DinoLand, USA

Dinosaurs are anything but extinct at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. In DinoLand, USA, evidence of the massive reptilians covers every square inch of space from the dinosaur skeleton greeting Guests at the Land’s entrance to the knick-knacks filling Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama gift shop. Several life-like dinos hide amidst lush vegetation along the Cretaceous Trail leading fearless travelers to the area’s favorite attraction, Dinosaur!

The Dinosaur! ride is housed inside the Dino Institute, a large building toward the rear of DinoLand, USA. A 40-foot long, 20-foot high Tyrannosaurus rex named Dino Sue stands charge by the entrance. She is an exact replica of the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ever unearthed, excavated in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1990, and is named after her discoverer, fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson. The skeleton was found with a complete breastbone and is one of only two Tyrannosaurus rex fossils discovered with an arm intact. In 1998, some of Sue’s bones were transported from the Chicago Field Museum to a fossil preparation lab at DinoLand to be cleaned while on public display.

Once you eek past Dino Sue, proceed through the Dinosaur! queue and travel back in time. The strata on the walls hints to the time frame. The dark layer halfway up represents the K-T boundary, a specific strata level distinguishing between the age of dinosaurs and the age of mammals. Strap into your Time Rover and hang on! Embark on a quest to fetch a dinosaur and save it from the dreaded Carnotaurus robustus Floridana, a species unique to DinoLand, USA, before they and you become extinct.

Today’s Takeaway:
Fossils are imprints of things such as footprints, bones, feathers, insects, bugs, or shells, that have left impressions in the earth and hardened over time. They allow scientists to study life forms that existed long ago. By examining the details and dimensions of each specimen, they can make educated assessments of what dinosaurs and other bygone creatures were like, as well as what the surrounding habitat consisted of.

Make your own fossils and go on a dino dig. Use Play-Doh or Plaster of Paris or mix homemade dough using this recipe. Roll it out flat and press various items into it like leaves, dead beetles, toy dinosaurs (use large ones to leave footprints and smaller ones to press the skin texture), and chicken bones if you have them available. You could also make impressions of seashells, twigs, acorns, or hard berries from plants in your garden.

Allow your fossils to dry overnight, and when the children aren’t looking, stash them in a backyard sandbox. Gather shovels, pails, and sifting pans and let the kids discover what is buried in the dirt. Remind them that fossil hunters, paleontologists, and archeologists are very careful with dig sites so they do not disturb or damage the finds.

SCHOOL SUBJECT: Paleontology
SKILL LEVEL: Elementary