Fossils

My wife was doing a research project with her 1-4 students. The idea was to teach kids to use the web for resources and to cite resources. This all started at the beginning of the year. She was doing compare/contrast using dinosaurs as well as descriptive writing. She also used dinosaurs to teach technical reading, having kids study the steps used to get fossils out of the ground. As a culminating activity she allowed me to make fossils with her students. I am so grateful that she allows me access to her learners. It allows me to test out ideas and to stay connected to real classroom experience.

We started by creating stencils of plants and animals and cutting them out.

The next step was to take the stencils outside to our containers of wet sand and use little fingers to press in and articulate the bones, stems and details of our fossils.

As kids added their fossils to the sand, we fenced off areas at first. What soon became clear was that we needed to collaborate to share space in the sand!

Whether dragonflies or ferns or dinosaur eggs, the kids carefully pressed on.

This was a culminating activity but from the beginning it was also designed to be an event that kids would not forget.

That night I mixed up concrete, poured it into our molds (carefully) and allowed them to cure. I then buried them in preselected ground.

Three days later, we created a grid and kids began excavating with toothbrushes and paintbrushes and the rest of the school, the superintendant and the local TV news noticed.

The kids dug and sifted through their learning. Make sure you plant a few sea shells in the dig site!

The kids were very proud of their fossils which continue to adorn the classroom. In the future, we think we'll make a walkway of these fossils that kids can proudly walk on. I recommend barefoot..they feel pretty cool!

See the news coverage!