IPS/Butler University Laboratory School

Tags: capable, dinosaurs, project

Today, we took our observational drawings and created wire sculptures from them. We practiced paying close attention to detail in our wire, just as we did in our drawings. The results are incredible! The conversations we had were also very neat as the kids discussed the carious body parts of the dinosaurs.

Conversation 1

What was this part for? Hmm, maybe he whacked predators with it! Regan

This part? Its his sail. I think its just to like show the predators that you have to be quiet and he shakes it and all the other dinosaurs be quiet. Sascha

If I was a T-Rex, I would be scared of it! Regan

Conversation 2

I can turn this into a big head! Its the same as the dinosaur! Ayden

I made his head big too. I made this big head and this pink stuff so he will be protected. I made twisties so he has bones. Beatrice

This will be his big crest. I think it was to bump away other predators and break their bones. Dylan

His head had like rocks on it so he could bump into other dinosaurs. Like his friends. Beatrice

They’re not rocks, just bumpy things! Dylan

Here’s his crest! Hutton

I’m trying to make his body just like my picture! Jackson

Tags: creativity, dinosaurs, project, sculpture

Today, we did observational drawings of dinosaurs in preperation for creating sculptures. We discussed the importance of paying close attention to the details in our subject. Later this week, we will revisit our drawings and use them as our plan for our sculptures.

Tags: dinosaurs, observation, project

We had a busy day today. We continued our conversation about dinosaur bones and how they can help us understand dinosaurs. We learned that by looking at the teeth of dinosaurs, paleontologists can tell whether the dinosaur was a carnivore (meat eater) or herbivore (plant eater). Today we also talked about how bones give us clues to ancestry and connections to other animals that remain today. Many friends have commented on the similarities to various sea creatures, lizards, and chickens.  Our friends have many theories about what happened to the dinosaurs and who their descendants are.

This week we have also been talking about subtraction. We have been highlighting various friends’ strategies for solving these problems during share time and have created strategy posters. These posters can then support friends during independent problem solving time the following day by using a strategy that was successful for another child. The kids also get quite excited when their strategy goes up as a poster!

Tags: dinosaurs, project

This week, we began talking about bones! This morning, friends were invited to create watercolor pictures that illustrated the insides of dinosaur’s bodies. We also had a discussion about theories on why bones are important to people and dinosaurs. Friends were invited to look at some chicken bones and a raccoon skull on the light table. We also created representations of dinosaurs with pipe cleaners, and added the different bones we knew about to our model. We hope to discover more about bones and their functions this week!

Tags: design, dinosaurs, project