ARTS CENTRE TO INSERT Erth s PICTURE Dinosaur Zoo. Presented by the Arts Centre Melbourne. Years Prep - 4

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1 ARTS CENTRE TO INSERT Erth s PICTURE Dinosaur Zoo Presented by the Arts Centre Melbourne Years Prep - 4 1

2 The Arts Centre Melbourne s Performances Program is dedicated to fostering the arts by giving schools the opportunity to see a diverse range of excellent theatre in fully produced form. Activity suggestions are arranged according to theme and/or broad focus area. This arrangement is designed to serve educators as a useful guide toward drawing cross-curricular links across the Australian Curriculum and to complement whole school planning. These education resources have been created for students in Years Prep - 4. The content is designed so teachers can adapt and develop the discussion and activities according to their students learning needs and individual school contexts. The resources have been developed with a view to addressing the following: Learning Areas General Capabilities Cross Curriculum Priorities English Literacy Asia and Australia s Language involvement with Asia Literacy Mathematics Number and algebra Measurement and geometry Statistics and probability Science Science Understanding Science as Human Endeavour The Arts Dance Drama Visual Arts Numeracy Critical and creative thinking Personal and social capability Sustainability Teachers notes by Katy Warner. NOTE: Please remember to arrive 30 minutes before the starting time of the show. Contents ABOUT ERTH'S Dinosaur Zoo... 3 THEATRE ETIQUETTE... 4 LEARNING ACTIVITIES THEME #1:DINOSAURS... 5 THEME #2: EXTINCTION THEME #3: PUPPETRY AND PERFORMANCE RESOURCES

3 About ERTH S Dinosaur Zoo ERTH S widely acclaimed show, ERTH S Dinosaur Zoo, takes audiences into a new dimension of theatre. The experienced Zoo Keeper / Dinosaur Wrangler takes the audience up close and personal with the menagerie of insects and dinosaurs that once roamed free around the world and are now in daily residence at ERTH S Dinosaur Zoo. Dinosaur Zoo is an experiential theatre performance which features a cast of large-scale Australian dinosaur puppets brought to life by sophisticated design, electronics and theatrical presentation. These amazingly life-like dinosaur recreations are developed in consultation with palaeontologists, based on current science and specialist interpretations of dinosaur fossil evidence. ERTH'S dinosaur puppets stimulate the imagination about dinosaur life in a way that connects children to the real science of palaeontology. Audiences have the chance to meet incredible prehistoric creatures, from cute baby dinos to some of the largest carnivores and herbivores that have ever walked the planet! Director: Scott Wright Designer: Steve Howarth and Erth Visual & Physical Inc. About ERTH Visual & Physical Inc. ERTH have continually created live theatre at the forefront of new performance practice. ERTH started in 1990, in Ballarat, with a focus on creating eye-popping visual experiences. In its twenty five years, ERTH has created incredible site specific, installation and performance based projects using giant puppetry, stilt walking, inflatable environments, aerial and flying creatures and more. They have created and toured events and festivals in Australia and internationally; including, the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (2000). Now based in CarriageWorks, Sydney, ERTH has an extensive design and construction program which uses a lot of non-traditional costume, inflatable and puppeteer disciplines as well as new technology. More information on ERTH can be found at 3

4 Theatre Etiquette Seeing a live show in the theatre is very different to going to the movies or watching the television. Here are some hints and tips to make sure you get the most out of your visit to the theatre: Arriving Leave your bags at school. You won t be able to take them into the theatre with you anyway. If you really can t leave your bag behind it will have to wait for you out in the foyer. Don t worry an usher will look after it for you. Arrive at Arts Centre Melbourne 30 minutes before the start of the performance. You don t want to be late and miss the start of the show! There are a lot of people coming to see our shows and it takes time to get everyone in their seats. Visit the bathroom before the show. It will be disruptive for other people in the audience if you leave your seat. In the theatre Turn off your mobile phone. Make sure your teacher or parent or friends have turned off their mobile phones too! If a phone rings in the middle of a show it is disruptive for audience members and the performers on stage (plus, it can also be very embarrassing). The lights will go down That means the show is about to start. Time to stop chatting and start listening! During the show DO laugh (if you think it is funny), cry (if you think it is sad), gasp, smile, cheer, and applaud (especially at the end). DON T eat, take photos, chat with your neighbour, knit a scarf, jump on your trampoline or move around the auditorium. REMEMBER theatre is live! Be a supportive audience member. The performers can often hear you and see you (yep, they can) you don t want to disrupt their performance. At the end of the show Applaud! Cheer! Thank the performers. 4

