Museum Photos

I took these pictures in a hurry because we were getting ready to open the door to guests, but they do serve to give a quick overview. There were many special touches tucked in there, like the "living fossil" horsetails one child brought in from his yard, and the two bird nests that Zac contributed. I especially loved Cody's beautifully written captions on handmade paper!

Although the camp theme was particularly for the 9-10 year olds, the two younger groups helped as well. The 5-6 year olds made some additional fish prints, and the 7-8 year olds found chert and tried their hand at making stone tools... and they made the cave wall art of their handprints in ochre.

Click on any photo to enlarge them and be able to scroll through with ease.

Timeline of Life Museum 2023

Summer Camp is done and we had a wonderful Timeline of Life Museum! I'm going to make notes here about the books I brought in, our lesson and activity pacing for the 5 days of camp, and some photos of our exhibits.

Then it will be on to school year planning for 2023-2024! We start Sep 4!

Booklist

Some favorite resources we read to the children, used for research, or displayed in the Museum

Geologic Periods Set
13 titles from Fossilicious.com

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

The Stuff of Stars
by Marion Dane Bauer

Archaea:
Salt-Lovers, Methane-Makers, Thermophiles, and Other Archaeans
by David Barker
discussed during visit with microbiologist Dr. Scott Hamilton-Brehm

Life:
A Journey Through Time
by Frans Lanting
displayed crystal jelly and comb jelly, pp.84-85
Precambrian Period

Fossils from Lost Worlds
by Damien Laverdunt and Hélène Rajcak
displayed Hallucigenia, pp.18-19
Cambrian Period

The Drop in My Drink:
The Story of Water on Our Planet
by Meredith Hooper
displayed trilobite and Cooksonia
Silurian Period

Life on Earth:
The Story of Evolution
by Steve Jenkins
displayed Silurian and Devonian pages

Prehistoric Actual Size
by Steve Jenkins
displayed dragonfly and cockroach
Carboniferous Period

L is for Lincoln: An Illinois Alphabet
by Kathy-jo Wargin
Tullimonstrum, Illinois state fossil
Carboniferous Period

Life Story
by Virginia Lee Burton
displayed Permian pages

When the Whales Walked:
And Other Incredible Evolutionary Journeys
by Dougal Dixon
displayed When Birds Had Teeth, pp.30-31
Jurassic Period

The Colorful World of Dinosaurs
by Matt Sewell
displayed Yingshanosaurus, pp.52-53
Jurassic Period

Bizarre Dinosaurs:
Some Very Strange Creatures and Why We Think They Got That Way
by Christopher Sloan
displayed Gondwana and Laurasia, pp.30-31
Cretaceous Period

How Whales Walked into the Sea
by Faith McNulty

The Story of Life:
Evolution
by Katie Scott
displayed Megafauna, pp.70-71
Neogene Period

Apex Predators:
The World's Deadliest Hunters, Past and Present
by Steve Jenkins
displayed marsupial saber-tooth and giant Teratorn
Neogene Period

Early Humans
by Michelle Breyer

Our Family Tree:
An Evolution Story
by Lisa Westberg Peters
displayed last two page spread

"We began as tiny round cells, and we've changed a lot since then.
But we carry with us reminders of each step of our past.
That's how it is with families.
And ours goes back a long, long way."

Pacing

Monday AM - scientist visit
Monday PM - read Precambrian book; do artwork for Early Earth, Endless Rains, Microbes (gelatin plate monoprinting), Sponges

Tuesday AM - read Cambrian & Ordovician books; do artwork for Trilobites (black glue), Hallucigenia (clay), Crinoids (pipe cleaners)
Tuesday PM - read Silurian book; set up celery and colored water experiment, do artwork for Cooksonia

Wednesday AM - read Devonian book; do Fish Printing
Wednesday PM - read Carboniferous & Permian books; make Giant Millipede (brown paper) and Mass Extinction Graph

Thursday AM - read How Whales Walked into the Sea, do Living Fossils Hike
Thursday PM - do artwork for Dinosaurs, discussion of Early Humans

Friday AM - families walk through the Museum!
Friday PM - play Hunter Gatherer Simulation Game and Poetry for Neandertals

We spent much of our time on the Paleozoic Era since they had little to no prior knowledge of it. They also had many questions about plate tectonics. I wish it were possible to buy globes showing the locations of continents in their past arrangements!

Next year, it would be great to go on a field trip on Friday morning to see the Protoceratops fossils at SIU after we show off the Museum.

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