Excavating Dinosaur Fossils!

The Museum of Science came in on Monday to teach us about fossils and dinosaurs. This went perfectly with what we are learning about because we just started the first Magic Tree House book "Dinosaurs Before Dark".

We got to demonstrate how many layers of dirt and sand have to get packed on top of something for it to eventually turn into a fossil. 

We loved getting to see real fossils! Pictured above is a cast of a dinosaur egg.

We all got to demonstrate how we thought a certain dinosaur must have walked just by looking at their footprints! We learned how paleontologists can tell what a dinosaur ate (meat or plants) just by looking at their footprints (based on how many toes they have), how they were traveling (running or walking) and what direction they were going all by looking at just a footprint!

Then we got to practice excavating fossils in a dig site with brushes and goggles. Paleontologist Mike explained to us that even if one person is the first one to discover a fossil all of the paleontologists at that dig site are credited for the find because they are working together as a team.