The Big Traveling Picture Museum Dinosaur Sleuths

Dinosaur Sleuths is an exciting new traveling exhibit that lets children explore the world
of the paleontologist in search of dinosaurs. Children investigate the scientific field of
dinosaur study and do some clue gathering of their own.

Benefits include:
*Workshops for elementary classes, grades K-6.
*Critical thinking emphasis.
*Held in your own school.
*No buses. No missed classroom time.

Details:
The Dramatic Presentation
Two classes of students at a time will gather to hear a dramatic presentation about dinosaurs
and the field of paleontology. Some of the topics discussed will be Earth's history, how fossils
were formed, where and how to dig for dinosaurs, and how paleontologists piece together clues
about dinosaurs.

The presentation is complete with artifacts and props. After the presentation, students will have
an opportunity to look at the artifacts up close and to touch fossils that are millions of years old.
Included in the artifact display are real dinosaur teeth and bones, a dinosaur egg, dung,
gastroliths (gizzard stones), casts of dinosaur skin impressions and footprints, and several
professionally made skull and small whole skeleton replicas.

The Interactive Museum
Each class of students will be given a paleontologist's notebook as a guide through a variety of
hands-on museum activities. Through these activities, students will explore the world of the
paleontologist and learn about dinosaurs. The activities center around scientific exploration,
reading, writing, critical thinking, and analysis.

Current Exhibits Include: Tooth Tales, Dinosaur Poop Picking, Making Footprints, Dino Art, The
Skin They Were In, Bone Analysis, Eggs and Nests . . .

The Classroom Kits
Each class will receive a large kit to be completed with their teacher in the classroom. The kit
contains pieces of a large stone slab that has been imbedded with plastic dinosaur bones and
other traces of dinosaurs. Each piece comes to the classroom covered in a hardened
sand/plaster mixture. The class divides into groups and uses paleontology tools to excavate
the pieces. Afterwards, the class puzzles the pieces together and draws conclusions about
what might have happened in the uncovered scene. Students are then prompted to respond to
the discovery in writing and with art sketches. Complete lesson plan is provided to the teacher
ahead of time along with helpful information cards and question prompts.

*Activities throughout the museum are adapted specifically to each grade level.

NYS Learning Standards Met
English Language Arts: Standards 1,2,3,4
Math, Science, Technology: Standards 1,2,4,5,6,7
Arts: Standards 1,2
Career: Standards 1,2