Media Infusion

Young Scientists on the Dinosaur Train

buddy By Janet English

What’s more endearing than a child asking, “Why?” We love watching our kids go on self-directed adventures, learning about everything they see, feel, touch or hear. They’re natural-born scientists. They spend their days testing and experimenting with toys and playthings; always searching for a new discovery. It’s a joy to watch and an important part of their intellectual growth. This month’s Media Infusion challenge is designed to capture this natural curiosity, help our children develop the skills of scientific thinkers, and encourage their parents to help us along the way.

The Jim Henson Company has created a new television series that has the potential to help us do just that. Dinosaur Train takes our children into the animated world of the dinosaurs – a world that captures the interest of our PreK-2 children and makes them crave to learn more. Children are fascinated with dinosaurs, they’re fascinated with trains, and Dinosaur Train captures their interest in both. As the children embark on their adventures with Buddy the T-Rex, they travel through prehistoric jungles, swamps, and volcanoes and learn about scientific thinking and skills, life science, natural history, and paleontology. It’s a wonderful series and a whole lot of fun.

The question is, “How can we use Dinosaur Train to support the development of scientific thinking in our students, encourage parents to dabble in science explorations at home, and supplement our work in the classroom?” What technology can we use to help?

To start, check out the short video of Buddy, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, where Buddy says that “hypothesis” means “an idea you can test.” It’s a clever little video that gives kids permission to say the word hypothesis and try using it in context. Playing games is a good way to help children become everyday scientists. Alton Brown from NPR’s Good Eats said, “A laughing brain is more absorbent.” Create playful dialogue in your class where you model the word hypothesis and show students how to ask questions and test them out – even for simple things like, “Do longer legs make you a faster runner?” or “Does eating chocolate make people smile?”

A significant amount of scientific learning occurs in non-formal settings – outside your classroom. Our goal is to get children to ask questions and pose hypotheses not only in your classroom, but at home, in the car, at the grocery store, in a local science center, and anywhere their parents take them.

For this challenge, let’s make something endearing that promotes parent involvement with your classroom project. I suggest you make a short video (60-90 seconds) of your students asking their “Why?” questions, and then include the children stating their own hypotheses in response to their questions. The parents will love it, it’s an endearing way to connect parents to their child’s work, and it will improve the parents’ connection with you. Make this video available for parents, either online, at Back to School Night or on a DVD. (Share it with us, too!)

The Challenge

Are you ready to jump aboard the Dinosaur Train? Here’s the Media Infusion challenge:

1. View the video of Buddy talking about a “Hypothesis.”
2. Read the Dinosaur Train activity, “A Colorful Hypothesis.”
3. Have students write down their prediction for “A Colorful Hypothesis.”
4. Get permission from your parents to video their children. (Make sure the release allows you to send the video to the parents via email, post it on your web page or play it at Back to School Night.)
5. Ask the students to write down a hypothesis. For example, “If I pour yellow and red water together, my hypothesis is that the water will turn blue.”
6. Video record the children saying/reading the hypotheses they wrote in #4.
7. Edit the children’s video clips together into one piece. The video doesn’t have to be longer than 90 seconds. Tutorials are available for both iMovie (MAC) and Photo Story (PC). (Optional: A fun twist would be to “mash” the children’s clips together with Buddy’s hypothesis video. If you’d like to try it, Dinosaur Train videos are available for download on iTunes for $1.99 each.)
8. Distribute the video as you (and your principal) see fit, via email, DVD, web page.
9. Encourage the parents to follow through with testing the hypotheses by sending them the link to the experiment’s procedure.
10. Ask your students to share their results with the class. For example, “My hypothesis was correct (or incorrect) because I thought the water would turn ______ and (or but) the water turned ________.”

When you show Dinosaur Train to your students, either as a short clip or an entire episode, the students will get enthused about making their own hypotheses, conducting the (supervised) experiments, and sharing what happened back at school. (I’m curious to see the type of experiments they create!) The children will be excited to share what they’ve learned and the silly things that happened when they did their experiments. Learning is fun, and it should be shared and celebrated.

If you’re just learning to use technology in your class, start with simple expectations and a long timeline. Be patient with yourself and don’t be afraid to ask the “techie” at your school for advice. You may want to edit together a few short (15 second) video clips of your family, cats or dog before you work with your students. This will help you feel comfortable with the equipment and you’ll have more fun when you record the kids in front of the camera. (By the way, it’s a good idea to use a handheld microphone.)

I wish you great success as you embark on this month’s challenge. Have fun and treat it like a game. The children (and parents) will love you for creating something that inspires, engages, and builds connections with them at home.

Check your local listings to see when Dinosaur Train is airing on your PBS station.

Let us know how it goes. Show off your kids!