|
Wyoming Dinosaur CenterOct 8-9, 1998 |
 Forecast |
The Wyoming Dinosaur Center was created when a German businessman began looking for a new place to dig dinosaur bones. In 1994 they found many bones just outside of Thermopolis. The bone find is very large. It is unique to have such a large site so close to a city, but makes it a convenient place to see a real quarry in action. They sponsor many learning activities, including "Dig for a Day," "Kids dig," and more. Even though they invite the public to observe, and even work in the quarry with supervision, they emphasize preserving the facts for science. The museum has only been open for a few years, and they already have many skeletons on display. We spent a whole day with a paleotechnician, Malcom, and other staff and volunteers digging in the quarry. It was difficult because the rock was so hard. We learned a lot about how to chip rocks away without damaging the bones. Special thanks to the great staff at WDC, especially Malcom, Shawn, and Lambert, that made our dig and stay very interesting.Links: (See below for additional resources you can buy online)
|
){kind=small}
|
Dad spent all day working on a single vertebrae. It was in very hard rock. He had to remove a lot of rock around the vertebrae so it wouldn't damage it. After a whole day, he still didn't get it out, but it is close! |
|||
){kind=small}
|
Amanda helped Dad and our paleotechnician, Malcom, create a "field jacket" for a large femur that was ready to take to the lab. It is getting late in the year, and they need to remove all the exposed bones, or cover them up again before the snow comes. Snow and ice would crack up the exposed bones an ruin them if we didn't get them out of the quarry. |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The next day, we went to the museum. This is a picture of a dinosaur still in the egg! We learned how rare complete dinosaur eggs are, and how fragil. Scientists use a weak acid to melt away the "matrix," from around the bones. The acid is weak, so it takes a long time. |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Shawn, one of the staff that worked at the quarry with us the day before, took us on a special tour of the lab. We saw hundreds of bones that are being cleaned and cataloged. Here he is using an "arrow" drill to clean away some rock from a small tail bone. Amanda found a piece of a diplodocus tail in the quarry rocks. |
|||
|
|
The lab is a busy place in the winter. After a summer of finding rocks, they work in the lab to clean, identify and repair them. The quarry at WDC is so rich that they have a huge backlog of bones that they still haven't been able to work on in the lab. Some scientists estimate that there may be 200 years worth of bones in the hills by Thermopolis! |
|||
|
|
Thermopolis was a great town! We loved working out the stiff muscles each night in the famous natural hot springs from which Thermopolis got its name. On our second night we found out that the Chamber of Commerce was holding a "thank-you" dinner at the park. It was great to see a friendly city having fun together. Although we didn't meet anyone in particular, it almost seemed like we were V.I.P.'s. |
|
Resources |
|
|
|
We had fun spending a day digging up dinosaur fossils. Now you can practice removing fossils with this T-Rex dig kit. |
|
|
|||
PLEASE DONATE GENEROUSLY TO HELP THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA
|
|||
){kind=small}
)
Color
Me!){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
Color
Me!){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
Try
out some of these recommendations for your own learning activities.
for Windows
for Mac
I
Dig Dinosaurs T-Rex Kit