Dinosaurs and Rocks
Published on: June 30, 2007
D d d the dinosaur sound, d makes a dinosaur sound!
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This newsletter is brought to you by dinosaurs and rocks. Dinosaurs and rocks can be introduced and studied by preschool children and by elementary students who are using the Great Lessons-
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Geology is a great Key Lesson for the Montessori Great Lesson, God Who
Has No Hands
Rocks and minerals are some of the smaller components of geology.
They can be found in sand, rocks, and larger formations, such as mountains.
Rocks are a favorite and interesting topic for study. A rock sample can tell you where it was formed, the earth's climate and history, and much more.
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A hunting we will go-
You can find rocks almost anywhere. Rock hounding is a world wide hobby that probably starts from the first shiny rock you pick up as a kid. If you like to go rock hunting, here are some items to take in your backpack.
A compass-kids love to see the direction they are going while walking anywhere. A compass is a great tool when using a map and finding your way.
A magnifying glass(10x)
You can see the crystal formations of a rock much easier using a magnifying glass. Find one small enough to put in your pocket or hang around your neck.
If you have to dig, bring a small garden trowel (shovel).
A small piece of tile. Use the plain backside of the tile to rub the rock to find out the true color of the rock. Use a color chart to match the rocks.
Pack small containers, empty egg cartons secured with rubber bands, newspapers to wrap the rocks.
If you like bringing a chisel or rock hammer, instead try a simple pocketknife with a few accessories.
For a geology and geography lesson bring tags & pencil to mark the rocks with a number, such as 1 through 10. Mark down on a map or pad where the rock was found, and research the historic geology of the location.
A small bottle with an eyedropper fill with vinegar. Put a drop on each specimen; it will fizz if the rock is made of base material, which is usually calcite or limestone.
Water to drink and rinse the dust off the rocks.
This Rock and Mineral Chart will help identify your child's treasures.
Minerals by Name has an extensive list of minerals and rocks to help identify your collection.
Here are some more helpful links-
Minerals by Class
How Rocks are Formed
You can make a crystal garden-with adult supervision, or Sugar
Crystals for younger children-
Crystal Garden
Materials:
some coal or rocks
a clear shallow glass bowl
a small bowl for mixing-an old, clean food container
6 tablespoons of bluing (in the detergent aisle)
6 tablespoons of salt
6 tablespoons of water
6 tablespoons of ammonia
various food coloring
1. Put the coal or rocks in the bottom of the glass bowl.
2. Mix in the small bowl the bluing, salt, water and ammonia.
3. Pour over the rocks or coal.
4. Add a few drops of different food coloring in different areas of
the rocks or coal.
5. After a few hours, crystals will start to form. They will grow over
the next few days. They are very colorful and interesting for observation.
6. A good magnifying glass will help your child see the symmetry in
the crystal structure.
On note cards make observations and notes on the following:
How long did it take before the first crystal appeared?
How many crystals appeared the second day compared to the first day?
When did the crystals stop forming?
Draw a picture of a crystal.
What is a crystal?
It is a type of a rock. It has a special form, it is made from even
shapes that repeat themselves.
Crystals has a good site about the 7 crystal systems.
Paper crystals you can make with printouts
Snow flakes are crystals
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Practical Life Skills
The Dinosaur Washing Tray is a favorite. This one is for dinosaur fans.
Here is what you will need:
One large dinosaur figure
Tray or shallow box
Bowl for water
Jug of water-put in just enough water so the bowl won't overflow
Face or wash cloth
Cotton swabs
Child's soft, new toothbrush
Put items on tray and bring to the table. Show how to slowly fill the bowl about 1/3 with water. Take the brush and slowly clean the dinosaur model. Dry with cloth. Use cotton swab to dry smaller areas, such as claws and head. Put everything away when finished
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Dinosaur Songs
Singing Dinosaur Songs
Dinosaur songs and finger plays are a great way to introduce music to your theme. Clapping, hand gestures and dramatic play can enhance your child's language and comprehension skills.
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Dinosaur Cards and Games
Best free dinosaur cards are at Yahooligans Science. They are very life -like and colorful. Pick out any dinosaur from A to Z and make nomenclature cards for matching, reading or spelling.
Dinosaur Dominoes and Card Printouts
These cards would make great games for matching. Also, you could play the Memory Game.
Mix up and spread out the pairs of cards face up. Then turn them face down. Start the game by flipping up one card and try to find its matching card. Continue until you miss finding the next card. You can play this in teams too. To make the game easier, let a person have extra turns to find the matching card. For a more challenging game, just put the cards face down and play the game without knowing the cards positions.
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Dinosaur Science and Math
Dinosaur Math
Math motivation is here from Enchanted Learning. The problems are basic addition and subtraction with the added bonus of an encrypted message at the end. This is a great self correcting activity, very Montessori!
Dinosaur Footprints
Make dinosaur footprints and number. Spread them out either to walk on or collect in numerical order.
Walk like a Dinosaur
This lesson uses talcum powder and props to show how dinosaurs walked.
This lab shows how different dinosaurs moved.
Dino Directory
This site has a great time line with pictures of dinosaurs that lived during that era. Also, it has a link for dinosaurs that lived in your country. I really like the body type classification that explains how body shape determines their classification. Also, you can print the images for a price from the museum. They would make great nomenclature cards or 3 part cards.
The Natural History Museum will give you a price estimate for any picture you want to download. These would make great nomenclature cards or 3 part cards. For very young children, you can buy plastic dinosaurs to match with pictures of like dinosaurs. My 18 month to 2 year olds loved this activity.
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Here are some more sites to help with your Dinosaur Fun-
Colour in Some Dinosaurs
Ivy's Dinosaur Coloring Pages
You can print out the coloring pages to make nomenclature cards. Just color them, print the label, and put on tag or poster board.
Dinosaur Time Line for students to make.
Dinosaur Omnipedia has a great dictionaries, ancient maps of earth, geological ages of earth's history.
Dino Dictionary
Enchanted Learning Dinosaur Dictionary
Yahoo Search for Dinosaur Skeleton Pictures
Make cards to match with the actual picture of the dinosaur or make 3 part cards.
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Dinosaur Dig
Put sand in a large container or plastic pool and provide your own dinosaur fossil dig. Provide plastic shovels to dig, buckets for extra sand, old paint brushes to brush off the fossil, and a tray to display your fossils.
Here are some favorite ideas for making fossils to put in your dig-
Pasta Fossils
Dino Bones
You can also buy dinosaur bones from discount or toy stores.
Make the dig more interesting for older children by burying modern items, rocks, shells, rubber band, paper clip, and so on. Let the children decide what belongs to the dinosaur era.
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Are dinosaurs alive today?
What happened to dinosaurs? Are they today's birds?
The Salt Water Crocodile is considered a living dinosaur.
You never know where you might see a dinosaur.
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