In this lesson, students will compare their body parts, based on commonly used terms, to the bones of the "Turkana Boy" found in the roots of a thorn tree by Africa's Lake Turkana. Using the interactive feature in Xpedition Hall called The Dig, students will see what a 1.6 million-year-old human skeleton can teach them about their own bodies, and connect with the past by relating to a fossil! Students will work in pairs or small groups for this lesson.

Geography, science

Standard 17: "How to apply geography to interpret the past"

Two hours

• Computer with Internet access
• Sheets of craft paper or newsprint as large as a student's body
• Writing and drawing materials, including two colors of markers per pair of students
• Masking tape
• Printouts of animals from National Geographic's Print 'n' Go Coloring Book

Students will

• list the words that label a fossil;
• label their own body parts, using common language;
• create life-size outlines of themselves;
• associate the parts of a fossil with the parts of their own body; and
• label their life-size models using terms learned in the Xpedition Hall exhibit.

Point to the following parts of the body, and ask students to call out their names: knee, elbow, leg, and jaw.

Tell the class that scientists have special words for these parts of the body. Millions of years ago, people looked a lot like we do today, with a few exceptions. Explain that people, like other animals, have changed over time, to adapt to their environment. When an archaeologist—a scientist who learns about the past by studying different places on Earth—finds remains of towns from the past, including the remains of people's and animal's bodies, we can learn more about what life was like back then (e.g., how tall people grew, what tools they used, or what the animals that lived at that time ate based on the shape of their teeth). Remind students that many of prehistoric man's body parts are just like the parts of their own bodies.

Ask students to keep their eyes and ears open for new names for the parts of the body that you mentioned earlier, when you go on an "online Xpedition."

Link the classroom computer(s) to Xpedition Hall's The Dig and have students read (or read to them) the text. Tell students that this is only one sample, and that other archaeologists might find different types of fossils. Ask students which words were new to them, which may include cranium, ribs, mandible, femur, tibia, and humerus.

Using the imagery in the interactive feature, ask students what they think another word for femur might be (leg). Explain to students that their legs include skin, tissue, and muscle, as well as a bone, which is called the femur. Ask students to point to the part of their body where they would find their femur. Let the students know that in the future, humans may be a little different (we might have smaller heads, longer fingers, or maybe even bigger nostrils), but it is likely that most of the features that we have today will still be part of the human body well into the future.

Ask students to consider what an alien from another planet would think about humans today, based on their bodies. For example, what are thumbs for, and why do elbows bend? Create a two-column chart on the blackboard, with the scientific name in the left-hand column, and the common name for the part of the body mentioned earlier in the right-hand column. What do the body parts mentioned in the "Xhibit" do for us, and what did they do for prehistoric man? What needs have stood the test of time, such as protecting the brain?

Ask students to point to the parts of their bodies using the new names they have just learned. Repeat the words with the students to reinforce the vocabulary. Remind students that the chart has the proper spellings for the body parts.

Pair up the students and have them lay the craft paper, cut into four-foot (1.2-meter) long sheets, on the floor with masking tape on either end to prevent slipping. As one student lies down on the paper, have the partner trace his or her body. Using markers of 2 different colors, have students label their artwork, using the darker marker for the names they knew already, and using the lighter color for the new words. Make sure each partner has a chance to create his or her own outline. If students are not yet writing, have them color in the parts of the body they have learned about and practice naming them.

Using the printouts of the different animals found in National Geographic's Print 'n' Go Coloring Book, have students label the parts of the animal, as they did their own outlines. If students can't find a body part (such as the femur on a snake!), ask them to explain that to the others in the class who might have used a different image. Use this as an opportunity to explain how the animal's body is different from theirs—for example, a snake has a cranium, but it is not separated from the rest of the body by a neck, as theirs is. Remind students that studying skeletons and fossils helps us understand the anatomy of living things.

National Geographic: Print 'n' Go Coloring Book
National Geographic: Xpedition Hall—The Dig