UKS2 Topic: Dinosaurs & Fossils Block E: Ice Age Fossils

Session 3 The Ice Age
National Curriculum / History: To continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British history.
Teaching Objectives / To place Ice Age animals and people on a timeline.
National Curriculum / Science: To recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth thousands of years ago.
Teaching Objectives / To find out about Ice Age animals from their fossils.
National Curriculum / Geography: To learn about physical characteristics of the UK and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time.
Teaching Objectives / To create a phased map showing the affect of the ice sheet on Britain.
National Curriculum / Art: To improve their mastery of art and design techniques.
Teaching Objectives / To try out different ways of recording Ice Age fossils in their sketchbooks.
Resources
Presentation: Buckland Family Ice Age Animals; Cenozoic Timeline; Cenozoic Timeline with examples; Why Were Ice Age Animals Bigger?; Equipment for the experiment (see session resources). / Weblinks
http://web.archive.org/web/20150428214534/http://nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/human-origins/humans-in-britain/what-was-britain-like/changing-fauna/index.html - Slideshow of Ice Age animals in Britain; https://web.archive.org/web/20150613062623/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/human-origins/humans-in-britain/what-was-britain-like/changing-landscape/index.html - Slideshow of changing landscape of Britain in the Ice Age; https://twilightbeasts.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/mammoths/ - Blog post about the Buckland mammoth; https://twilightbeasts.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/an-elk-that-wasnt-an-elk/ - Blog post about the Buckland ‘elk’; https://twilightbeasts.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/clan-of-the-cave-hyena/ - Blog post about the Buckland hyena.
Whole class: Explain to chn that they are going to look at the context of the time in which the Buckland silhouette was made, and a little more about the content: in this case, the Ice Age fossils. Remind chn which fossils on the picture are Ice Age animals: the hyena, giant deer and mammoth. Show the presentation; then take the chn through making an Ice Age timeline in their sketchbooks and model where to put one of the animals. Ask chn to work out what date each animal was in Britain.
Easy (teacher to assist as needed)
Ask the chn, in pairs, to find some pictures online to sketch in their sketchbooks at the right places on the timeline. Less able chn should look at the short text on the Natural History Museum online slideshow of Ice Age animals in Britain and slideshow of changing landscape of Britain. Assist chn to draw their timelines using the Cenozoic Timelines as templates (see session resources). / Medium/ Hard
Ask the chn, in pairs, to find some pictures online to sketch in their sketchbooks at the right places on the timeline. More able chn should skim the Twilight Beasts blog posts about the Buckland mammoth, ‘elk’ and hyena. Pairs share their sketches, explaining what materials and techniques they used, and give each other feedback noting at least one good thing and one thing that they think could be improved.
Plenary / What modern-day animals might be most closely related to the species you have researched? (Hyenas, elephants, deer/moose) Where do they live? (Africa, India, Northern Europe and America) What are the differences between the extinct species and the living one? (Hyenas: bigger; mammoths: hairier, bigger, smaller ears, bigger tusks; giant deer: bigger, bigger antlers) Why do you think all the Ice Age animals were bigger? Perform the ‘Why Were Ice Age Animals Bigger?’ experiment to demonstrate how larger animals lose less heat than smaller ones (see session resources). Why did the animals die out? Show chn the Natural History Museum timeline showing Britain's changing environment to explain. Using their sketchbooks, the chn bring together their research, experimentation, sketching and making to understand the importance of the Bucklands’ fossils.
Outcomes / Children will
·  Place Ice Age animals on a timeline in their sketchbooks
·  Understand how Ice Age animals differ from their modern relatives and why

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