- Be able to describe a skeleton.
- Be able to arrange pretend bones in a way that resembles a dinosaur skeleton.
- Create a dinosaur skeleton using toothpicks, Popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, and a variety of wooden beads.
- Black 12" X 18" construction paper
- Popsicle sticks,Toothpicks
- Tongue depressor sticks
- Wooden beads
- Paper plates to hold the above materials
Set Up and Prepare
Arrange each working table with a variety of the above materials for students to share.
Step 1: Read More About Dinosaurs by David Cutts and Fossils Tell of Long Ago by Aliki Brandenberg. Discuss how, to create a skeleton, bones must be assembled in the same order they were when the dinosaur was alive.
Step 2: Brainstorm about which bones you would need to put together a T- Rex skeleton. Review characteristics: two feet, short arms, large claws, ribs, tail, etc.
Step 3: Break the sticks as needed and arrange them in the desired order on black paper.
Step 4: Glue pieces of stick to the paper when they are arranged in the desired way.
- Have students tell the class what they know about dinosaurs. Write down what they dictate and display it with their creations.
- Research other animals' skeletons.
- Have students feel the bones under their own skin. Look at diagrams of human and animal skeletons. (Encyclopedias and anatomy books are good resources.) Show pictures of skeletons and see if the kids can guess to whom the skeleton belongs.
Using library books have students find pictures of different types of skeletons and make photocopies of them. Make a collage of the pictures and label each skeleton.
- Can most students describe a skeleton? Do they understand there are lots of bones?
- Do students understand that bones are under their skin?
- How many students have prior knowledge of skeletons from going to museums, etc.?
- Were students able to make a skeleton using Popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, toothpicks, and wooden beads?
- Can students describe a skeleton using the terms skull and bones?
- Can students tell what job a paleontologist does and where dinosaur bones are found?