School Children Make Models of Fossils as they Study Dinosaurs

Year 1 and Year 2 children at Hoylandswaine Primary School showcased their dinosaur and prehistoric animal knowledge this week during a school visit from a dinosaur expert at Everything Dinosaur.  Under the tutelage of Miss Birkinshaw, the class teacher, the children had been studying dinosaurs and fossils with a special emphasis on food chains and the role of carnivores/herbivores in ecosystems.

Dig Site in the Classroom

A dig site had been created in the classroom, with Miss Birkinshaw and the children providing fossils for the budding young palaeontologists to excavate.  A grid system had been overlaid and the children had been set a number challenges to identify and describe the objects located on various parts of the dig site.  This reflects what we actually do when it comes to mapping an actual fossil excavation.

Primary School Children Map Out Their Own Fossil Excavations

Palaeontology in schools – a wonderful exercise to help children learn more about fossils. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Some super ammonite fossils can be seen in the picture.

As part of the morning’s activities the children examined a variety of fossils including teeth from a giant prehistoric shark (O. megalodon) and with Harry’s help the size of the backbone of a Stegosaurus was compared to our own vertebrae.  Mrs Burr (Teaching Assistant) and Miss Burkinshaw were appointed team captains as one half of the class were given the task of casting a replica shark fossil tooth, whilst the other half were challenged with casting a dinosaur toe bone which had come from a huge and very old duck-billed dinosaur, a specimen of a dinosaur called Edmontosaurus.

The children asked lots of questions and they learned some facts about Tyrannosaurus rex which meant that their poster display on the “King of the Tyrant Lizards” would have to be altered in the light of the information that they had been provided with.  Lots of artwork and creative writing was on display and in the corridor close to the school office there was was a display that had been populated by various dinosaur themed objects and a special workbook that showed some of the areas of study that the children had been looking at.

School Dinosaur Project Book on Display

Children write about fossils and fossil discoveries in a superbly illustrated book all about prehistoric animals. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

On the left-hand side of the book shows pictures of plesiosaur fossils (a marine reptile), fortunately, our expert had a piece of a plesiosaur vertebrae on hand to show some of the children who had stayed behind during lunch to ask further questions.  Young Jack had brought in some of his own fossils.  His fossil collection proved very handy when Harriet exhibited the fossil model she had made out of clay.  Our expert was able to talk about the lines of symmetry in Harriet’s colourful model and then compare the clay fossil to a real “sand dollar” fossil in Jack’s fossil collection.

Comparing a Clay Model to a Fossil “Sand Dollar”

Sand dollar fossil compared to a clay model. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Models of Fossils

Harriet had done a wonderful job of making and painting her fossil.  The lines radiating out from the centre reminded our dinosaur expert of the fossilised calcite plates associated with a type of sea urchin (Echinoids – pronounced “eck-in-oids”), often referred to as a “sand dollar”.  “Sand dollars” fossils are relatively common, these animals are part of a group of sea creatures that originated around 480 million years ago (Ordovician), but most of the “sand dollar” fossils seen today are much more recent.  Still, Jack’s fossil could be over twenty million years old.

The rigid external skeleton of a “sand dollar” is called a “test”.  On the top surface, is a five pointed star-like structure, these are five paired rows of pores, like look a little like the petals on a flower.  These pores can seen on Jack’s fossil.  When the sea urchin was alive, tube feet projected through theses pores and these feet were multi-purpose, they helped the little animal to burrow into soft sediment,  to move about and they also helped the animal breathe and to gather food.

Sand Dollars

“Sand dollars” are around today and often tests are washed up onto the beaches of the Western United States.  These tests look like coins hence their common name, but they are also sometimes called “Mermaid coins”, in the past sailors used to believe that if they found one it would bring them good fortune on their next voyage.

Note for Harriet

Lots of different types of “sand dollar” sea urchins are alive today, and some are indeed coloured green and blue.

To conclude the visit, our dinosaur expert set the class a challenge.  The children could write a thank you letter but they must use capital letters and connectives correctly.  Perhaps they could write about their favourite dinosaur or indeed, include a special dinosaur fact in their letter.

We shall see what the budding young palaeontologists from Hoylandswaine Primary School come up with…

For further information on Everything Dinosaur’s range of toys, models and gifts: Dinosaur Toys, Gifts and Models.

