Fossils
Overview
This min-unit was developed for my kindergarten class
at Leal school in Urbana. The idea for the subject matter came directly
from the students when my co-op was asking the students what they wanted
to study for the next project. The general consensus was dinosaurs, but
a small group of children really wanted to study fossils. The general philosophy
of this classroom is that when children express the desire to learn about
something, we as teachers, do what we can to give them the opportunity.
So, my cooperating teacher asked if I wanted to do fossils with six to
seven children out of the seventeen who were interested, and I accepted
the challenge.
Fossils are not the easiest thing to teach in a kindergarten
classroom. Kindergartners need to be able to touch, feel, and experience
their environment in person. The study of fossils includes a lot of scientific
terminology and discussion of prehistoric creatures and plant life (such
as dinosaurs, crinoids, insects, bivalves, mollusks, tribolites, and ferns)
which have made its mark in time by preserving itself in rock, amber, ice,
wood, or bone. It is difficult to find a good sample of all the different
types of fossils that can be in the classroom available for the children
to touch. I really was having a difficult time deciding what it was I was
going to teach to these children and how I was going to do it in a way
that fostered an atmosphere of personal exploration and discovery. In order
to guide me along, I began with a KWL. I asked the children what they knew
about fossils, and was quite surprised. The children knew fossils were
animals and plants that have left prints on rocks or as bones (like the
dinosaurs). Some of them knew the actually process that occurs during fossilization.
I then asked what they wanted to know. In order to give a little direction,
I put some children's books out for them that had photographs of fossils.
They seemed most intrigued in the different ways fossils formed - especially
amber and ice fossils, and the work of paleontologists.
I then decided that the focus of my unit would be fossil
types and formations which would be tied together with the theme of paleontology.
I felt paleontology was especially important because it intrinsically advocated
for a hands on approach to learning about fossils through role playing.
The first lesson was the hardest because I had to introduce more factual
information as a starting point. I started with having the children look
at fossils and hypothesize about the kind of life that might have created
them, emphasizing that paleontologists have to do this when they find a
specimen they have never encountered. I then allowed them to try to organize
the fossils I had into groups. The main purpose of this was to get the
children to practice observation and analysis skills. By giving them a
chance to think about the kinds of life created fossils, we were able to
transition into the kinds of fossils that preserve this life in the next
lesson. For this lesson, I used a informational picture book as well as
laser disc pictures to introduce the factual material. Then the children
spent time with homemade clay making different types of fossils based on
that information. This naturally led into a discussion on paleontologists
for the next lesson in which they were able to dig up their fossils that
had been covered in a soft clay and buried in a sand table, using techniques
that paleontologists use, including recording information in journals.
The final aspect of this lesson was a summary of what they learned by creating
a collaborative book on fossils.
The main goals that I had for this unit were simple in
nature. I wanted the children to have a chance to manipulate and explore
something new and interesting to them. I wanted them to have a chance to
learn about the world around them, what it contains, and the opportunities
that will be available to them. I do not expect them to memorize information
or be able to remember the words "crinoid stem". I want for them
to learn to observe, manipulate, and express themselves through written,drawn,
and spoken language.
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