Innovative programs often spring from unusual collaborations. These two unlikely needs came together into a Goals 2000 Educate America Grant to encourage K-16 students to learn and apply science and math through studying and helping to prepare the dinosaur.
Kids love dinosaurs, so student involvement in the project was assured from the start.
However, convincing teachers to add one more thing to their already beleaguered schedules was an understandable obstacle. The key to teacher involvement was developing usable curriculum that they could incorporate immediately as part of what they already teach. Working with teachers directly and using a survey of grade level science topics, lesson plans were written to enhance these topics, meet grade level standards in science content and skills, and make science fun and relevant to kids. A major topic of study for second graders in the school district is dinosaurs. So second grade teachers were thrilled to get new material for the unit.