Evolution and Fossils



Fossils

http://www.nuttinbutpreschool.com/how-to-make-fossil-dough/
How to make play dough that looks like rock. 
Great for making fossil prints. Here

http://www.thecraftyclassroom.com/CraftGeologyFossil.html
How to make fossils from Plaster of Paris
Here
But check these common teaching pitfalls here

Archaeopteryx
This is a great image for discussion with children about the link between birds and dinosaurs. Click for a larger version.
More info on Archaeopteryx here

Learn More

http://www.reachoutcpd.com/courses/upper-primary/evolution-and-inheritance/
Reach Out CPD have 4 units for primary teachers on evolution.
Try them out here.

Songs

Try singing Tristan Thomas's Adaptation song with your class. Here

https://soundcloud.com/mark-and-the-gortones/the-story-of-all-life-wrong-direction
An entertaining song about evolution by Mark and the Gortones. Here
The lyrics are here if you want to get children to join in.

Mary Anning. Fossil Collector

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/mary_anning/
The BBCs great Primary History page on Mary Anning.

Charles Darwin

http://darwin200.christs.cam.ac.uk/pages/index.php?page_id=j
Useful information on Darwin for kids. Here

The Tree of Life

There is a simple downloadable Tree of Life below but these two ideas give some background and context.

Darwin's tree of life from his notebook. Click for a larger image.

A more detailed tree of life. Click for a larger image.



Lesson Ideas

http://www.millgatehouse.co.uk/product/lets-talk-evolution/
A great teaching guide from Millgate House.
They have given us a free sample activity

blueprint
Introduce children to DNA.
Read the Monster Story Here
Monster icon
So now you can build a monster Here


How to teach evolution well!
Some great advice on this website.
Especially these common pitfalls here


http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/lessons/preying_on_beans.html
How does evolution happen?
Use this Bean Hunt activity to find out.
Video

http://jurassiccoast.org/education/kids-zone
How Fossils Form
From the excellent Jurassic Coast website.
Great video with no narration. Get the children to do it.
Video
Evolution
The Simpsons title sequence does evolution.

Thrinaxodon
How Thrinaxodon hibernated to help it survive the mass dinosaur extinction.



Downloadable Resources

A free activity from Millgate House from their book Lat's Talk about Evolution

SOLO Taxonomy based assessment criteria for working towards, expected and mastery.

Evolution of a Species Worksheet
A worksheet where children can use the Tree of Life to discover the changes a species has gone through over time - What has evolved from what!

A very simple tree of life. New toilet paper edition - cut this into sections and lay them out along unrolled toilet paper to create a scaled timeline.

Missing Links - Archaeopteryx   Thrinaxodon   Ichthyostega
Fossils give us evidence of evolution - 3 sheets for children to observe and label missing link fossils.

Information about the three missing link creature above.

A simple game based on the corners game. Can you avoid extinction? There are some slides on the slideshow below that can be used with this if you like.

As used at the Manchester University session.

A set of true/false questions based on the title sequence video above.

The worksheet (for printing on squared paper) is for children as a follow up to the Bean Hunt activity above.

Great song with Lyrics by Tristan Thomas

Advanced this, but a handy guide to how you can extract DNA in the classroom. Warning: uses methylated spirits. Check safety precautions before using.

Intended for KS3 but could be useful.

Use your understanding of gens to work out offspring eye colour.

Simple family tree for using with the question sheet.

For use with the family tree above.

What superpowers would you have if Spiderman was your Dad and Wonderwoman was your Mum?

A quick group investigation that explores how individuals are different or similar.

A great slideshow introducing a new planet. Children have to think up creatures with adaptations that allow them to survive.

Variation Data Analysis. By Alex Sinclair
An activity where children collect and compare data about themselves to learn about variation.


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