Fossil Show And Tell For 2Nd Graders

[Guest BOHUNTER]

Well my lil man has made it to the 2nd grade. He told me the other day they had show and tell and he wanted to take some shark teeth... I had some in zip locks I give out and he had a few bags, ya know he is Seven and not a kid so he put them in his backpack to show off. Well they didnt do any show and tell and he was just a bit upset. I mean it was the first week of school.... LOL I was on Ebay the other night and saw some one selling fragments of megs... I thought... With my collection of goodies, some small sand tiger teeth and each one gets a nice Fragladon tooth... that would be awesome. So I talked with the teacher to see if itwas ok, and then sent an email to the seller. He replied with send me the schools address and he would get them out... I was shocked.. I thought that is one awesome guy! I replied with Ill return shipping fees and pay for them. Offered a special from me to boot. I received an email today it was on the way! So I emailed the teacher about the package to come. I cant wait, those rascals I promise besides my son none has ever seen a Meg or probably not even a fossil.

I am looking asking for some assistance. These are 7ish aged kids. Has any of you ever given a talk. I have a couple fake teeth, huge megs and stuff we can pass around without breaking. I also have my fossils of all types, mammals and reptiles. What should I talk about, how should I talk to the kids to hold their attention. Ive got a good week or so before we show and tell!

When my son was in first grade we made a shark out of cups, painted it and used 100 sand tiger teeth to go all the way around the cup opening... killer critter!! LOL

I plan to package up some teeth, and then either draw or hand out the frags. I have many other broken fossils, dugong ribs, echnoid casts, so Im sure it will be a good day not to skip class! LOL

Just checking for info if any of you has tried to keep the attention of a kid long.

STEVE

And thanks to the Ebayer if he visits the board... its gonna be a blast!

[FossilForKids]

Well my lil man has made it to the 2nd grade. He told me the other day they had show and tell and he wanted to take some shark teeth... I had some in zip locks I give out and he had a few bags, ya know he is Seven and not a kid so he put them in his backpack to show off. Well they didnt do any show and tell and he was just a bit upset. I mean it was the first week of school.... LOL I was on Ebay the other night and saw some one selling fragments of megs... I thought... With my collection of goodies, some small sand tiger teeth and each one gets a nice Fragladon tooth... that would be awesome. So I talked with the teacher to see if itwas ok, and then sent an email to the seller. He replied with send me the schools address and he would get them out... I was shocked.. I thought that is one awesome guy! I replied with Ill return shipping fees and pay for them. Offered a special from me to boot. I received an email today it was on the way! So I emailed the teacher about the package to come. I cant wait, those rascals I promise besides my son none has ever seen a Meg or probably not even a fossil.

I am looking asking for some assistance. These are 7ish aged kids. Has any of you ever given a talk. I have a couple fake teeth, huge megs and stuff we can pass around without breaking. I also have my fossils of all types, mammals and reptiles. What should I talk about, how should I talk to the kids to hold their attention. Ive got a good week or so before we show and tell!

When my son was in first grade we made a shark out of cups, painted it and used 100 sand tiger teeth to go all the way around the cup opening... killer critter!! LOL

I plan to package up some teeth, and then either draw or hand out the frags. I have many other broken fossils, dugong ribs, echnoid casts, so Im sure it will be a good day not to skip class! LOL

Just checking for info if any of you has tried to keep the attention of a kid long.

STEVE

And thanks to the Ebayer if he visits the board... its gonna be a blast!

Depending on the amount of time you have there's alot you can do. It's best to keep it simp;e. Showing them the differences between a simple rock and a rock with fossils usually amazes them. Use the little guys as volunteers to help you in your presentation. That is usually good for a laugh or two and extended interest. You can pre package the fossils in a large baggie of sand.....give them a styrofoam bowl with about a dozen holes in the bottom and let the "find" their own fossils.......that is usually a winner everytime. If you go to the Fossil on Wheels section of my website.........www.fossilsforkids.com the pictures can give you some ideas. I've done hundreds of programs and no two are alike but they are all a blast. For more detailed ideas you can PM me.

Have fun!

John

[Guest BOHUNTER]

AWESOME SITE!

I will be emailing you about some stuff!

I like the sifting in the class, there is only 18 kids so this is a can do exercise! I have a bunch of small sand tiger teeth so this would be really neat. Im telling you yall should have seen the teachers reaction...LOL

I know they will take hom ethe goodies. I would like to make this travel easy, and when they reach home make it possible for them to keep the teeth and not the yard. I think a lot of Americans have forgotten what responsibility is. Somehow I have to work into the equation of protecting the teeth. My parents kept everything I did in school. Zfortunately I get to go through it again. I thnk my Mom has every tooth I ever had too! LOL

Oh well... again... cant wait to share this with the kids.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

I did a talk last year for my kid's gifted and talented class grades 1-5, 51 kids, 1 hour. First I gave them a handout noting the common fossils found in TX, discussed why most fossils found here are marine, showed them a state wide geo map and noted the general trend of rocks getting younger heading SE toward the coast, etc. The handout included directions to a few local sites where common fossils could be found en masse. Then lots of cool slides showing stuff in situ vs prepped, field shots with my son in them to show that even kids can find cool stuff, images of new species we've found, etc. I had a table full of stuff they could touch but not pick up (mammoth teeth and tusks, etc.) My son held up various fossils as I discussed them, such as ammonites etc. In the end I had a 50 LB box full of giveaways which the kids enthusiastically depleted. Based on the number of questions I got afterward, I'd say their collective interest level surpassed my expectations and made it well worth the effort. In parting I gave the teacher a high grade set of representative fossils in a clear plastic tackle box with individual compartments labeled.