Posted Friday, November 6, 2020
Students in Jodie Day’s class learned about the structure and function of their skulls during a recent mini-lesson.
In the activity “my paper skull,” students combine science and art as they examine their own heads and make discoveries about their skull.
Using their observations, they create a mask that shares characteristics with their own skull. Younger students create a simple mask, while older students create a mask with a moveable jaw.
At the end of the activity, older students were asked if they thought the jaw on the paper skull works the way their own jaw works, and what was the same and what was different.
The jaw on the paper skull worked like a sliding door, while their jaws have a hinge, like one on a laptop computer or a door. By putting hands on the side of their head, just below their ears, they can feel the hinge moving as they open their mouth.