur.
Stay Away from the Clifftops and the Base of the Cliff
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur commented:
“We want everyone to have a great time if they are planning on a visit to the coast during the holiday period. However, we would strongly advise that anybody visiting the beach at this time stays away from the cliffs and avoids the clifftops too.”
Would-be fossil hunters should take care to avoid getting to close to the base of cliffs, there are probably plenty of fossils to find further down the beach away from any potential landslips or rock falls.
It is advisable to heed warnings and to listen to advice from the local coastguard.
Instead of visiting the dangerous cliffs, visit the Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.
By Mike|2023-10-27T14:20:34+01:00August 14th, 2018|Categories: General Teaching|Comments Off on A Beautiful Edaphosaurus Model
A Stunning 1:20 Scale Edaphosaurus Model
Our thanks to prehistoric animal model fan, Elizabeth, who sent us in this wonderful replica of an Edaphosaurus, a reptile that lived many millions of years before the dinosaurs evolved but is often mistaken for a dinosaur.
A Beautiful 1/20th Scale Replica of a Edaphosaurus
Edaphosaurus a customised CollectA model.
Picture credit: Elizabeth
The figure is part of the CollectA Deluxe prehistoric life model series. It has been customised and provided with a display base.
Edaphosaurus, like Dimetrodon, is sometimes referred to as a “sail-backed reptile”. It is sometimes included in dinosaur model sets. However, Edaphosaurus was not a dinosaur. This reptile was a synapsid, a member of a group of reptiles that has a single opening (fenestra) just behind the eye socket in the skull. Dinosaurs, along with lizards, crocodiles, Aves (birds) and marine reptiles such as the Plesiosauria, were diapsids. Diapsids have two holes on each side of the skull. Mammals are also synapsids, so Edaphosaurus was ironically more closely related to mammals like us than to the Dinosauria, although the term “mammal-like” reptile that is often applied to this ancient reptile is very misleading and not accurate.
Edaphosaurus Lived During the Permian Geological Period, Long Before the First Dinosaurs
A customised Edaphosaurus model complete with display base.
Picture credit: Elizabeth
Our thanks to Elizabeth for sending in to us some photographs of her fabulous Edaphosaurus diorama.
Visit the award-winning and user-friendly Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.
By Mike|2023-10-27T07:20:56+01:00August 6th, 2018|Categories: General Teaching|Comments Off on A Successful Dinosaur and Fossil Workshop
Dinosaur and Fossil Workshop Success
Recently, Everything Dinosaur team members were invited up to the beautiful Beacon Museum at Whitehaven, Cumbria, to participate in the Museum’s “Dino Fest”, a weekend of activities focusing on all things dinosaur. The Beacon Museum is holding a dinosaur inspired exhibition for the summer months with lots of family friendly activities. On the Friday afternoon, Everything Dinosaur hosted a special meeting of the Museum’s “Quantum Leap” club. We looked at fossils including dinosaur bones and the children got the chance to find and take home their own fossils, including pieces of fossilised dinosaur bone.
Everything Dinosaur and Fossil Workshops
Everything Dinosaur at the Beacon Museum 27th July to 29th July. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Fossil Casting
During our work with the enthusiastic “Quantum Leap” club members we got the budding young scientists to have a go at casting their own museum quality replicas. Over the course of the weekend, we held a number of dinosaur and fossil workshops and lots of fossils were found and some amazing casts were made.
Fossil Casts on Display
The completed fossil casts produced by visitors to The Beacon Museum (Whitehaven) who participated in Everything Dinosaur’s workshops. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Well done to Joe and Tom for making such a superb cast from one of our Late Cretaceous ammonite fossils from Canada.
Fossil Casting Workshops
In total, Everything Dinosaur held three two-hour long fossil workshops and numerous, shorter fossil hunting activities.
A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur, who participated in the weekend of dinosaur-themed activities commented:
“It was great to meet all the eager and enthusiastic, young dinosaur fans at The Beacon Museum over the weekend. We all had a great time hunting for fossils, helping to make fossil casts and answering all their questions about dinosaurs.”
Visit the award-winning, user-friendly Everything Dinosaur website: Everything Dinosaur.
By Mike|2024-05-11T06:14:33+01:00August 2nd, 2018|Categories: General Teaching, Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on A Beautiful “Spikyosaurus”
A Colourful Dinosaur Drawing
Our thanks to young dinosaur fan Neve, who after attending one of our family friendly dinosaur and fossil workshops, was inspired to send in to us a drawing of their very own design for a dinosaur. Neve even gave this prehistoric animal a name, this very colourful dinosaur is called “Spikyosaurus”.
