Denise Edelson
Solomon School
October 16, 2000
Objectives: Learn about the function of the skeleton.
Learn the names of the bones of the human skeleton.
Goals: State Goal 11 (Science): Have a working knowledge of the processes of scientific inquiry and technological design to investigate questions, conduct experiments, and solve problems.
State Goal 12 (Science): Have a working knowledge of the fundamental concepts and principles of the life, physical, and earth/space sciences and their connections.
Activities: 1. Read Look at Your Body: Skeleton.
Discuss the function of the bones of the human skeleton.
Materials- Look at Your Body: Skeleton by Steve Parker
Evaluation- All students will participate in oral discussion.
Note: Provide additional trade books on this topic at an interest center in
the classroom that students may visit at various times during the day
(silent reading time, center time, and free choice time after independent assignments are completed).
2. Label the bones of a skeleton.
Using an overhead projector, display a picture of a human skeleton. Each student will have a paper copy of the skeleton. A labeled poster of the bones of the human body will be used to identify the names of the bones of the body. The students and teacher will label their skeletons to match the poster.
Materials- Overhead projector, acetate sheet of the (unlabeled) human skeleton, a labeled poster of the bones of the human skeleton, individual paper copies of the sheet displayed on the overhead to distribute to each student, clipboards so that students may sit near the overhead image and copy the information they need.
Evaluation- All will successfully label their blank paper skeletons. (Assign partners to compare their sheets, looking for errors to correct.)
Note: Choose 10 bone names to be spelling words of the week. We chose: ribs, clavicle, femur, skull, humerus, vertebrae, patella, scapula, pelvis, and sternum.
3. Assemble almost-life-size human skeletons.
Cut out bones of the human body, which have been duplicated on index weight paper. Glue them together following directions printed on the paper. Label the 10 bones that have been noted in the above activity.
Materials: Xeroxed copies of the bones of the body, making enough for each child to work independently, glue, scissors, marking pens.
Evaluation: Each child will assemble a skeleton and label the parts correctly, with 70% correct indicating mastery.
Note: Assemble one skeleton ahead of time to use as a model to refer to as the students assemble their skeletons. I used a pattern given to me by Mary Keegan during the course of our own dinosaur studies..
4. Identify and name 10 bones of the human body.
The students will fill in the names of a minimum of 10 bones of the human skeleton on a blank copy of the same human skeleton paper that was used in activity #2 (above). Students may name more than 10 bones to earn extra credit for this activity.
Materials: Blank copies of the same human skeleton paper that was used in activity #2 above.
Evaluation- Students will name 7 out of 10 bone names correctly to
achieve mastery. They may earn unlimited extra credit by naming additional
bones of the body.
Note: Allow time during the school day for pairs of students to work together to name bones in preparation for taking this quiz.
Objectives: Compare the bones of the human skeleton to a dinosaur skeleton.
Graph to compare these bones.
Goals: State Goal 12 (Science): Have a working knowledge of the fundamental concepts and principles of the life, physical, and earth/space sciences and their connections.
State Goal 10 (Mathematics): Collect, organize, and analyze data using statistical methods to predict results and interpret uncertainty and change in practical applications.
Activities: 1. Read Inside Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures.
Discuss the dinosaur bone names in comparison to human bone names. View pictures of dinosaur skeletons. Find the 10 bones highlighted in the previous skeleton activities.
Materials: Inside Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures by Ted Dewan and a class set of Xeroxed pictures of dinosaur skeletons.
Evaluation: Assess oral discussion and identification of bones by students.
2. Use rubber stamps to identify, compare, and graph bones.
Using rubber stamps of human skeleton bones and dinosaur bones, fill in a teacher-made graph sheet to compare bones. Label the graph.
Materials: A teacher-made graph like the one below. (Students filled in the names of the bones that they matched.) The empty spaces provide room for stamping bone shapes.
Dinosaurs vs. Humans
|
Names of Bones |
Rib |
Skull |
Femur |
Pelvis |
Vertebrae |
|
Dinosaur Bone |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Human Bone |
|
|
|
|
|
Evaluation: Students will complete the graph with 70% accuracy.
Note: Keep the human stamps in one location and the dinosaur stamps in
another location to avoid confusion.
3. View the video Skeletons in the Sand.
Observe paleontologists discovering dinosaur bones and listen to them speaking of their discoveries, using the names of bones that have been studied in the classroom. Discuss.
Materials- Video: Skeletons in the Sand
Objectives: Sort bones to experience what a paleontologist does on expedition.
Use the vocabulary learned to name bones.
Write about these experiences.
Goals: State Goal 3 (Language Arts): Write to communicate for a variety of purposes.
State Goal 4 (Language Arts): Listen and speak effectively in a variety of situations.
State Goal 10 (Mathematics): Collect, organize, and analyze data using statistical methods to predict results and interpret uncertainty and change in practical applications.
State Goal 13 (Science): Have a working knowledge of the relationships among science, technology, and society in historical and contemporary contexts.
Activities: 1. Read Owls: Owl Magic for Kids.
Emphasize and discuss the hunting and feeding habits of these animals as they relate to the formation of owl pellets.
Materials: Owls: Owl Magic for Kids by Neal Niemuth.
Evaluation: All students will participate in listening to the story and the discussion that follows.
2. Identify and sort bones in owl pellets.
Working with a partner, each child will pull apart an owl pellet using toothpicks as tools, first separating the bones from the fur and then sorting the bones on sorting sheets. The sorting sheets are in graph form. The students must identify the type of bone and the animal that the bone came from. The bones will then be glued in the correct space on the sorting sheet. A sorting sheet may be viewed in the student work section. Students will work cooperatively with their partners to sort as many bones as they can from their owl pellets.
Materials- Owl pellets (may be purchased through science supply houses), toothpicks, sorting sheets (These are also available for sale through science supply houses.), plastic storage bags.
Evaluation- No minimum number of bones need to be sorted to determine mastery, instead, the teacher will observe whether the students work cooperatively with their partners and attempt to adhere to the process of comparing and then identifying the bones of various animals.
3. Write in journals.
Each day, after the students work on their owl pellets, the students will keep a journal in response to these questions:
How did you feel when you first got your owl pellet?
What did you think was going to happen?
What did you think after the first day of pulling the pellet apart?
What was it like trying to sort the bones on the sorting sheet?
What did you find in your pellet?
How is the job of doing owl pellets like the job that a paleontologist does?
Evaluation- Journal entries will be assessed to determine if scientific vocabulary is used and if students are able to find comparisons between this activity and the job of a paleontologist.
Dewan, Ted. Inside Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures. New York: Delacorte Press, Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1993.
Niemuth, Neal. Owls: Owl Magic for Kids. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 1996.
Parker, Steve. Look at Your Body: Skeleton. Brookfield, Connecticut: Copper Beech Books, 1996.
Posner, Andrea. Rubber Stamp Bones Book. China: Joshua Morris Publishing, Inc., 1995.
Schatz, Dennis. Build Your Own Dinosaurs. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1994.
The New Explorers: Skeletons in the Sand. Produced by WTTW/Chicago and Kurtis Productions Ltd. A & E Home Video, 1997.