Philosophy
If you like fossils, dinosaurs and the like and are a youngster, check this out. A cool way to reach out to budding paleontologists.
Millions of years ago, northeastern Utah was a hot spot for dinosaurs. Today, people travel to the Dinosaur National Monument located on the borders of Colorado and Utah to see the leftover dinosaur bones. Visitors can see as many as 1,500 Jurassic-era fossils exposed on the cliff face of the Douglass Quarry.
Justin Hazelwood, 10, is the family expert and an aspiring paleontologist. His mother, Kay, says his obsession has become a family learning experience.
"I didn't know anything about dinosaurs until he got interested in them when he was, like, 3," she says. "We used to read dinosaur information books at bedtime. My mom refused to read them because she couldn't pronounce the names. She's like, 'I'm not reading those!' "
The Hazelwoods traveled to the monument from Lexington, Ky., recently, and Justin aimed to become an official "junior paleontologist," a designation that comes with an impressive gold star badge. He worked his way through an activity book picking out and circling the dinosaurs on a page filled with all kinds of animals.
"The ones that flew, swam in water and that are mammals are not dinosaurs," he explains. "Dinosaurs were all reptiles."
The activity booklet is relatively new, and National Park Service officials say its goal is to teach the 2,000 or so kids who come through the each summer that fossils tell a story about the past and that they shouldn't stick them in their pocket.
There's also a guided walk to be completed before Justin is able to earn his coveted title. After a short bus ride and a climb up a steep trail along a rock face, Justin and another aspiring junior paleontologist, Tyler Sachse, spot something sticking out of the rock.
"My sisters think it looks like wood, but I sort of think it looks like bone," says Sachse, who is visiting from Jupiter, Fla. "And I looked at it like this and I see very, very small holes in it. I know some bones have holes in them so it can, like, make blood and stuff."
The hike ends, and everyone returns to the visitor center where Park Ranger Matt Greuel leads the group in taking their pledge, before conferring the badges.
- T. Rex Has Company
"Meet the newly discovered dinosaur that even tyrannosaurs were afraid of" by Lance Tillson November 23rd, 2013 National Monitor Researchers from The Field Museum, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) and North Carolina State University...
- Mounting Evidence On Dinosaur Extinction
An adult triceratops. "'Last dinosaur' fossil adds weight to theory asteroid wiped out creatures" Horn thought to be of a triceratops found in sedimentary rock was deposited shortly before mass extinction 65.5m years ago by Ian Sample July 13th,...
- Deceased--harley Garbani
Harley Garbani September 19th, 1922 to April 21st, 2011 "Harley Garbani dies at 88; fossil hunter unearthed significant dinosaur finds" A self-taught paleontologist and archaeologist with a longtime passion for hunting dinosaur bones, Harley Garbani...
- Robert Bakker..."dino"mite Ideas
Robert Bakker is an American paleontologist who was the first to prove that dinosaurs were warm blooded and have more in common with birds than cold-blooded lizards. He is an outspoken a maverick and holds controversial opinions about the dinosaurs that...
- Bambiraptor Purloined For Bucks
This is not good, but not new. Remember Sue the T. Rex? Sue Hendrickson, amateur paleontologist, discovered the most complete (more than 90%) and, until 2001, the largest, Tyrannosaurus fossil skeleton known in the Hell Creek Formation near Faith, South...
Philosophy
Junior paleontologists--"hands on" experience
If you like fossils, dinosaurs and the like and are a youngster, check this out. A cool way to reach out to budding paleontologists."Dinosaur Fossils In Utah Inspire 'Jr. Paleontologists'"
by
Jeff Brady
July 2nd, 2008
National Public Radio
by
Jeff Brady
July 2nd, 2008
National Public Radio
Millions of years ago, northeastern Utah was a hot spot for dinosaurs. Today, people travel to the Dinosaur National Monument located on the borders of Colorado and Utah to see the leftover dinosaur bones. Visitors can see as many as 1,500 Jurassic-era fossils exposed on the cliff face of the Douglass Quarry.
Justin Hazelwood, 10, is the family expert and an aspiring paleontologist. His mother, Kay, says his obsession has become a family learning experience.
"I didn't know anything about dinosaurs until he got interested in them when he was, like, 3," she says. "We used to read dinosaur information books at bedtime. My mom refused to read them because she couldn't pronounce the names. She's like, 'I'm not reading those!' "
The Hazelwoods traveled to the monument from Lexington, Ky., recently, and Justin aimed to become an official "junior paleontologist," a designation that comes with an impressive gold star badge. He worked his way through an activity book picking out and circling the dinosaurs on a page filled with all kinds of animals.
"The ones that flew, swam in water and that are mammals are not dinosaurs," he explains. "Dinosaurs were all reptiles."
The activity booklet is relatively new, and National Park Service officials say its goal is to teach the 2,000 or so kids who come through the each summer that fossils tell a story about the past and that they shouldn't stick them in their pocket.
There's also a guided walk to be completed before Justin is able to earn his coveted title. After a short bus ride and a climb up a steep trail along a rock face, Justin and another aspiring junior paleontologist, Tyler Sachse, spot something sticking out of the rock.
"My sisters think it looks like wood, but I sort of think it looks like bone," says Sachse, who is visiting from Jupiter, Fla. "And I looked at it like this and I see very, very small holes in it. I know some bones have holes in them so it can, like, make blood and stuff."
The hike ends, and everyone returns to the visitor center where Park Ranger Matt Greuel leads the group in taking their pledge, before conferring the badges.
- T. Rex Has Company
"Meet the newly discovered dinosaur that even tyrannosaurs were afraid of" by Lance Tillson November 23rd, 2013 National Monitor Researchers from The Field Museum, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) and North Carolina State University...
- Mounting Evidence On Dinosaur Extinction
An adult triceratops. "'Last dinosaur' fossil adds weight to theory asteroid wiped out creatures" Horn thought to be of a triceratops found in sedimentary rock was deposited shortly before mass extinction 65.5m years ago by Ian Sample July 13th,...
- Deceased--harley Garbani
Harley Garbani September 19th, 1922 to April 21st, 2011 "Harley Garbani dies at 88; fossil hunter unearthed significant dinosaur finds" A self-taught paleontologist and archaeologist with a longtime passion for hunting dinosaur bones, Harley Garbani...
- Robert Bakker..."dino"mite Ideas
Robert Bakker is an American paleontologist who was the first to prove that dinosaurs were warm blooded and have more in common with birds than cold-blooded lizards. He is an outspoken a maverick and holds controversial opinions about the dinosaurs that...
- Bambiraptor Purloined For Bucks
This is not good, but not new. Remember Sue the T. Rex? Sue Hendrickson, amateur paleontologist, discovered the most complete (more than 90%) and, until 2001, the largest, Tyrannosaurus fossil skeleton known in the Hell Creek Formation near Faith, South...