Fossil Folly

Fossil Folly Organiser’s Card About the activity This activity is designed to get children thinking about dinosaurs. Dina Digg isn’t sure how to put together a dinosaur in the right way. Can the children help to work out the best orientation? Through this activity you will support your group to: • Investigate the strength and stability of dinosaur shapes • Think about why dinosaurs come in different shapes and sizes • Record and present their findings Kit list • Soft modelling clay • Art straws • Pipe cleaners • Cocktail or kebab sticks What to do 1. Introduce the activity using the story of Dina Digg. Ask the children what they know about dinosaurs, what do different dinosaurs look like? 2. Give out activity cards and equipment to the children. 3. Explain that they will be designing and making models of different dinosaur shapes. 4. Support children to design and build their models. Encourage the children to think about size, shape and weight. 5. Support the children to design and carry out tests on their models and to make their own records of their results. 6. Ask the children to present their findings to the rest of the group, they can be as creative in their presentation as they want.

Things to think about Children will explore the effect of changing the shape and size of body parts i.e. head, neck, legs, body, tail. They may just want to build dinosaurs that they know about. It is important that they are open-minded and try out different possible combinations of body shapes for strength and stability. This activity is not about classification, although it should help children to make connections between body shape, size, and lifestyles of dinosaurs. Keywords • Dinosaurs • Bones • Shapes Watch out! Remove the pointed ends of wooden sticks. British Science Association Registered Charity No. 212479 and SC039236