Mary Anning and Paleontology for Kids: Her Life and Discoveries, with 21 Activities

Mary Anning was only 12 years old when she excavated the skeleton of an unknown animal.
The discovery of the ichthyosaur was the dawn of a new age of science called paleontology, and Anning became one of the leading experts in the study of dinosaurs. Her discoveries helped lay the groundwork for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and changed the way scientists understood the past.
Unfortunately, as a woman of the 1800s, Anning received almost no recognition for her contributions, which were instead credited to the male naturalists who had purchased her specimens.
Author Stephanie Bearce brings Anning’s remarkable work to life for young readers with research and projects that allow children to experience hands-on science as Anning did.
Kids will create fossil models in plaster and use tools to extract them, build a Mesozoic diorama of a dinosaur habitat, grow crystals in an eggshell to observe how geodes are formed, and much more!

Stephanie Bearce is an avid fossil collector and the award-winning author of twenty-nine nonfiction books for children. An educator with over twenty years’ experience in the classroom, Stephanie is a frequent presenter at regional and national education conferences, literature festivals, nerd camps, and school districts around the country. She was awarded the SCBWI Crystal Kite award for her Top Secret Files of History series World War II title. Her series Twisted True Tales from Science was selected for the NSTA Recommended Reading List. She lives in the St. Louis, Missouri area.