1. Dinosaur Footprints!
On our 1st semester field trip to the Danville Science Center, the 2nd graders learned about paleontology and fossils. One of the main things they learned was that many fossils on display are replicas, or casts. Fossils could be too fragile or too rare to display. Also, if there is only one or a few of a fossil and many sites want to display them, that would cause a problem, so paleontologists will often replicate original fossils.
The 2nd graders were given the challenge to do something similar. Groups were able to choose between 3 dinosaur footprints - the Triceratops (38 cm in length), the Stegosaurus (40 cm in length), and the Tyrannosaurus Rex (1 meter in length!!!!!). 3 out of the 4 groups chose replicated the footprint of the T-Rex, which was no surprise :). Using our official Dinosaur Fossil Replicating Paper (a.k.a. tissue - smile!) and a formula of water and adhesive, each group got to work.
Now, the real challenge was to take the tiny examples of what each dinosaur footprint looked like on the assignment paper, and increase the scale so that it still resembled the footprint and was the correct length.
The 2nd graders were given the challenge to do something similar. Groups were able to choose between 3 dinosaur footprints - the Triceratops (38 cm in length), the Stegosaurus (40 cm in length), and the Tyrannosaurus Rex (1 meter in length!!!!!). 3 out of the 4 groups chose replicated the footprint of the T-Rex, which was no surprise :). Using our official Dinosaur Fossil Replicating Paper (a.k.a. tissue - smile!) and a formula of water and adhesive, each group got to work.
Now, the real challenge was to take the tiny examples of what each dinosaur footprint looked like on the assignment paper, and increase the scale so that it still resembled the footprint and was the correct length.
It took a lot of teamwork (and clean-up!), but each group really did well!
2. The Results
My plan was for the STEMmers to be able to put their feet up next to their dinosaur footprint when they dried. However, casting is messy work and I don't think these would have dried anytime soon!
3. Recyclasaurus chalenge
In this lesson, the STEMmers learned about many different types of dinosaurs like theropods, sauropods, ceratopsia, and more. After learning about the different features of each dinosaur type, the STEMmers all took on the role of paleontologists, and they have made amazing new discoveries! New species of dinosaurs! Each STEMmer has been challenged to tell us all about the new species they have discovered, name the dinosaur, and make a mini model of it.
4. This just IN...
Check out these new dinosaur species!