Learner Development

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”

— Maya Angelou

RM got into this activity. He was very sheepish when he asked to do a sandworm, but did a very good job on classifying his cryptid.

The labels and drawing align well with explanation of his classification of his cryptid.

DT got into the activity too and used a lot of my own phrasing from the notes I provided.

This is another example of well-aligned labels to the drawings.

DJ does a great job of explaining her cryptid.

DJ forgot to label her mermaid.

Cryptid Classification Activity

This activity was a part of students learning about vertebrate Classes. I expanded the option to extinct animals as well for my less fanciful students. The point of this activity was to provide a light way of practicing their knowledge. I teach teenagers, and while they insist that they are not children, they love to color and are very imaginative. This was an outlet for those students who don't always feel at home in the sciences, or don't recognize the inherent creativity in science.

Here is the link for the activity sheet.

Reflections on Evidence

I presented this evidence because it showed how strictly students organize concepts into boxes. There are perfectly legitimate scientific reasons to draw organisms, cryptid or otherwise, and some students struggled with the concept of drawing being scientific, while others just loved it. Part of my role is to expand their understanding of science as a whole and the creativity really blew their collective minds. I want to continue using whimsical activities to engage my students in learning and exercising their knowledge.

This is certainly a whimsical activity, but it also is a serious, but appropriate, challenge because students are expected to logically explain their classification of their cryptid from Domain to Class.