November 2000 - March 2001
Children were discussing teeth in class. I wondered what their theories were on how and why we lose our teeth.
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We gathered in a circle to discuss our individual theories. Two common ideas came from our discussions. Some children thought that when you fall, that is when your teeth fall out. Other children believed that as you grow older your tooth becomes loose with food and it falls out to make way for a new tooth. All of the children believe in the concept of a "Tooth Fairy".
To Read the Conversation that Transpired Press Here
The classroom continued to study teeth using various activities to challenge their theories.
OVERHEAD EXPLORATION
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M- "If you place this tooth right here you will see its shadow."
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M-"The light makes the teeth shine and I can see their outlines."
SCIENCE EXPLORATION
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Why are some teeth bigger?"
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Are dinosaurs the only animals with big teeth?"
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"Why do some animals
have teeth longer and shorter in their mouths?"
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What do shark teeth look like?"
CLAY WORK
I wanted the children to challenge their 2-dimensional drawings
using 3-dimensional materials.
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MATH WORK
"Let's see how many teeth I have. One
big one and two small ones. One, two, three. Two plus one equals
three. How easy, Miss!"
COMPUTER WORK
The children used a software program called KidPix and their
original scanned work to manipulate their art.
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I wanted to understand what the children's concept of a Tooth Fairy was, so I had them draw and write a question that they would ask the Tooth Fairy if they had the chance.
Mary Sue- "Is my father the Tooth Fairy?"
Alan-"How do you give the money?"
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For a further and more in-depth look at our teeth project you can read the daily documentation as the project emerged and view a Power Point of this project.