 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Earth History, Fossils, and Layers in the Earth
Thomas Jefferson Elementary
School, Academic Year 2011-2012
Grade K |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Dr. DeLeo came into our classroom and told us about the history
of the Earth, and how scientists know so much about
the Earth’s past. We already knew that there were
dinosaurs and other animals on the Earth a long time
ago that are no longer around today. Many of us even
knew what the word “extinct” means. It means
that those plants or animals no longer live today -
they all died. The dinosaurs disappeared - went
extinct - a long time ago, about 65 million years ago. |
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. DeLeo used a computer and a projector in our classroom, and he even showed movies! We asked a lot of questions! He began the computer slide show by describing "timelines" to us. A timeline is like a clock, only instead of a circle, it is a line. Mr. Craven reminded us that a line that goes from left to right is called a "horizontal" line!
|
|
|
|
| |
| These pictures show timelines for a day in school - the one in the middle for morning (AM) Kindergarten, and the one on the far right for afternoon (PM) Kindergarten. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You might call a clock a "time circle" instead of a timeline. The numbers go around in a circle on a clock, as shown below on the left, but they go in a straight line on a timeline. A timeline that goes longer than one day is more like a calendar than a clock. You can string seven days together to make a week. In fact, a calendar is just one-week timelines, placed one on top of another! |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| Dr. DeLeo showed us a timeline with boxes labeled by the letters J F M A M J J A S O N D, as shown on the far left. Mr. Craven helped us to realize that these were the first letters of the twelve months in a year, January, February, ... This is just a timeline for one year! |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| It's fun to make timelines using photos or drawings. The timeline just to the left shows Dr. DeLeo's life in photos and drawings. Can you make a timeline of your life? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The timeline for human life on Earth is a lot longer than the timeline for Dr. DeLeo's life, and the timeline for planet Earth is much, much longer than that! |
|
|
|
| |
| To the right are some timelines that cover many, many years! The one just to the right is for 20,000 years, and the one on the far right is for the age of the Earth, over four billion years! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| Dr. DeLeo asked if anyone knew how the dinosaurs may have died. Some of us knew, and he let one of us come up to the screen and explain it to the class! If you click the play button on the picture just to the left, you will see a VIDEO of one of us explaining how an asteroid hit the earth, and how the resulting dust and smoke made it so cold and dark that the dinosaurs all died. |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Dr. DeLeo told
us that we could tell a lot about what happened in the
past by digging underground. We learned that the Earth’s
surface is made of layers of dirt. The deepest layers
are the oldest because they were laid down first. This
is just like making a sand bottle using layers of colored
sand. The bottom layer goes in first. We knew that –
we’re really smart!! So, if you dig down deep into
the Earth, you are actually looking back in time. Often,
we don’t need to dig since nature sometimes carves
away the ground for us. You can often see the layers easily.
We find the remains of plants and animals (fossils) in
the ground. And the ones that lived a really long time
ago leave fossils really deep underground.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Dr. DeLeo showed us a fossil of an animal called a trilobite, and we all got to pet it. Trilobites no longer live today; they are extinct like the dinosaurs. To the right and below are pictures of us petting the trilobite. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Dr. DeLeo set up special magnifying glasses in the room. They make things look real big when you look through them. Dr. DeLeo tried to scare us by looking at us through one of the magnifiers, but we don't scare that easily! We used the magnifiers to look at the fossils, rocks, and animals bones that Dr. DeLeo brought in. When plants and animals that lived a long time ago die, they sometimes become hard like rock. These are called fossils. Below are some pictures of us looking at fossils, rocks, bones, and other things in the classroom.
|
|
|
|
|
|
These are pictures taken during the morning kindergarten class.
Mr. Craven had fun looking at the fossils as well. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
And, here are pictures taken during the afternoon kindergarten class. Ms. Howerter was with us and enjoyed looking at the fossils as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| If you click the play buttons on the pictures on the right, you will see VIDEOS of us looking through the magnifiers at fossils, rocks, and all sorts of things. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| We all got dinosaur placemats to keep. We had lots of fun learning about layers
in the Earth, timelines, and fossils! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I hope you have enjoyed this web presentation as much as we enjoyed sharing the actual learning experience with your son or daughter. Although we have endeavored to exclude photographs where permission has been denied, it is possible for errors to occur. If you would like us to remove a photograph of your son or daughter for any reason, please send me an e-mail message at lgd0@lehigh.edu or call me at 610-758-3413, and we will remove it promptly. Please note that we will never associate a child's full or last name with a photograph except in circumstances where special permission was explicitly provided. Thank you. Gary DeLeo. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
