Three Invitations to Be A Paleontologist

The book Dinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist by Linda Skeers is a beautifully illustrated picture book biography of Mary Anning that enlightens children about the discovery of the dinosaurs and the importance of female scientists. Mary Anning loved scouring the beach near her home in England for shells and fossils. She fearlessly climbed over crumbling cliffs and rocky peaks, searching for new specimens. One day, something caught Mary's eye. Bones. Dinosaur Bones. Mary's discoveries rocked the world of science and helped create a brand-new field of study: paleontology. But many people believed women couldn't be scientists, so Mary wasn't given the credit she deserved. Nevertheless, Mary kept looking and learning more, making discoveries that reshaped scientific beliefs about the natural world.

After reading the stories we invited the children to become paleontologists just like Mary Anning in three different ways. 

1. Invitation to Explore a Dig Site: We placed dinosaur bones in gelatin, sprinkled baking soda as dust, & placed excavating tools such as chisels, hammers, brushes, tweezers, & magnifying glasses. To add an extra element of science we placed vinegar + pipettes to create "controlled blasting techniques" that they may use when removing large rocks.  

2. Sensory Fossil Site: In our tuff tray provided rocks, sensory sand, dinosaur bones + skeletons, fossils, magnifying glasses, brushes, magnifying glasses, shovels & sifters. 

3. Dinosaur X-Ray Light Table Exploration: To set this invitation we set up our Guidecraft Light Table, Dinosaur X-Ray images, Dinosaur figurines, bones, magnifying glass, & golf tees.

Through all of these invitations the children were able to get curious, observe, discover, explore various dinosaur anatomy through these interactive explorations.