A Very Bright, Colourful and Spiky Dinosaur Drawing
A spiky dinosaur. A wonderful and imaginative dinosaur drawing. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
A “Spikysaurus” and Armoured Dinosaurs
Palaeontologists are aware that there were lots of armoured dinosaurs. The first armoured dinosaurs evolved in the Early Jurassic. These plant-eaters were distinguished by the presence of bony scales on their backs and flanks. These dinosaurs evolved from the ornithischian line (bird-hipped dinosaurs). Armour probably evolved in herbivorous dinosaurs to provide protection against the rapidly evolving carnivorous dinosaurs. The last of the armoured dinosaurs died out at the very end of the Cretaceous.
By Mike|2024-05-11T06:03:03+01:00July 18th, 2018|Categories: General Teaching|Comments Off on It’s Planning Time Again as New Academic Year Begins
Lots of Teachers Already Preparing for the New Academic Year
For many schools in England and Wales, the long summer holidays are about to start. Although many teaching staff will be taking a deserved vacation, we note from the number of emails, phone calls and general enquiries that we have received that lots of dedicated teaching professionals are well advanced with their planning for dinosaur and fossil teaching the start of the next academic year.
September will soon come around and teachers supported by teaching assistants and other learning support providers will be busying themselves making preparations for the challenges that a new academic year brings. From the enquiries that we have received so far this month, it seems that the Cornerstones Curriculum “Dinosaur Planet” and the term topic “Jurassic Forest” are going to be popular choices when it comes to Key Stage 1 and Reception term topics.
Lots of Schools are Planning Term Topics Focused Around Dinosaurs and Fossils
Lots of dinosaur and fossil pictures on display. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Preparing Prehistoric Themed Schemes of Work
As always, our dedicated teaching team are on hand to provide advice and assistance. There are numerous downloadable resources available from Everything Dinosaur’s dedicated teaching website, all provided free of charge. Our handy lesson plans, resource packs, teaching suggestions and information sheets have been downloaded by teachers, educationalists, museums and other institutions hundreds of times. We are happy to help and we get a large amount of emails from teachers asking for specific information, these are all responded to and we do our best to assist and advise where we can.
For Everything Dinosaur’s educational themed items including toys and games: Dinosaur Toys and Games.
Lesson Plans Helped to Inspire a Poster Making Exercise
Example lesson plan (Key Stage 2).Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur
Dinosaur and Fossil Workshops in School
Our dinosaur and fossil workshops in schools are booking up fast, we already have bookings for the summer term of 2019 and enquiries for the 2019/20 academic year. We conduct a lot of work with schools and our workshops are built around curriculum teaching aims and objectives including developing writing skills, aiding literacy, exploring ideas, problem solving, working scientifically, building confidence and encouraging an understanding of materials and the wider world.
There is certainly a big “wow” factor with a visit from ourselves but everything we do attempts to reinforce learning and help achieve the teaching outcomes required by the school. Dinosaurs as a teaching theme lends itself to all sorts of ideas and extension activities and we often provide additional resources to help support the school’s scheme of work.
For further information about our dinosaur workshops in schools and to request details of our science outreach work: Contact Everything Dinosaur.
Our hard-working team members will do all they can to accommodate teaching needs, but, spaces are getting booked up fast.
Thank You Letters Received After Another Successful Dinosaur Workshop
Feedback from Primary School (EYFS). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
By Mike|2023-10-18T07:16:14+01:00July 3rd, 2018|Categories: General Teaching|Comments Off on A Very Big Trilobite
A Very Big Trilobite
The Wren’s Nest/Castle Hill site near Dudley in the West Midlands is one of the most important sites anywhere in the world for Silurian fossils. At this location there are superb exposures of Middle Silurian strata (Wenlock and lower Ludlow series). Coal seams in the surrounding hills date from the later Middle Carboniferous. The lime and coal at this location made this part of England a focal point for the industrial revolution.
There are lots of fossils to be found too, including trilobites.
A Commemorative Plaque Recognising the Significance of Wren’s Nest
A trilobite plaque at the Wren’s nest SSSI (Dudley, West Midlands). Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.
“Scour the ground for geological litter my feet drenched in an ancient sea.”
The fossils preserved at Wren’s Nest represent marine life on an ancient reef system which is around 420 to 425 million years old. This an amazing (and free) place to visit, a beautiful nature reserve that was designated Britain’s first National Nature Reserve for geology back in 1956.
