Main Project - Dinosaurs

We do a Main Project, or Unit Study, every 1.5 - 2 months.

Each project is developed around one central theme.




Our first Main Project was about dinosaurs.

We researched mainly from this really cool Dinosaur Site.

We took notes on all the information we found. With our collected data, we created a big book with pages on the Mesozoic Era and its Periods; different Theories of Extinction; and, of course, several different dinosaurs.



When we were done with our book, he gave a presentation for our friends.

He used a globe to point out the different regions where the dinosaurs lived.

We learned investigation skills, presentation skills and started to get an idea of just how old our planet is.










We did the research bulk of it in different ways:

1. I read a page from the Dino-site, prepared questions and then have him read the page out loud and answer the questions in our Dino-notebook (a good way to start)

2. He read the page by himself and prepared questions for me to answer (more advanced)

3. We read together and took notes (great way for him to learn to choose relevant information for note-taking)

For the book-making we:

1. Printed out a black and white picture of the dinosaur of the day, to color in and cut out
2. On a big piece of construction paper, did plant rubbings for the background - we looked for plants like ferns or other plants that are similar to the prehistoric plants that the herbivorous dinos ate
   
3. Finally, we pasted on the dinosaur and the chosen information on strips of paper

We would complete the process for each dinosaur before moving on to the next one. By the end of it, we had a 12-page book, bound together by wire rings (that he made) and a very entertaining presentation. We did two presentations - he was very nervous for the first one, but the experienced helped him make his second presentation much more expressive and theatrical.