1. ENGAGE:
   There are several ways to engage students in this activity. You could start by showing Good Stress: Muscle and Bones, which can be streamed from the the Apple Learning Interchange or the South Carolina Educational TV website to show your students how math is important in the study of muscle and bones. This could be followed by the hands-on activity in the Educators Guide. Start the Norbesaur Challenge web activity with a story. It could take place long long ago when Norbesaurs roamed the surface of the Earth and you can make up the rest. Ask what they think about how Norbesaurs moved. Did they walk, run or both? Squeak, an engaging multimedia authoring environment, will grab the attention of young learners.
2. EXPLORE:
   In the Norbesaur Challenge, your students should first explore by trying the various buttons to see what happens. There are directions in the book in the activity when they get to the more serious business of taking data and plotting their results. Have them work in groups on the first challenge with each member contributing ideas. By comparing their ideas, they can check each other and come up with the best measurement technique. Next they need to take data on Norbesaur and his different sized cousins. Within their groups and between groups, have them explore the plotting and analysis of the data they took. They will see that all the data lie on a universal curve, which is a beautiful thing when it happens. It organizes a large body of facts into one single curve on a graph. The whole activity is one big exploration in measurement, plotting, analysis, and mathematics.
3. EXPLAIN:
   To prepare students for an oral presentation, assign as homework the task to write out a presentation of their observations and analysis. Encourage them to accompany their words with pictures they draw. Have your students describe, discuss and explain their data and discuss the significance of a universal curve. They should explain what they observe clearly and note any mathematical patterns they see in the data.
4. EXTEND:
   Challenge your students to take data on their walking and running. Have your students try the TRACKS activity to use the data they took and analysis they did to determine how fast one of Norbesaur's other cousins was moving. Close this window and follow the link in the Teacher Information area for a list of other extensions. You should modify the suggested extensions to fit the class time you have available and based on the knowledge level of your students. Also, if you didn't do Challenge 4, that could be an extension.
5. EVALUATE:
   Have your students evaluate how reliable they believe their data analysis to be. Have your students check the Internet to find more data on the motion of animals and how scientists evaluate those data. They should compare the scientist's analysis with theirs. Go to the NASA CONNECT web site to have your students submit their Squeak projects from Challenge 4 if they do it and we will post them if they are good examples and give feedback. They can save their Squeak projects using the publish button on the navigator flap.