All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.
29 05, 2017

Key Stage 1 Children Design Dinosaurs

By |2023-07-23T07:51:55+01:00May 29th, 2017|General Teaching, Key Stage 1/2|Comments Off on Key Stage 1 Children Design Dinosaurs

Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore

One of the key topic areas covered in the Year 2 science curriculum (England), is that pupils should be taught to describe how animals obtain their food.  This permits the teaching team to introduce the concept of the development of simple food chains.  The national curriculum for England gives guidance on science programmes of study, but schools have flexibility in how these key concepts are taught in the classroom.  Dinosaurs and life in the past can provide a class with a highly enjoyable term topic that permits the teaching team to build in a wide range of cross-curricular learning activities.

An Everything Dinosaur Workshop

Designing a Herbivorous Dinosaur – Learning About Food Webs

Designing a dinosaur herbivore.

Our mailbag was full of lovely dinosaur cards.

Picture credit: Great Wood Primary School

Take for example, the term topic recently delivered by the teaching team at Great Wood Primary School (Lancashire), to their charges in Year 2.  Our dinosaur expert observed some excellent examples of non-fiction and fiction writing, along with evidence of non-chronological reporting during his visit to deliver a dinosaur themed workshop at the school.

For dinosaur themed toys and gifts: Prehistoric Animal Toys and Gifts.

A Dinosaur Food Chain

During an hour-long workshop with the Key Stage 1 children, our dinosaur expert introduced a series of extension ideas to help support the scheme of work that had been developed by the teaching team.  One of the topic areas touched upon was establishing the concept that different kinds of animals obtained food in different ways.  In addition, scientists used special terms to describe the diets of animals – herbivores, carnivores and omnivores.

We challenged the children to design their very own prehistoric animal, to label its body parts and to think about what food it might have eaten.  Could they come up with a name to describe their very own dinosaur?  By doing this, we were checking the children’s understanding of the key concepts.

Herbivores, Omnivores and Carnivores in the Dinosauria

Dinosaur illustration (Alice in Year 2)

A colourful dinosaur drawing from Alice in Year 2 at Greatwood Primary School).

Picture credit: Great Wood Primary School

The children came up with some very creative and imaginative designs.  At the end of the topic, one of the teaching team members sent us examples of the children’s work.  These pictures were posted up onto our warehouse wall and they made a very colourful display.  Having children design their own prehistoric animals is a great way to test understanding and provides an interesting way of demonstrating the key components of food webs, as well as introducing ideas about how animals can adapt to different environments.

Visit Everything Dinosaur’s website: The Everything Dinosaur Website.

29 05, 2017

Rebor Replicas King and Queen Diorama

By |2023-07-23T07:43:19+01:00May 29th, 2017|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur Products, Main Page, Photos of Everything Dinosaur Products|0 Comments

Rebor King T. rex and Fallen Queen Diorama

A special thank you to Paleo Paul who sent into Everything Dinosaur some photographs of his spectacular dinosaur diorama featuring the Rebor 1:35 scale King T. rex and the Rebor Triceratops “Fallen Queen”.  This is a wonderful composition that shows these two well-crafted replicas against the backdrop of a skilfully made prehistoric landscape.

The Rebor King T. rex and the Rebor Fallen Queen – Dinosaur Diorama

Rebor King T. rex and Fallen Queen (Triceratops) dinosaur diorama.

A wonderfully composed dinosaur diorama featuring two Rebor replicas.

Picture credit: Paleo Paul

Rebor Prehistoric Animal Figures

The model maker has added a couple of personal touches to these models, for example the imposing Tyrannosaurus rex is posed with its huge jaws nearly fully open, as if the predator is roaring to stake its claim over the carcase of the Triceratops.  The Rebor replica 1:35 scale T. rex has an articulated jaw permitting model enthusiasts the choice as to how they want to show their own “Tyrant Lizard King”.  The base upon which the Triceratops corpse rests also looks to have been repainted, these types of quality figures provide plenty of scope for a bit of subtle customisation.

The Triceratops figure represents a T. horridus and we think this is the original version introduced by Rebor in late 2015.  Recently, Rebor has introduced a second version of the “Fallen Queen” sculpt, this version has a different wash and offers variations in the paint effects and a slightly different colour scheme.  Version two has been brought out this spring in anticipation of the third part in this Rebor series, the adult male Triceratops which we expect to have in our warehouse in time for Christmas.

To view the Rebor prehistoric animal model range: Rebor Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.

It’s All About the Detail

Paleo Paul has evidently thought very carefully about this composition.  The background has been constructed in such a way as to draw the eye into the diorama, the use of natural materials gives the diorama a very realistic look and when considering the best angle to photograph from, the use of two ferns at the extreme left and right of the frame helps to provide depth of perception.  It is all about the details when it comes to creating a striking prehistoric landscape and much planning has gone into constructing this prehistoric scene.

Tyrannosaurus rex Claims His Prize

Rebor King T. rex and Fallent Queen Triceratops diorama.

Rebor King T. rex and the Rebor Fallen Queen (Triceratops).

Picture credit: Paleo Paul

Clever Use of Lighting

Having created your dinosaur themed diorama, you might want to share this with the world.  To do this requires a practical approach to photography.  In this composition, (see picture above), Paleo Paul has chosen to take an image from a low angle, as if the viewer is looking up, this helps to provide an impression of size and scale.  Clever use of lighting has allowed the various hues and colours of the models to be clearly defined against the backdrop.  A few minutes considering what sort of effect you wish to create can really pay dividends when it comes to displaying your work.

At Everything Dinosaur, we enjoy seeing the creative ways in which our customers display their prehistoric animal model collections.  Our congratulations to Paleo Paul for producing such a striking dinosaur diorama.

To view the range of models and prehistoric animal replicas available from Everything Dinosaur: Prehistoric Animal Models and Figures.

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