What's inside animals?

Teaching Kids about Vertebrates and Invertebrates

I just had to share this great product that I came across last year while teaching science lab. I always struggled with how to teach students to identify animals as vertebrates or invertebrates. I wanted to go past the knowledge part of Bloom's so that kids knew more than just the difference between the two and the purpose for backbones. I found a product called What's Inside Animals?

It's available in a lot of places, including Amazon. I got mine for about $30, but right now they are on sale. All students have to do is hold a card with the picture facing them and the back facing a light source. They can see a backbone through the picture! Here are some pictures of my students using them:

I found that they work best when you use a flashlight shined behind them in a dark room, but you can also hold them up to a ceiling light source!

I also use www.eskeletons.org, a site from the University of Texas at Austin. It allows students to compare skeletons of mammals while learning about animal classification. It can also be used in an evolution discussion.

The vocabulary is advanced, but trust me I did this with second and third graders and they loved it! They were able to compare and contrast the bones and started naming the body parts!

Check out another post on dinosaur bones and fossils here.