5 Learning Activities THEME #1: DINOSAURS The following activities are engaging, introductory, creative ideas for your unit on Dinosaurs. The following activities are designed to hook your students and work a starting points in your exploration of this topic. OUR FAVOURITE DINOSAUR Students take a survey of the favorite dinosaur, summarize the information on a bar-graph and count the votes in each category to identify the class favorite. What you will need: Create a chart with the names of the dinosaurs students met during ERTH S Dinosaur Zoo - names may be replaced by illustrations of the dinosaurs (see Resources for a link to this information) A small, piece of self-adhesive paper to place on the graph, one per child, with the child's name written on it What to do: Each student places his/her piece of paper on the bar-graph chart to register a vote. Count the votes for each type of dinosaur. Students count the total number of votes to ensure that everyone voted and that no one voted more than once. The students identify the class favorite dinosaur and the one least liked. Extension: Take the survey outside of the classroom. Ask students to survey their family and / or other year levels. Use graphs to display the findings. THE DINOSAUR VS. ME Students will compare their size to the size of the dinosaurs they met at ERTH S Dinosaur Zoo. What you need: A ball of string Scissors 1 meter long ruler or tape measure Tags What to do: Ask students to hypothesize as to the size of dinosaurs. 5

6 Take students outside and ask them to measure the length (and or height) of the selected dinosaurs (see below for measurements of dinosuars seen in ERTH S Dinosaur Zoo). Attach a tag to each measurement to identify the dinosaur they have measured. After marking out the height and / or length, students can begin to compare these measurements to the own height. Have the students list a number of things they would like to compare to the length of the their dinosaur. Ask them to guess first, and then measure and record their results. How does their height compare to that of dinsoaur? How many multiples of themselves would fit into the dinosaur? Dinosaur Height Length Dryosaurus 1.5m 3.7m Leaellynasaura 60-90cm (approx.) 2 3m Australovenator 1.6m 5m Titanosaur 18m The biggest Titanosaur for which experts can estimate a size is Argentinosaurus, it grew up to 35m in length! Extension activities: Dinosaur Diet Students estimate how much food a dinosaur like the one they measured would need to eat every day. If they compare their height to the height of the dinosaur, can they get a better estimate? Scale Drawings Show students scale drawings of dinosaurs notice how they often use a human as a way for readers to get an understanding of how big the dinosaur is. Using the information they gathered in the measurement activity, students can learn about ratio and create a scale drawing of a dinosaur compared to themself. DINOSAUR INVESTIGATION Draw and Label Provide students with a selection of plastic dinosaur models and encourage them to make detailed observation drawings. Depending on the level of your group, students can draw, label and write a caption of some dinosaurs (the caption can be as simple or as complex as required); or, students could share one word, verbally, which describes the dinosaur and have teacher support in labelling their drawing. Sort and Classify Explain to students that you are going to investigate how some dinosaurs are similar to other dinosaurs in certain ways and different in other ways. Put two hoops in the middle of the floor. Ask students to pass the dinosaur models around a circle and talk about each one is as much details as possible. Choose two dinosaurs with similar characteristics and put them in the same hoop. Ask the class: Why have I done this? Encourage students to explain their choices. 6

