This year we are finishing up an in-depth study of marine life. We are using Apologia’s “Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day.” We are all really enjoying the study and the activities that go along with each unit. This week we have been studying the different types of creatures that are now extinct, for lack of a better word “dinosaurs.”
Sorry…I drifted there for a minute.
One of the activities that the kiddos have really enjoyed and benefited from has been the drawing exercises. A few weeks ago we drew a large sea turtle on the driveway. The neat thing about this is that the kiddos get a nice concrete idea about the sizes of the creatures.
So, this week, the book suggested that I have the kiddos draw the head of a Plesiosaur. Now, before I show a picture of the kiddo’s Plesiosaur, I want to show you what scientists believe they looked like.
So, the assignment was to draw the head, nine feet long by three feet wide. We used chalk. It cleans up easily.
Then, add BUNCHES of teeth the size of bananas.
So far so good….
But then, they decided they didn’t like the eyes I put on the thing, so they added their own, HUGE eyes….
Hmmm….
Next step, take a funny picture….
And then another…
And then, finally one serious one…for the record books.
Very cool. You can say nine feet all you want. Until you stand on a drawing of the thing, and see that all four kiddos and the dog could stand on the head….wow! In all seriousness, this is a great activity for any subject when you are trying to understand the size of an animal, object, vehicle, etc.