Primary Schoolchildren Write Thank you Letters to Everything Dinosaur

After a busy few weeks with Everything Dinosaur team members carrying out a lot of dinosaur workshops in schools, team members are busy preparing free downloads for the company’s new “dinosaurs for school” website.  As well as all this teaching activity we have also been keeping up with the huge volume of correspondence that we receive.  Amongst all the drawings, pictures, feedback forms, information requests and such like we get letters from schoolchildren who have been involved with our dinosaur teaching in schools.  One such letter was sent from Holly from Yorkshire, we were so impressed that we thought we would post Holly’s excellent letter on our blog site.

Everything Dinosaur

Holly Says Thank You to Everything Dinosaur

Schoolchildren thank Everything Dinosaur after team members from the UK-based dinosaur company visited their school.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur/Holly

Thank You Letter

Naturally, our team members respond to all those letters, enquiries and contacts that require a reply.

We wrote to Holly saying:

“We are glad that you like dinosaurs and we were very impressed with your writing skills, your letter was very well laid out, the first word that you wrote started with a capital letter and you remembered to use full stops.  You also remembered to put your name on the letter at the bottom, well done Holly!”

We look forward to working with Holly and her classmates in the future and undertaking more dinosaur teaching in schools.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website to see the huge range of soft toys available: Prehistoric Plush – Dinosaur Soft Toys.

Nursery Children Build their own Dinosaur

Whilst on a visit to teach about dinosaurs in school in Yorkshire, one of the Everything Dinosaur team members took a picture of a dinosaur that the nursery class had built as they too studied dinosaurs for the day.  As part of the dinosaur workshop, we were working with Year 2 and Year 3 children, but the nursery children also joined in the day of dinosaur themed activities with some colouring in of pictures of prehistoric animals and an exploration of dinosaurs using the sensory play area.

Dinosaur

Nursery School Children Build a Dinosaur

Nursery school children construct a dinosaur in the playground.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Using the tyres and building blocks from the outside play area along with some crates that the class had borrowed the children were able to build their very own dinosaur.  One of the little palaeontologists pointed out the yellow feet, whilst another explained that they had put building blocks on the tail just like the plates on a Stegosaurus.

The Everything Dinosaur team member was not quite sure what name the children had come up with, but one of the nursery school children said that their dinosaur was “definitely a plant-eater”.

We suggested that this dinosaur should be called “Nurseryosaurus”.

To read more about Everything Dinosaur’s huge range of dinosaur themed toys and games: Everything Dinosaur – Toys, Models and Gifts.

Springbrook Pupils Discuss Dinosaurs

This morning a team member from Everything Dinosaur visited Springbrook Primary school and met some of the young dinosaur fans who had been learning all about dinosaurs and fossils with their teacher.  Together we looked at just how big some dinosaurs were and the rib bone that we showed the class reminded Liam of a “golf club”.  Abu and Ethan were very good at pronouncing the name of dinosaurs and Miss Foxcroft joined in too.

Young Dinosaur Fans

Luke remembered what needed to be done when it came to pouring the casting mixture into the moulds and he was able to guide his chums as they cast their replica fossil.  Kyle said that his favourite dinosaur was Tyrannosaurus rex and he explained that T. rex was a carnivore and that it ate other dinosaurs.  Kyle had even made a model of this fearsome meat-eater and our dinosaur expert took a picture of it.

Model of a Tyrannosaurus rex

Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur model.

Picture credit: Kyle/Everything Dinosaur

Kyle then went on to explain that although Tyrannosaurus rex had short arms they were very strong.

With the enthusiastic Miss Caines and Mrs Makin helping, one of the walls in the classroom had been decorated with a colourful T. rex and a brown painted Triceratops, lots of words had been stuck up onto the dinosaur scene so that the children could refer to the wall poster when writing about dinosaurs in their work books.  The wall poster is a great way to help with the teaching about dinosaurs in school.

Big Dinosaurs Feature on a Big Wall Poster in the Classroom

Colourful dinosaurs lurking behind a tree.

Picture credit: Abu, Ethan, Liam, Luke and Kyle

T. rex Teeth

Abu, Liam and Luke said that the teeth of T. rex were the size of a banana, what a wonderful description. Perhaps the teaching team could help the children measure some bananas so the fruit can be compared to a dinosaur’s tooth.

When it comes to measuring, the dinosaur footprint diagrams that Everything Dinosaur sent over as part of the follow up from the dinosaur workshop in the school, might help the children too.  They could measure the footprints and then compare the footprint’s made by a dinosaur to the size of their own feet.  Perhaps if the teaching team could find a tape measure, then maybe Ethan could measure around his chest to see if  his rib bones are bigger or smaller than the “golf club” shaped dinosaur rib bone he saw earlier.

To view the range of prehistoric animal toys and gifts available from Everything Dinosaur: Dinosaur Toys, Models and Gifts.