Lesson: Skeleton Scanner

Make observations about scans of fish skeletons.

• Invite students to share their experiences with fish. Ask them for words that describe fish outside (like scaly) and inside (like bony). Have them draw what they think a fish skeleton looks like.

• Show students an image from scientist Adam Summers’s website, like this bar-chinned blenny: https://osf.io/d6z2k/ Ask: What is this? (a fish skeleton) What fish parts do you recognize? (e.g., eye socket, mouth, fins, spine) Tell students that they will be reading an article about the scientist who made this image.

Read the article and analyze a diagram about CT scanning.

• Compare and contrast the CT scan from Summers’s website with the images in the article. (The images in the article are more colorful but you can see bones in both.) Read the diagram “Inside a CT Scanner.” Invite students to share stories of getting scans, like X-rays, from a doctor.

• Read the article aloud. Ask: Besides CT scans, how else does Summers make images of fish skeletons? (by dyeing them and photographing them in front of a light)

Investigate how well light travels through different materials.

• Share the “All Lit Up” hands-on activity. Read the directions and procedure. Ask students what evidence they will use to answer the questions in steps 2 and 3 (observations or measurements of how much light hits the wall).

• After students are done, discuss their results. Compare and contrast their models to the CT images and colorful fish scans in the story.

Demonstrate understanding with a quiz and a creative activity.

• Assign the Quick Quiz to build core knowledge and assess reading comprehension.

• Use the Learning Journey (at the end of the online scrollable article and previewed below in Your Teaching Support Package) to have students draw and explain what a CT scan of another animal might show.

Formulate interview questions for a STEAM professional.

• As a class, discuss the acronym “STEAM” (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) and brainstorm different STEAM jobs. (You can find ideas on the Cool STEAM Jobs section of our website.)

• Have students complete “Ask a Scientist or Engineer.” To help students brainstorm questions, ask: How do you think SuperScience reporters write questions for scientists? (by reading about the scientists, thinking about what kids want to know, etc.) Optional: Register to talk with a scientist through Skype a Scientist (https://www.skypeascientist.com/). Email us at superscience@scholastic.com if you want to share student work (see the “Take It Further”).

⇨ Learning Journey: Would you like to create CT scans of mammals, reptiles, fish, or birds? Pick an animal and explain why you chose that type of animal. What do you think a CT scan would show from your chosen animal? Create a colorful drawing showing what you think the animal would look like inside!