ToL Resources - Devonian Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Devonian Period

in our display

The Devonian Period booklet

fossils - orthorcera, coral, crinoid, ammonite

colored chalk mural on blackboard

Fossils from Lost Worlds by Damien Laverdunt and Hélène Rajcak
Tiktaalik pages

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ToL Resources - Silurian Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Silurian Period

in our display

The Silurian Period booklet

celery in colored water
(to demonstrate vascular tissue)

When Fish Got Feet, Sharks Got Teeth, and Bugs Began to Swarm: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life Long Before Dinosaurs by Hannah Bonner
pp.18-19

Apex Predators: The World's Deadliest Hunters, Past and Present
by Steve Jenkins - Trigonotarbid page

Quiz Box - What Was the Most Fearsome Predator of the Silurian Period?

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ToL Resources - Ordovician Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Ordovician Period

in our display

The Ordovician Period booklet

fossil - bryozoan

nautilus puzzle

The Story Of Life: Evolution by Katie Scott

Life Story by Virginia Lee Burton

Quiz Box - How Did the Ordovician Period Get Its Name?

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

ToL Resources - Cambrian Period

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Cambrian Period

in our display

The Cambrian Period booklet

fossils - trilobite, algae

plastic trilobite

underwater world display with playstands and blue canopy silk

sea anemones made from upcycled water bottles

Amazing Evolution: The Journey of Life by Anna Claybourne

Apex Predators: The World's Deadliest Hunters, Past and Present
by Steve Jenkins - Anomalocaris page

Quiz Box - Are Sponges Plants or Animals?

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ToL Resources - Precambrian Time

A place to keep my notes on the Timeline of Life projects for the History Fair.

I also recommend the excellent Geologic Clock graphic from Wikipedia!

Precambrian Time

in our display

The Precambrian Time booklet

three part cards

The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer

Life: A Journey Through Time by Frans Lanting

Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors by Joyce Sidman
(the endpapers of this book are incredible! 1 cm = 1 million years)

How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World by Faith McNulty

Layers of the Earth tapestry woven on a hula hoop loom

also recommended

How Brawn Led to Brains
YouTube - PBS Eons

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Organization for the Timeline of Life - History Fair

Students are working during the month of February to create their backboards for our Timeline of Life / History Fair, coming up on Thursday!

Note: Previous activities done in December to kick off the Timeline of Life:

The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer

Timeline of Life calendars

Here's how we are organizing all of our February research & prep time:

Week One

Mon

How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World by Faith McNulty

Frans Lanting TED talk




Tue


read from The Story of Life by Katie Scott and supplement with Prehistoric Actual Size and Apex Predators by Steve Jenkins


Gallery 1: Precambrian Time (4.6 BYA - 541 MYA)
Actual Size - protozoa


Gallery 2: Paleozoic Era - 6 Periods

Cambrian Period (541 MYA - 485 MYA)
Apex Predators - Anomalocaris

Ordovician Period (485 MYA - 444 MYA)

Silurian (444 MYA - 419 MYA)
Actual Size - sea scorpion
Apex Predators - Trigonotarbid

Devonian (419 MYA - 359 MYA)
Actual Size - spiny shark
Apex Predators - sea scorpion, Dunkleosteus

Carboniferous (359 MYA - 299 MYA)
Actual Size - Diplocaulus, dragonfly, cockroach, millipede

Permian (299 MYA - 252 MYA)
Apex Predators - Dimetrodon, Mastodonsaurus




Wed

read from The Story of Life by Katie Scott and supplement with Prehistoric Actual Size and Apex Predators by Steve Jenkins


Gallery 3: Mesozoic Era - 3 Periods

Triassic Period (252 MYA - 200 MYA)
Actual Size - Dinocephalosaurus, Saltopus

Jurassic Period (200 MYA - 145 MYA)
Actual Size - Morganucodon

Cretaceous Period (145 MYA - 65 MYA)
Actual Size - Velociraptor, Dsungaripterus, Baryonyx, Giganotosaurus, Protoceratops
Apex Predators - Utahraptor, Spinosaurus, Tylosaurus, Hatzegopteryx




Thu

read from The Story of Life by Katie Scott and supplement with Prehistoric Actual Size and Apex Predators by Steve Jenkins


Gallery 4: Cenozoic Era - 3 Periods

Paleogene (65 MYA - 23 MYA)
Actual Size - Leptictidium
Apex Predators - Titanoboa

Neogene (23 MYA - 2.58 MYA)
Actual Size - terror bird, Epigaulus
Apex Predators - Daedon, Teratorn, marsupial saber-tooth, terror bird

Quaternary (2.58 MYA to present)
Apex Predators - giant short-faced bear


students turn in report requests (first, second & third choice)

Week Two

Mon


start new read aloud story, The Monster Shark's Tooth: Canoeing from the Chesapeake Bay into the Ancient Miocene Sea by Peter Vogt

remind children that the formation of the Earth happened approximately 4.6 BYA

practice reading big numbers by playing the Dice Game to the billions place (10 lines)



explain decimal terms such as 4.6 BYA and 2.58 MYA

announce which time period each child will research

explain how the Timeline of Life Museum will be set up in the house

pass out Montessori books for each time period (FREE PDF of the Cretaceous Period book) and let children begin to take notes

organize hanging files with a file folder for each Geologic Period




Tue

read They Turned to Stone by Julian May

continued research (look through my larger collection of Timeline of Life books, find your time period, write notes, include book title and page number, mark the books you'd like in your display)




Wed

field trip to Parkinson Laboratory at SIU to take further notes and look at how they set up their displays

read Grandmother Fish by Jonathan Tweet and look at the Tree of Life illustration in the front, imagine how big it would be if it included all the failed designs (animals / plants / fungi which are now extinct)




Thu

look through my fossils to see what I have for each time period

have one-on-one meetings with each child to hear their thoughts about how they'd like to set up their backboards (one section each for Geology, Zoology, Botany)

Week Three

Tue



measure & center titles on backboard

plan / organize different sections on backboards using stickie notes

make all artwork

rough draft written components

plan quiz boxes




Wed

AM - work on backboards (add illustrations and written components, make quiz boxes)

PM - finish up backboards, set up display spaces, help other classmates as needed




Thu

History Fair!

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Grade Five Main Lesson Blocks

I'm really excited to share my planning for next school year! For 2026-2027, we will do the classic Waldorf Fifth Grade blocks. This includes

Sep - Orienteering

Oct - Botany I

Nov - Ancient India, Persia, Mesopotamia

Dec - Fractions

Jan - U.S. Geography

Feb - Ancient Egypt

Mar - Decimals

Apr - Botany II

May - Greek Mythology

Our Botany focus will be on Foraging for herbal medicines and wild edible plants. I think that this will make plant identification much more interesting!

I will continue to offer Friendly Letters as a Special subject. Because of the U.S. Geography focus, this is the perfect year for children to have a pen pal.

I'd also like to do a field trip series where we visit Local Artists. The children will really enjoy seeing their studio spaces and hearing about their process!

If you know about our school year flow, you'll know that this means that the Class Play theme will be Fractions (that will be so fun for the children to write!) and the History Fair will be Ancient Egypt. Our final collaborative tapestry will be Greek Mythology. The topic will be the story of Persephone.

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