We started our popular dinosaur project with a trip to the Manchester Museum, where the children were fascinated by the models of dinosaurs, the skeletons and the touch-screen computers.
This experience was recorded using a digital camera and camcorder and the results were used to remind the children of their visit and promote discussion and ideas.
When we returned, the children asked if they could make a real museum in the nursery.They said they would like to play with dinosaurs, use the computer, watch dinosaurs on television and dig for bones.
We set about drawing up a programme that would:
* enable children to develop their understanding of dinosaurs, their habitat and extinction in a stimulating, interactive way
* deliver in an integrated way many of the stepping stones towards the early learning goals
* show children and parents that museums can be fun and interesting.
We achieved this through doing weekly workshop activities and using the internet, video footage, ICT applications, dinosaur puzzles and socio-dramatic play.
The workshops ensured that the children could be introduced regularly to new information, which helped maintain their interest in the subject and the museum. The children had access to non-fiction books, the internet and our own adapted software programmes (such as 'My World') which we used with the touchscreen computer.
The themes for the weekly workshops were:
Creating a dinosaur landscape
Drawing on information from non-fiction books, video footage, the internet and posters, we replicated the environments in which dinosaurs lived. The children learned that some dinosaurs lived in forests while others lived in deserts or near the sea.
Learning about dinosaur eggs
At this workshop the children learned that dinosaurs laid eggs of different shapes and sizes, some in nests on the ground. The children then made papier mache eggs of various sizes and displayed them in the museum.
Learning about fossils
In this workshop, the children learned that our knowledge of dinosaurs stems from fossils, or dinosaur bones. We explained that dinosaur bones have been found in the earth and pieced together to give some idea of what the dinosaurs looked like.
The children were able to observe a real dinosaur fossil through a digital microscope. They then made 'fossils' from shells and 'footprints' by pressing the feet of dinosaur models into clay and plaster of Paris.
Hunting for dinosaur bones
Over two weeks, we organised various dinosaur hunts. We buried small bones in the sand tray, which the children had to find first by using their hands. We then attached crocodile clips to dinosaur models, buried them in the sand and gave the children a metal detector to help locate them. On finding one, they had to name it and talk about its characteristics.
Making dinosaur models
The children enjoyed assembling wooden puzzles and models of dinosaurs, so building up their own dinosaurs - just like an archaeologist.
Visiting the nursery museum
Parents and carers were invited to visit the museum. Visitors queued, waiting for the museum to open, and on completing their tour they could buy rubber dinosaurs, pencils, postcards and other small items in the museum gift shop. A large inflatable dinosaur was perched on the shop 'roof', looking down on everyone below.
During the visit they were encouraged to access the internet and record and note items using the museum questionnaire, fact sheet and computer games made in the nursery. We are not sure who learned the most!
ICT applications
ICT was an essential part of the project to make the museum interactive and authentic. We achieved this through the following ICT applications:
* We used the internet to track down information on dinosaurs. The Natural History Museum, London, has a wonderful website (www.nhm.ac.uk), where the children could access drawings of dinosaurs and pictures of skeletons, fossils and eggs.
* We created our own software programmes that were designed to build up the children's knowledge of dinosaurs. For example, on one screen the children had to match dinosaur pictures and names.
* We made good use of the TV and video. The children were fascinated by the BBC's 'Walking with Dinosaurs' series and the evolution scene in the Disney film 'Fantasia'. Watching the TV in the museum was an integral part of the experience.
* We printed and displayed simple and clear information and pictures of dinosaurs around the museum.
* To reinforce their understanding of size, the children also drew a dinosaur on acetate, which was projected on to a whiteboard. They then traced around the enlarged outline to make a bigger picture.
* We programmed a Pixie (a simple electronic programmable box) to pick up miniature dinosaurs. The children had to programme it to move along a number line to retrieve the dinosaurs.
* We made our own bar code scanner from a battery, paper clip and buzzer to use in the museum shop. NW
