We started off our unit by reading several non-fiction books about dinosaurs. Books we got from the library. The public library. Books that mention the awful, dreaded "e" word. "You mean you taught your child about evolution?!" Of course I did! How else is she going to know how to defend it if she doesn't know it's out there?! But I also have to add that we read a remarkable book written by John Morris and Ken Hamm called What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs, which did a most excellent job of presenting the science in the context of the Scriptures, which is exactly the way I'm convinced God wants it to be done. Okay. . . thanks for letting me borrow your soap box. You can have it back now.
So what exactly did I teach Hannah during our dinosaur unit? Well, we looked at Genesis 1:20-26, first of all, to see exactly when God made these creatures. Then we looked at pictures of all different kinds of dinosaurs to get an idea of the creativity He displayed when he made them! We talked about the environments they lived in, the kinds of food they may have eaten, whether they flew or walked, etc. We also spent some time talking about paleontology, which really piqued Hannah's interest.
We spent a lot of time studying the bodies of the dinosaurs to see what unique traits they had. Some of them had bony plates; others had pointed tails; still others had sharp spiny bones protruding from their heads or their backs. After we looked at all of the details, Hannah chose her favorite dinosaurs and we drew pictures of them. Correction: After we looked at all of the details, Hannah chose her favorite dinosaurs and started drawing pictures of them but whined so much about how she hates to draw that I finally handed her the Play-Doh and told her to start sculpting them so that I could finish the drawing part in peace. Here are a few pictures of our finished projects.
This is a Tyrannosaurus. Hannah drew the picture and sculpted the dinosaur completely on her own!
This is a Rhamphorhynchus. (Say that three times quickly!) Hannah drew the picture, and I sculpted the body.
This is a Plesiosaurus. I was quite proud of Hannah for noticing that he must have lived in the water because he has flippers like a sea turtle. I drew this one, and Hannah sculpted it.
And this is a Styracosaurus. I drew it, and we sculpted it together.
We spent some time talking about the fossils paleontologists have found and how they put them together like a puzzle to see what the dinosaurs might have looked like when they were alive. We went outside and measured 110 feet, which is the length of the Ultrasaurus, one of the longest dinosaurs. She really, really, really loved this activity because (1) she got to play with Greg's tape measure, which she thoroughly enjoys for some odd reason, and (2) she was able to understand its mammoth size when she could see that its tail was at one end of her driveway and its head was almost to her neighbor's house.
Hannah's special words to remember this week were "Big and small, God made them all." (Again, no picture of Hannah wearing the badge. I'll have to work on that! But here's a picture of the badge so you can see what it looks like.)
Her curriculum is focusing pretty heavily right now on God as Creator, which thrills me to no end. As we go through our units throughout the rest of Kindergarten, it's so important for her to understand that everything we study was created by God. Not to mention the fact that there's no better way to understand your own worth than to realize that you were created! You're not just some random accident; you're not here by chance. Somebody loved you enough to form you in your mother's womb! I pray that Hannah and Camille will understand that, and even more that that knowledge will give their lives purpose.
Praising the Author of Life,
1 comment:
Hi, I loved your dinosaur unit and am about to start this with my child tomorrow And lost my teachers manual! Can u share the bible lessons that are applied during the week and the weekly lay out? I would greatly appreciate it :)
Gina
Post a Comment