7 For example, you may choose a Brontosaurus and a Diplodocus students will notice that both have long necks. Ask the class to find any other dinosaurs which could fit into this same hoop. Ask them to identify the type of dinosaur which should go in the opposite hoop the dinosaurs with short necks. Ask students to choose their own criteria and place dinosaur in the correct book. Students may like to record the sorting using pictures or a simple Carroll diagram (as per example below). Long Neck Short Neck Draw an empty Carroll diagram on the board as follows: Herbivore Carnivore Lives in the ocean Lives on the land Discuss with the class what they think herbivore and carnivore means. Show a model of a dinosaur of each type. Discuss the key features of each type; how can we tell what this dinosaur liked to eat? What features could help us decide whether this dinosaur lived on land or in the sea? Encourage students to talk in partners to think about where the dinosaurs fit on the diagram. As a class, complete the Carroll diagram on the board. In pairs or independently, students can sort the dinosaurs into their own criteria using a Carroll diagram they label themselves; or, you may like to provide some headings for them. Advanced and older students may like to classify dinosaurs like a scientist. Explain to students that although we sometimes think about dinosaurs as a single group, there are in fact lots of different sorts of dinosaurs. Scientists have grouped dinosaurs under seven headings: Therapods all two-legged dinosaurs which were carnivores (e.g. Tyrannosaurus Rex). Sauropods gigantic plant eating dinosaurs (e.g. Diplodocus). Ornithopods plant eating dinosaurs which walked on two legs (e.g. Hadrosaurs). Ceratopsians horned dinosaurs (e.g. Triceratops). Stegosaurs dinosaurs which had plated armour (e.g. Stegosaurus). Ankylosaurs included armoured dinosaurs which were not like Stegosaurus. Pachycephalosaurs dinosaurs which had particularly thick skulls. Ask students to consider the best ways in which to present this information. What sort of table or diagram could be used to present this information? Can they use the models or pictures to help sort the dinosaurs? Or would some further research be needed? 7

8 DINO WRITING Dino Adjectives Brainstorm a list of adjectives that students associate with dinosaurs. Create sentences using these words. Older students can start to use connectives to create more complex sentences: because, however, but, so, and, while. Dino Haiku Explore syllables through looking at the names of dinosaurs. Explain to the class that haiku is a form of Japanese poetry which is written as follows: First Line = 5 syllables Second Line = 7 syllables Third Line = 5 syllables Use the adjectives that the class brainstormed. Count the amount of syllables in each word. Students can select words from their adjectives list to create a haiku about a particular dinosaur. DINO NAMES How Dinosaurs are named name your own Explain to students that the word DINOSAUR means "fearfully great lizard. The palaeontologist Sir Richard Owen created the term in The word comes from the Greek, deinos means "fearfully great" and sauros means "lizard." Newly discovered dinosaurs are named by the discoverer or palaeontologist. There are many different ways to choose a dinosaur name: A name that describes something unusual about it Triceratops = Three horned face Named for its size Titanosaurus = Titanic lizard Named after the location where they are found Albertosaurus = Lizard of Alberta it was discovered in Alberta, Canada Minmi = named after Minmi Crossing, Australia, where it was discovered Named after their behaviour Tyrannosaurus Rex = King of the tyrant lizards Named in honour of a person Leaellynasaura = "Leaellyn's lizard" named after Leaellyn Rich the daughter of the palaeontologists (Tom Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich) who discovered it. 8

9 Explore with students the words could we put together to describe a mash-up of a few different dinosaurs what if a Tyrannosaurus Rex had the head of a Triceratops? What would we call this? Students can create their own dinosaurs and name them using the system above. Remind students that all dinosaur names must be approved by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature so they must pass it by the teacher for approval! MAKE YOUR OWN DINO LANDSCAPE How is a Jurassic Forest different to where we live? Ask students to draw or write about a Jurassic forest. What do they think a forest would have looked like all those millions of years ago? Show students images of how scientist believe a Jurassic forest would have looked like. In partners or small groups, discuss how it is different to where we live. Explain to the students that they are going to make a dinosaur habitat for their dinosaur model to live in. What you will need: Ice cream container or tray or half of a carton (as the base for the landscape) Potting mix / soil Moss and seedlings (optional) Leaves, twigs, rocks anything that will add to the landscape from outdoors (take an expedition outdoors to collect bits and pieces for their landscape) What to do: Help students to put potting compost into their container and cover it with moss. Sink small bits of bushes into the compost and place rocks and dinosaurs on top. DINO FACT FILE Ensure each student has a different dinosaur to research. Each student will complete a fact file (see template ideas on the following page) about their dinosaur. Compile all the pages into one book for the class, or the library. 9

