I often refer to the ‘Dinosaur Principal’ when I speak about the complexities of language and problem solving that young (F-3) students are capable of exhibiting. Anyone who has a 6 to 8 year old (particularly boys) would know that there is a certain fascination around Dinosaurs. In the classes I worked with at Findon there was at least one student in each class who had an exceptional knowledge of Dinosaurs and a large proportion could name at least 5 or 6, as well as describe features of them.
So the teachers at Findon chose this lesson (From Dinosaurs to Kangaroos) as the ‘Carrot’ to develop a unit around understanding animals and their features, as well as how animals have evolved and adapted over time. These are quite complex concepts, but I figure, if a student can name and describe in detail a Tyrannosaurus Rex and their interactions with other Dinosaurs, then they are capable of understanding concepts of evolution, ecology, adaptation and complex interactions that occur in nature.
I delivered the lesson to four different classes with a 1 hour time slot for each group. There were two grade 2 classes, a 2/3 class and a grade 3 class so there was slight variation in the way each session was approached, with the predominantly grade 2 sessions focused more on activity, rather than the presentation. If I do this lesson again, I would probably re-write the topic to cover two sessions; one on the classification of Dinosaurs and another on modern animals (with similar features). Another aspect worth reviewing would be how to establish a deep understanding of the concepts in individual students. So a follow up lesson could include a reflection on the session and a word match game that could clearly demonstrate a link between the features of animals and their behavior.
The lesson was delivered in three parts (See the Full Lesson Plan):
- Expert talk (approx 30mins). I introduced the students to the concept of a dinosaur and how they are categorised. The students had an opportunity to express their own knowledge by answering questions such as "What does Bipedal mean?", "How many horns does a Triceratops have?", "How many toes does an Ornithopod have?" I related dinosaurs to the annual Inverloch Dinosaur dig and the students handed around a piece of mudstone and some examples of fossils.
- Exploration (10-15mins) Students explored a variety of animal bones and asked questions about the particular features - especially different types of teeth.
- Explanation / Elaboration (10-15mins) We played 'Animal Bingo'. The students worked in teams to match animals and features (such as sharp teeth, grinding teeth, long neck etc.) to the words on the bingo sheet (carnivore, omnivore, herbivore, arboreal etc.).
