Group Learning Experience Planning Sheet:

Student Name: Jessica Edwards Course Code: ECS4070

Age Group: 4 to 5 years. Date: September 28th, 2017

Learning Experience: Science, Art and Sensory Activity- Clay Dinosaur Fossils
Programming Purpose:

On my first day of placement I interacted with a group of students who were playing
with playdough in the classrooms art center. I noticed that the children seemed to enjoy
making imprints of different objects into the playdough and analyzing the shapes the objects
made. My placement supervisor notified me that the children in the room are very interested in
science activities. I laso found that nature interests such as gemstones, and animals including
dinosaurs were also popular. To combine these interests I came up with the idea to create our
own fossils using plastic dinosaur bones from a 3D model kit.
Objective:
The children will:
1) Practice fine motor skills and engage in sensory play when using dino bones to create
imprints in clay.
2) Practice social skills related to discussing topics with staff and peers.
3) Discuss scientific information related to bones, fossils, dinosaurs and materials such as
natural earth clay.
Materials:

Placemats
Natural Clay
Small Dinosaur Bone Pieces from Dinosaur Model Skeleton Building Kit
Water
Cleaning spray
Paper Towel
Set Up:

Planned Implementation

1. I will prepare the table area for the use of clay by cleaning the table with paper towel
and cleaning spray and placing down a placemat at each seat to prevent clay from
sticking to the tables surface.
2. I will invite the children to participate using environmental cues by laying out the
dinosaur bones, and pieces of clay on each placemat.
3. With each child that is interested I will ask them questions about dinosaur fossils.
Examples include:
a. What do fossils look like?
b. Have you ever seen dinosaur bones or fossils in real life before?
c. What type of dinosaurs have you learned about before?
4. After the topic has been introduced we can begin forming the clay into a flat surface
where the dinosaur bone parts can be pushed into the clay to create an imprint.
5. The children will select the bones they'd like to use in their fossil and push them down
into the clay in any pattern or formation they choose.
6. The child or myself will use a pencil or other tool to carve the child's name in an
available space on their fossil so it can be identified once it is dry.
7. We will place the clay fossil onto a piece of paper towel in a safe space where it can
dry overnight.
8. After all of the students have completed their fossils I will wipe down the placemats,
tools and dinosaur bone pieces in the classroom sink using dish soap and water. I will
also spray the items with cleaning spray and rinse them before dyeing them off using
paper towel.
9. I will use cleaning spray and paper towel to sanitize the table and chairs after use.
Additional Emergent Use of Materials:

Before creating the fossils the children were interested in building the three dinosaur
models which we used for imprinting in the clay. During the building of the models we
discussed bones and compared the bones of a dinosaurs to different bones in the human
body such as the spine.
Learning Strategy #1
Questions

Throughout the activity I will use questions to get the children thinking about the body,
dinosaurs and fossils. This includes questions that help give hints about the direction I plan to
take the activity and questions that help open discussion about fossils.
What bone do you think this is? Do you have a bone that's similar to this dinosaur
bone?
What do you think your could do with our dinosaur bones and clay?
What type of dinosaur is your favourite?
Learning Strategy #2
Envrironmental Cues

In order to allow the activity to be more open-ended I will use environmental cues to introduce
the children to the activity. This includes setting up the clay and dinosaur parts and allowing
the children to approach the activity when they feel interested rather than introducing it and
calling a large group. The number of placemats and chairs also indicates how many children
can participate at one time.

Overall Evaluation
What worked during this experience? Why?

What did not work during this experience? Why?

What might you have done differently?

What theory might you use to support these changes?