Dinosaur Activities

NEWSLETTER Spring 2012

MAY 17, 2012 – SEP 16, 2012

Kids

Q&A

UR COLO !

US

Source: www.kids-dinosaurs.com www.wikipedia.org

Long horns of solid bone for defence

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Triceratops

Wider nose horn for defence

Bony frill to guard their necks

Flexible neck for different attack positions

How did dinosaurs move?

Tail used for balance

Trackways – fossilized footprints – can tell scientists how dinosaurs behaved.

Thick hide for protection

Large brain to help with hunting

Scientists study modern animals, from chickens to crocodiles, for clues about the behavior of ancient dinosaurs.

the Spot ences r e f f i d

What colour were dinosaurs?

Five things are different about these two illustrations, can you find them?

We don’t know for sure, but scientists look to dinosaurs’ closest relatives for clues. Reptiles and birds are often very colourful, so dinosaurs probably were, too!

Powerful jaws for chewing plants

Tiny arms

How BIG were dinosaurs?

Dinosaurs varied in shape and size. Some grew no bigger than a chicken, while others would dwarf and elephant. Scientists can use the circumference of the leg bone – along with other information – to calculate the weight of the animal.

How did they become extinct?

About 65 million years ago, something unusual happened on our planet – most of the plants and animals on Earth were wiped out. And all non-avian dinosaurs disappeared forever.

Bio

Powerful back legs for speed

W

hen he was six years old, Philip Currie found a plastic dinosaur in a box of cereal. His parents had to buy a lot of cereal so that he could collect the whole set! In grade five, he found a book in his classroom called All About Dinosaurs, and read what it was like to be a dinosaur hunter. He decided then and there to become a paleontologist. Today, he is a professor and is recognize around the world as a leading paleontologist.

Junior Paleontologist & Dino Diggers May 26 Want to be a famous dinosaur hunter? Join, Dr Philip Currie, to learn about his discoveries and find out if you have what it takes to dig up history.

Source: Canadian Dinosaurs By Elin Kelsey, Maple Tree Press, 2003

What’s Insight Kids | Spring 2012

Strong legs to support heavy body

Try-SAIR-uh-tops

Height 9.5 feet (2.9 meters)

Length 26 feet (7.9 meters)

Weight 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg)

Period Late Cretaceous about 68-65 million years ago

• Triceratops translates to ‘three-horned face’.

Pronunciation Tye-RAN-uh-SAWR-us

Height 23 feet (7.0 meters)

Length 50 feet (15.2 meters)

Weight 8 tons, more than a garbage truck, making it one of the largest carnivores of all time!

Dr Philip Currie

Powerful jaws Pronunciation with huge front teeth

Period Late Cretaceous about 68-65 million years ago

• Their horns and frills were to attract mates and compete with rivals. • They had groups of teeth called batteries that were 36 to 40 columns, in each side of the jaw with 3 to 5 stacked teeth per column, depending on the size of the animal.

This means they had 432 to 800 teeth! As the teeth wore down from eating fibrous plant material they were replaced by the teeth below.

• Based on new evidence, scientists now think that T. rex walked with its body parallel to the ground, rather than upright. Watch birds walking to see what this looks like.

• Recent studies show that while an adult T. rex was a powerful – even “destructive” – animal, it wasn’t very fast.

• The tail was heavy and long, sometimes containing over forty vertebrae, in order to balance the massive head and torso.

• The largest T. Rex tooth found so far is estimated to have been 30 centimeters (12 in) long including the root when the animal was alive, making it the largest tooth of any carnivorous dinosaur. Measure this using a ruler, compare it to your tooth to see how bit it really was.

MAY 17, 2012 – SEP 16, 2012

Exhibition Highlights • Life-size cast skeletons of T. rex and Stegosaurus • A stunning metallic 60-foot-long model of an Apatosaurus skeleton and media analysis of its movements • Hands-on activities throughout the gallery