Bones & Beasts Program
Learn to read bones!
This presentation geared for 4th graders will use modern skulls and bones to help us understand fossil bones. A wide range of modern skulls and bones will provide a basic understanding of:
- how to age an animal
- information hidden in the teeth
- how to recognize an herbivore from a carnivore
- how to recognize a predator from prey
- the function of the head crest
- what nose length tells us about the environment and senses
- some pathology (study and diagnosis of disease)
- some taphonomy (what happens to the bones after death)
- plus a lot of simply fun facts
This fundamental knowledge can then be applied to fossils, including our full-sized Diplodocus skull and vertebra, as well as our 1/2″ fish vertebra. We have a number of modern animal skulls and vertebra (backbones). In addition to our modern skulls we also have teeth of Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus (two of our own dinosaurs).
Many critical thinking skills and vocabulary come into play during this presentation, and each participant will bring his/her valuable individual experience to apply and share with others. Oftentimes the quiet student in the back of the room can’t resist coming forward, eyes sparkling with information and questions.