10 Dinosaur Name: Name Meaning: Length: Height: Weight: Diet: Defence: Appearance: Interesting Facts: 10

11 NAME: LOOKS LIKE EATS SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT IT 11

12 THEME #2: EXTINCTION The following activities look at the theme of extinction and encourage your students to ask some big questions. These are starting points into more in-depth units of work that can cover extinction, endangered species and sustainability. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DINOSAURS? How did the dinosaurs become extinct? Ask students to consider why there are no longer any dinosaurs what could have happened? Explain that there are many theories about why the dinosaurs died out: - Asteroid / meteorite - Volcanic eruptions - Climate change - Diseases Do the students agree with any of these theories? Discuss. In small groups, ask students to choose one of theories and convince the class their theory is correct. You may like groups to create a poster or a PowerPoint present their ideas. For younger students, discussion and lessons surrounding extinction may need to be presented in a different way. - Dinosaurs that ate plants needed to eat particular types of plants in order to survive. Very slowly, the earth changed and different kinds of plants grew instead. Without their plants to eat, some dinosaurs starved. - Dinosaurs were alive a very long time ago. In those times, the earth was very different not like where we live now. But all those millions of years ago things slowly started to change; there were changes on earth such as the plants that lived, the animals that lived on it, the temperature of the earth, how much water there was on the earth, etc. Dinosaurs could not continue to live the same way with all these changes, and they began to die. Eventually, there were no more dinosaurs left. - Some people think that large comets crashed into the earth millions of years ago, which killed the dinosaurs. (Some students may need reassurance that nothing will crash into "their" earth now and kill people reassure them that this was a very long time ago and that they are safe.) Build a Volcano As a class, or in small supervised groups, create a volcanic eruption. What you will need: Modelling clay Small plastic cup Large tray 1 tablespoon flour 2 tablespoons baking soda 10cm square tissue paper 1/3 cup vinegar 12

13 1 drop of food colouring Safety glasses What to do: 1. Using the tray as a base, build the volcano with the modelling clay. Make sure that the opening in the top is large enough to hold the small plastic cup. 2. Put the flour and baking soda in the centre of the tissue paper and wrap it up, making sure the ends are tightly twisted. 3. Put the package in the cup 4. Add a drop of food colouring to the vinegar 5. Wearing safety glasses pour half the vinegar into the cup 6. When the foaming stops, add the remaining vinegar Reflect: Use this activity to help students to understand how volcanoes change the landscape. HOW DO WE KNOW DINOSAURS EXISTED? Fossils What is a fossil? You may like to begin by asking the class if they know what fossils are. This could be done using think, pair, share with the class. Using their ideas create an accepted class definition of the meaning of the term fossil and write it on the board. For example, fossils are the traces of animals and plants that were once alive, preserved in rock. How are fossils made? Give each a group a large piece paper (butchers paper) and some pens. Ask them to discuss and then draw pictures to show how they think fossils are formed. There is more than one way. Ask each group to elect a spokesperson and then collect feedback from each group. You are likely to get a variety of answers some relating to animals getting trapped in ice or insects trapped in amber, trace fossils such as footprints and mould and cast fossils. Make your own fossils. Fossils are extremely useful records of the past. Explain to students that we will be making our own fossils; however, the fossils made in class will leave an impression of an object you own whilst fossils found by scientists around the world can date back to the time of dinosaurs. These fossils allow palaeontologists to study what life might have been like millions of years ago. Fossils (such as those made in class) can leave delicate patterns and a surprising amount of detail. What you will need: Plasticine 2 paper cups An object that you would like to use as the fossilized impression Plaster Water 13

