We only have another couple weeks or so left for the dinosaur unit. It’s been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. The kids have learned tons and I’ve noticed they’ve incorporated what we’ve learned into their play and discussions. They are enjoying me reading Jurassic Park to them. Here’s what we’ve done since I last updated about our unit study:

• Listened to Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House #1) book on tape
• Read several fiction and non-fiction dinosaur books we checked out from the library
• Read pages 111-220 of Jurassic Park
• Discussed dinosaur droppings (size)
• Discussed dung beetles and talked about the dung beetles on the display in the entrance to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
• Discussed lysine and what amino acids are
• Drew a dinosaur (Cameron drew a Stegosaurus; Ani drew a T Rex with a mostly eaten meal and pools of blood at his feet) and labeled the page Dinosauria (Cameron)/Dinosauria – Terrible Lizards (Ani)
• Read Let’s Explore Dinosaurs
• Completed science project backboard; Cameron wrote parts and Ani wrote other parts (see picture below)
• Discussed cloning and the advantages to making a genetically engineered creature a certain way (they both agreed a second Fritz would be nice but they’d make him potty trained, able to talk, and never to grow bigger than he is now)
• Grew four grow in water dinosaurs
• Discussed number graphs and made one
• Discussed bell curves and made one
• Played Dinosaur Snap (this has become a regularly played game over the last several days)
• Discussed dinosaur sizes and compared the sizes of the dinosaur models and arranged them by size
• Discussed zoos and issues with animal care and running a zoo
• Discussed problems presented in Jurassic Park and brainstormed ideas to solve them
• Made and painted plaster fossil models
• Discussed gizzard stones
• Looked through Dinosaur Dictionary
• Discussed fractals, Mandelbrot, and Euclid
• Started Triops growing
• Put together cardboard T Rex skeleton
• Painted several wooden dinosaur shapes