Fossils: Doodling and Diggin’ the Earth
Students will work in small groups to design and 3Doodle a cast and mold for a set of trace fossils of a dinosaur's bones. Students will research and record facts about their selected dinosaur on the back of each fossil. After swapping fossil sets with another group, each group will carefully dig out a hidden set of fossils from a sandbox and reassemble this dinosaur's skeleton and recorded information.
Knowledge
Students have
Learned how fossils are formed.
Learned about different types of fossils including, trace fossils, fossilized bones, petrified fossils and carbon film.
Learned about fossil molds and casts.
Learned how sediments or minerals fill a mold and form a cast.
Had practice using the 3Doodler.
Learned how fossils are formed.
Learned about different types of fossils including, trace fossils, fossilized bones, petrified fossils and carbon film.
Learned about fossil molds and casts.
Learned how sediments or minerals fill a mold and form a cast.
Had practice using the 3Doodler.
Objectives
Students will
Use the 3Doodler to create a set of dinosaur bones in 5-7 individual segments as stamps.
Use each stamp to create an imprint of a separate skeleton segment in a piece of clay.
Understand that some fossils form when minerals slowly take the place of originally once living matter.
Use the 3Doodler to create a set of dinosaur bones in 5-7 individual segments as stamps.
Use each stamp to create an imprint of a separate skeleton segment in a piece of clay.
Understand that some fossils form when minerals slowly take the place of originally once living matter.
Materials
Students will need
3Doodler (1 per group)
Pencils (3-4 per group)
Scrap paper (1 per group)
White copy paper (1 per group)
Air-dry clay (1 lb. per group)
3Doodler (1 per group)
Pencils (3-4 per group)
Scrap paper (1 per group)
White copy paper (1 per group)
Air-dry clay (1 lb. per group)
Lesson Plan
Instructions
Step 1
PREPARATION (Optional)
Students will review the listed sites and video to learn more about dinosaur fossils and discoveries.
Step 2
Share the goals. Each small group of 3-4 students will select a dinosaur discovery, design a set of stencils for this dinosaur's bones, 3Doodle over the set of stencils, use the doodled bones as stamps to create an imprint of bones in clay and research and record information about their dinosaur.
Step 3
Model how to create stencils and imprints.
Step 4
Note requirements for research: Write a paragraph about the selected dinosaur; where it was discovered; how its fossils were formed; and any information that scientists were able to infer from examining its fossils, e.g., size, height, eating habits, prey, etc.
Step 5
Flip over fossil pieces and reassemble face side down. Glue one piece of paper on the back of each fossil. Use all pieces to write a paragraph.
Step 6
Arrange fossil pieces like a puzzle, so that information about the dinosaur can be read when the pieces are turned over and reassembled.
Step 7
Place one set of fossils into a sandbox. Have another group dig up the fossils and reassemble them as a dinosaur skeleton. Flip them over to reassemble as information about the dinosaur.
PREPARATION (Optional)
Students will review the listed sites and video to learn more about dinosaur fossils and discoveries.
Share the goals. Each small group of 3-4 students will select a dinosaur discovery, design a set of stencils for this dinosaur's bones, 3Doodle over the set of stencils, use the doodled bones as stamps to create an imprint of bones in clay and research and record information about their dinosaur.
Model how to create stencils and imprints.
Note requirements for research: Write a paragraph about the selected dinosaur; where it was discovered; how its fossils were formed; and any information that scientists were able to infer from examining its fossils, e.g., size, height, eating habits, prey, etc.
Flip over fossil pieces and reassemble face side down. Glue one piece of paper on the back of each fossil. Use all pieces to write a paragraph.
Arrange fossil pieces like a puzzle, so that information about the dinosaur can be read when the pieces are turned over and reassembled.
Place one set of fossils into a sandbox. Have another group dig up the fossils and reassemble them as a dinosaur skeleton. Flip them over to reassemble as information about the dinosaur.
Wrap Up
Assessment
Possible Extensions
Resources
Vocabulary
Educational Standards
Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
Students will research information about dinosaur fossil discoveries.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Students will base models of trace fossils and dinosaurs on information from text to support their thinking.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Students will answer questions about their experience based on research and their experience creating trace fossils.
Plan and create a design document to illustrate thoughts, ideas, and stories in a sequential (step-by-step) manner (e.g., story map, storyboard, sequential graphic organizer).
Students will create tracings and stencils while planning the 3Doodler design of their dinosaur's trace fossils.
Decompose (break down) a larger problem into smaller sub-problems with teacher guidance or independently.
Students will break down the process of understanding how trace fossils are formed, and the information we can learn by examining them.
Use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
Students will use the 3Doodler to visually demonstrate how trace fossils are formed.
Exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.
Students will demonstrate willingness and competency within an open-ended task with more than one possible outcome.
Create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
Students will create a set of trace fossils for a dinosaur with a 3Doodler.
Use collaborative technologies to work with others, including peers, experts or community members, to examine issues and problems from multiple viewpoint
Students will seek feedback from peers throughout the design, creation and writing process.
Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago.
Students will make inferences about dinosaurs based on fossils.
Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.*
Students will discuss how scientists use fossils to make inferences about how animals change over time.
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