14 What to do: 1. Flatten a ball of plasticine until it is about 2 cm thick while making sure the top is smooth. 2. Put the plasticine inside a paper cup with the smooth side facing up. Carefully press the object you want to fossilize into the plasticine until it is partially buried. 3. Carefully remove the object from the plasticine. An impression of the object should be left behind. 4. Pour half a cup of plaster into the other paper cup. Add a quarter cup of water to the plaster and stir until the mixture is smooth. Leave it for around two minutes. 5. When the mixture has thickened pour it on top of the plasticine in the other cup. Leave the mixture until the plaster has dried (leave it for 24hrs if you want to be sure). 6. When the plaster has fully dried, tear away the sides of the paper cup and take out the plasticine and plaster. Keep it in a warm dry place and enjoy your very own fossil. Dinosaur Colours Fossils tell scientists a lot, but they can t tell them everything. For example, the scientists at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum write: The color of dinosaur skin remains a mystery. Artists may choose to use the colors of living animals as their palette when they depict dinosaurs, or they may let their imaginations run wild. What colour would students choose to make their dinosaurs? Why? Using plastic dinosaur models or images of dinosaurs, ask students to consider the colour and coverings (fur, feathers, spikes). Do these dinosaurs remind them of any animals alive today? Students may like to colour and decorate dinosaurs ask them to justify their choices. Could animals that are alive today offer clues about dinosaurs? Explain to students that even though dinosaurs became extinct, other animal species and animals that were a little like dinosaurs lived on the earth right after them. As the earth changed, the animals changed, too. Even today, there are animals that have some similarities to the dinosaurs that lived long ago. Birds are examples of animals that may have evolved from dinosaurs. In ERTH S Dinosaur Zoo, students will meet Meganeura. This was a gigantic primitive dragonfly with a 70cm wingspan! This creature lived 300 million years ago but it is related to present-day dragonflies. With this in mind, ask students complete a compare and contrast activity finding the similarities and differences between dinosaurs and reptiles, insects and birds alive today. Students may use the dinosaur they researched for their Fact File to complete this comparsion activity. Students compare these ancient creatures with some animals that are alive today. You may decide to have students choose their own animal for comparison; ask them to consider animals familiar to them such as dogs, cats, or snakes; or have them compare dinosaurs to very large animals that currently live. Younger students may benefit from comparing animals with which they are most familiar, such as dogs and cats, because concepts such as size and shape would be more tangible. Older students may be ready for more abstract comparisons to large animals they know about but may never have seen. If students are researching the larger animals, consider asking them to learn about whales, giraffes, or alligators. Students may use this information to create a Venn diagram (using words and / or pictures) or construct a simple compare / contrast essay based on their findings. 14

15 EXTINCT AND ENDANGERED Dinosaurs are not the only animals which have become extinct. Explain to students how in the modern age, animals have died out and have become extinct. There many are at risk of becoming extinct these animals are endangered. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) keeps a list of endangered animals you can view online: Explain the reasons animals become endangered: Changes to the environment New predators New diseases New competitors Students can research animals that are extinct and / or endangered and summarise the information they find as below: Species Habitat Reasons why it is extinct / endangered Details Extinction Timeline Brainstorm as a class and make a list of extinct animals (include dinosaurs) In pairs, students find out when these animals lived and when they became extinct. Make a class timeline covering 300 million years and place pictures of the extinct animals on it. Discuss the following questions: Why are there a great many extinctions crowded in the last tiny part of the timeline? What are some of the reasons for extinction? Should we try to stop endangered animals becoming extinct because of human actions? What can we do? Choose an endangered species and create a poster that informs and educates people about how they can help ensure this animal doesn t disappear from the planet. 15

