We have had a great week learning all about dinosaurs from dinosaur extremes to dinosaur adaptions. We even talked about how the dinosaurs became fossils.
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| Were pterosaurs dinosaurs? |
On Monday we talked about dinosaur extremes. We found the
biggest, smallest, longest, smartest, and most ferocious (just to name a few)
dinosaurs in the museum. We also discussed dinosaur hip structures and learned
about the reasons dinosaurs are different from reptiles. Later, we created our
own story about what happened to the dinosaurs.
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| Looking at a sauropod hip. |
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| Some fossil rubbings |
Tuesday, we learned about how fossils form, and we looked at
some real fossils in the museum’s hands-on cases! We played a fossil game where
we pretended to be animals then drew cards to choose our fate. We learned that
animals only sometimes become fossils, and for various reasons such as being
eaten by another animal or being washed away by water, many animals do not make
it to the fossil stage. Our craft on Friday was fantastic faux fossils. We
created 3-D fossils using various
materials to mimic fossilized animals and plants.
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| A stegosaurus displaying his plates. |
On Wednesday we discovered the many interesting adaptations
that the dinosaurs had. We took a tour of the second floor to view some of the
eyes, claws, teeth, spikes, and horns of various dinosaurs. We also had a
demonstration on gastroliths (stones swallowed by dinosaurs that helped in the
breaking down of their food). There was also a heard of stegosaurs in the
museum on Wednesday! We created our own plates and claws using paper products
to create a stegosaurus costume.
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| Look at those claws! |
Thursday was all about dinosaur tracks. We viewed a set of
dinosaur tracks. One of the sauropod tracks stopped and appeared to be
surrounded by a group of theropod tracks. In our journals, we recorded what we
think happened in the scene. We also used small model dinosaurs and clay to
create dinosaur trace fossils.
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| Looking at the dinosaur tracks left in the Museum! |
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| Making their own dinosaur tracks |
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| How many campers can fit in an Apatosaurus footprint? |
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| The clues to find their own fossil |
On Friday, we completed Junior Paleontologist Books for a
badge! We also used measurements from various dinosaurs to complete a scavenger
hunt and find fossils. At the end of the day, we all took home a cast of an
ammonite
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| Measuring to find their own fossil! |
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