Bones, Bones, Bones

Bones, Bones, Bones….. There is nothing more fascinating to our preschool students then bones! This study started when Quinn’s dad Chad brought in animal bones he had collected over the years. The preschool students closely examined each bone with magnify glasses and made predictions and discussed with one another about what animal the bone came from. 

Students also examined x-rays of animal skeletons using the overhead projector.   Teachers placed the X- Ray on the overhead projector and students and teachers would guess what animal the skeleton belonged to. Teachers then asked students how they knew it was that animal.  Here are some of their thoughts:

Avran- it is a bird because it has a beak, birds have beaks and butterflies do not

Cody- look that is a spine (as he pointed to the lizard spine) he then goes and gets a spine from the bone bucket and compares the two

Ari- that is a bird it has wings

Quin- snake, it is a snake because it is long and skinny

Elijah- (pointing at the overhead projector) this is a food bone on the bottom on the body

 

After examine the bones and looking at X-Rays children then began to express what they already know and had learned about bones through different art mediums such as clay, drawing and and popsicle stick bone representations.  During these different art projects children were very concise about which bones they were drawing and representing in their art.  Here are some of the things they said:

Troy- it the bones in your body and the blood in her hands

Ellis- Legs and spines are bones

Angelica- bones in body as she points to her legs

Gilly – these are ribs bones, they go here as she places them in the center of the skeleton

Zaria- I am making a skeleton, lots of bones

Naomi- arm bones, spine bones and leg bones as she pointed to each part of her skeleton

Ali- ribs, ribs, ribs the bones in my body

Tiana- ribs the bones in the body

After representing their body’s and bones on a small scale teachers wanted to help children do the same thing on a larger scale.  Students and teachers discussed together how they would do this. They decided they would trace each student’s body then use Popsicle sticks to represent the bones.  Throughout this study, children spent countless hours reading and learning about bones from many different books.  They also worked together and individually putting bone puzzles together.  

Margo, Diego’s mom came in and did a project with children to help them understand what bones do for our body and why it was important we take care of our bones. Each student filled a plastic glove with flour,  Margo showed the students how floppy the hand was and asked them how it could be made stronger they all screamed out bones, then students place a popsicle stick in each finger  to represent the bones in our hands . Students were amazed with how much stronger this made their hand!

 

New Mexico Early Learning Outcomes met during this study:

#6 the child communicates experiences, ideas, and feelings through speaking.

#11 the child demonstrates an understanding of non-standard units to measure and makes comparisons

#13 the child demonstrates appreciation for the arts

#14 the child uses the scientific methods to investigate the physical and natural worlds and to hypothesize and make predictions

#20 the child works cooperatively with other children and adults

#23 the child is open and curious to learn new things

#24 the child takes initiative

#27 the child displays persistence and pursues challenges

#28 the child uses problem-solving skills