16 THEME #3: PUPPETRY AND PERFORMANCE The following activities have an Arts focus. These activities encourage exploration of dinosaurs and the performance style of ERTH s Dinosaur Zoo through creative play, Dance, Puppetry and Drama. IMAGINATIVE JOURNEY Before you begin this activity, explain to students that this is an independent task. Everyone will be doing the task at the same time but it is very important not to notice others / interrupt them etc. In an imaginative journey, the teacher narrates a story whilst the class acts it out. Encourage the students to show, don t tell and let their imaginations go wild! It s a normal, average day. You are standing in your bedroom a little bit bored. Suddenly, you notice a weird light coming from your wardrobe (or under the bed). You have a closer look. It is a TIME MACHINE. There are instructions inside. You have to press the red button find it, press it. Then you pull on the lever Pull it down as far as it will go. The Time Machine is moving. It s making you wobbly on your feet! Hang on tight and close your eyes. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. It stopped. Open your eyes. Open the door. You are on Planet Earth at the time of the Dinosaurs! You are in a lush forest surrounded by ferns and tall, tall trees. Some of them look a bit like palm trees. Have a look. Feel the earth under your feet. It is hot and humid here. Have a look around explore. Show me what else you can see here. You find a nest. There are giant eggs inside. Be careful. You don t want to break them or come face to face with the mummy dinosaur. What can you hear? Listen carefully. What can you smell? You look down and notice a footprint and another and another Which dinosaur does this footprint belong to? Can you tell? Follow the footprints. As you follow the footprints you hear a loud screeching sound above you. Look up, what can you see? What was that noise? Is there a dinosaur flying above you in the sky? What does it look like? 16

17 You are at the foot of hill. Climb the hill. What view you have from there! Have look all around you. What can you see... maybe you can see volcanoes? Dinosaurs? Birds? Rivers? Waterfalls? You hear the Time Machine whirling it is time to go You head back to the Time Machine. But, standing, right in your way, is the biggest dinosaur you have ever seen. Don t make a sound, no sudden movements. Have a good look at him and sneak past it quietly, quietly There s the Time Machine. Jump inside. Press the green button and push the lever up. It wobbles and moves hold on tight, close our eyes. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Open your eyes. You re home. Students will want to share with the class what the saw in their journey. You may like to have the students draw their responses or re-enact their favourite part for the rest of the class. DINO DANCE Wondering Divide the class into pairs: Give each pair a model of a dinosaur to discuss with each other. Ask questions such as: Why do you think that dinosaur has a long neck/tail? Why has that dinosaur only got short arms? Discuss as a class. Guide the children into suggesting that a long neck needs a long tail to balance. Ask the children to stand in a variety of positions until they feel balanced. Why is this? Group Work Ask the group to move through the space in different ways (heavy, slowly, quickly, lightly etc.). Call out a number students are to make groups of that size as quickly (and queitly) as possible. Once they have formed the group, call out the name of a dinosaur or show an image of a dinosaur. Groups then have 10 seconds to work together and create a statue / frozen image of that dinosaur. Everyone in the group must be included. Admire each dinosaur (you may like to also hear the noise/s it makes) and then repeat ensure different sized groups are made each time, and children are working with a range of people. Dinosaur Egg Dance Discuss with students the different shapes and sizes of the dinosaurs that have been explored. Explain that all dinosaurs start as an egg shape. Tuck up small in an egg shape on back, on side, on knees find a way of tapping the egg shell and jumping out of the shell. Encourage students to begin still and low limbs beating time, roll over and jump into a LARGE still shape. What type of dinosaur has just cracked out of the shell? Dinosaur Shapes Look at images of dinosaurs with distinct shapes and explore how the body can be used to draw those shapes. 17

18 For example, look at the back of a Stegosaurus. Students can draw the back of the Stegosauruas with their bodies: start high, curvy, spiky, getting lower. Encourage students to try out different shapes. Prompt them: Are you stretching all your body? How high can you jump? Dinosaur Movements Look at an image of a Pterodactyl. Discuss with the class all the different shapes they can see in this creature spiky, triangles, wide wings, narrow feet, sharp claws. Try to make shapes with different parts of body feet, legs, arms, hands, whole body. Call out a body part and shape for students e.g. Triangle Arms or Whole Body Point. Each student can create two shapes; they are to hold these shapes for 4 counts. Explore the ways a Pterodactyl could travel. Working in small groups, create a Pterodactyl formation: the leader leads his / her group Explore the swooping motion of the Pterodactyl use swooping to travel between the shapes. This is the travelling phrase of the dance students swoop / run in a circle and jump into a pounce positon. Create a dance which looks like: 1. Still position 2. Swooping 3. Pounce 4. Still position Watch footage of some large dinosaurs (Walking with Dinosaurs can be a good resource for this sort of activity see resources list). Watch how some dinosaurs move in a slow and heavy straight pathway. Dinosaurs are large and slow look at the Tyrannosaurus Rex as an example; it is slow, but can also be fast as they race for their food. Call out a different way to travel at different speeds: Crawling Sliding Walking Skipping Stomping Ask students to brainstorm adjectives to describe the different ways dinosaurs travel and move explore these movements in the space. Students could create a short routine to music which shows three different ways of moving in the space. PUPPETRY The main style of puppetry used in Erth s Dinosaur Zoo is a modified style of Bunraku (bunrahkoo), a form of puppetry that originated in Japan over 400 years ago. In Bunraku, there are usually several puppeteers who manipulate the puppet directly and are visible throughout the play rather than being hidden. Usually 3 puppeteers will operate 1 puppet in Bunraku- each puppeteer is responsible for moving a different part of the body. What you will need: 18

19 Lots of newspaper Many, many rolls of masking tape What to do: 1. Spilt the class into groups of three 2. Each group will choose a dinosaur it will be easier for students to choose a dinosaur which walks on two legs; however, a nothing is impossible! 3. Break the dinosaur image down into three major part: head, torso (including arms) and feet (including tail) 4. Use the newspaper to create these major parts. Scrunch and roll the paper into the shapes needed to represent the dinosaur and wrap it in masking tape. It doesn t have to be neat and tidy. 5. When all the parts have been created, stick them together but ensure the arms, feet and head can move. Don t attach them too tightly. There needs to be movement in the parts. The dinosaur puppets will be quite large and will need three operators. In their groups of three, students will take on one of the following roles (it is probably a good idea to switch the roles around so students have an experience in every role): HEAD PUPPETEER (the omo-zukai) operates the puppet's head and face with left hand, and uses right hand of operate the puppet s right arm LEFT HAND PUPPETEER (the hidari-zukai) - uses right hand to operate the puppet s left hand FOOT PUPPETEER (the ashi-zukai) - uses both hands to suggest the movements of the puppet s legs and feet. The puppeteers must work in perfect harmony or the puppet will never come to life give students time to explore how they can move their puppet. You may like to play music so they can work with rhythm in their movement. Discuss the ways in which this dinosaur moves how they can present these different movements? How well can they work together to manipulate and manoeuvre their puppet? Students may like to use these puppets to create their own Dinosaur Zoo. Choose someone to be the zoo keeper (or an opportunity for Teacher-In-Role) and present each dinosaur to the zoo s visitors. The puppets could also be used to help tell story about dinosaurs, or recite the haiku (see Theme #1 Dinosaurs). The options are endless! MY PET DINOSAUR Ask students to list typical pets cats, dogs, birds, fish Choose one pet and create a short sequence which show the audience how to look after this animal. This sequence will be entirely non-verbal. What do you need to do to keep you cat happy and healthy? What happens when you, for example, neglect to change the kitty litter? Or if you don t feed your dog at the right time? Now, explain to students they have a new pet A dinosaur Students rework their initial performance, making the necessary changes required for taking care of a pet dinosaur. You may like to extend on this idea with the use of the Bunraku puppets. Other ideas include presenting this as a segment in a television program like Totally Wild (Channel Ten). 19

20 RESOURCES About the Show: Interview with Artistic Director of ERTH Reviews hbi.html Behind the News segment and related resources: Dinosaurs Museum of Western Australia Dinosaur Discovery Smithsonian Museum of Natural History ABC TV - Walking with Dinosaurs Natural History Museum The Dino Directory Palaeontology Make Your Own Trace Fossil Junior Palaeontology Program Extinction Behind the News - Extinction World Wildlife Fund (WWF) endangered species Puppetry Bunraku Puppets The World of Puppetry 20