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Activity 4 - Digging a Dinosaur Standards: Illinois State Goal
11 Materials: Background Information Dinosaur bones are extremely fragile when first discovered in the field. The almost always require excavation (removal from the ground) and a protective covering, called a jacket, before they can be moved safely. The basic tools and material needed to collect a bone include:
The jacket looks like the white plaster casts doctors make for broken human bones. The plaster comes as a powder and is mixed with water. Plaster is much stronger if burlap is dipped in it and then wrapped around the bone. The plaster and burlap, however, cannot be placed directly on the bone because it would be very difficult to remove the jacket later. A separator, like paper, is used to cover the bone before the plaster-dipped burlap is applied. Once the plaster dries, the jacket can be labeled with a permanent marker. It is very important to label the jacket and record its contents in a field book, because the bone can no longer be seen. If the bones were completely exposed in the field, lying on the surface, it would be easy to make a complete jacket all at once, but most bones are buried, and so the jacket must be made in two stages. First, the bones are cleaned on the top and sides, and the top half of the jacket is completed. Now the bone is strong enough to turn over, so that it rests on the newly-made jacket, with its bottom surface facing upward. The second jacket is completed over the bottom surface of the bone. Directions: Below are the actions necessary for excavating and jacketing a dinosaur bone. Number them in the correct order. ___Clean and outline bones in place in the ground ___Label jacket ___Clean bottom surface of rock ___Let plaster jacket dry ___Add separator and plaster-dipped burlap to bottom of bone ___Add separator and plaster-dipped burlap to top and sides of bone ___Mix plaster with water and cut burlap strips ___Flip half-jacket Answers: (1) Clean and outline bones in place in the ground (8) Label jacket (6) Clean bottom surface of rock (4) Let plaster jacket dry (7) Add separator and plaster-dipped burlap to bottom of bone (3) Add separator and plaster-dipped burlap to top and sides of bone (2) Mix plaster with water and cut burlap strips (5) Flip half-jacket Dinosaurs and Paleontology Links The UC-Berkeley’s Museum of Paleontology http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/index.html
The Rex Files http://www.newscientist.com/nsplus/insight/rexfiles/ The Fundy Museum Fossil Lab http://www.fundygeomuseum.com/lab/lab.html Dinologues http://www.webcom.com/museum/Dinologues/welcome.html Zoom Dinosaurs http://www.ZoomDinosaurs.com/subjects/dinosaurs/toc.shtml/ Discovering Dinosaurs http://dinosaurs.eb.com/dinosaurs/index2.html Dinosaur Eggs http://www.nationalgeographic.com/dinoeggs/fintro.html Learning from the Fossil Record http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fosrec/ PaleoNet http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/Paleonet/home.html Society of Vertebrate Paleontology http://www.museum.state.il.us/svp Graduate Opportunities in Vertebrate Paleontology http://www.med.jhu.edu/FAE/weishampel/grad.html AMNH Electronic Newspaper http://www.amnh.org/enews/index.html O’Dem Bones http://www.imcpl.org/bones.htm Education Standards: Chicago Public Schools http://www.cps.k12.il.us/Instruction/CAS/ National Geographic Geography Standards http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/main.html?main=standards American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science Benchmarks http://www.project2061.org//tools/benchol/bolframe.html Dinosaurs and Paleontology Bibliography Aliki, My Visit to the Dinosaurs (HarperCollins, New York, 1984) $4.95. Barton, B., Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1989) $10.95. Barton, B., Des os, des os de dinosaures, l'ecole des loisirs (Paris, 1991) $3.91. Bausum, A., Dragon Bones and Dinosaur Eggs, A Photobiography of Explorer Roy Chapman Andrews (National Geographic Society, Washington, DC, 2000) $17.95. Berger, M. & G., Did Dinosaurs Live in Your Backyard: Questions and Answers About Dinosaurs (Scholastic Inc., New York, 1998) $5.95. Benton, M., The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Dinosaurs (Penguin Group, London, 1996) $16.95. Bishop, N., Digging for Bird-Dinosaurs: An Expedition to Madagascar (Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, 2000) $16.00. Booth, J., The Big Beast Book: Dinosaurs and How They Got That Way (Yolla Bolly Press, Covelo, CA., 1988) $10.95. Costa, V., Dinosaur Safari Guide: Tracking North America's Prehistoric Past (Voyageur Press, Stillwater, MN, 1994) $14.95. Eldredge, N., The Fossil Factory: A Kid's Guide to Digging Up Dinosaurs, Exploring Evolution, and Finding Fossils (Addison Wesley Publishing Co., Reading, MA. 1989) $9.95. Dixon, D., The New Dinosaurs: An Alternative Evolution (Salem House Publishers, Topsfield, MA, 1988) $19.95. Gaffnew, E., Dinosaurs (Golden Press, New York, 1990) $5.95 Gardom, T., The Book of Dinosaurs: The Natural History Museum Guide (Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, 1993) $14.95. Kittinger, J., Stories in Stone: The World of Animal Fossils (Grolier Publishing, New York. 1998) $6.95. Lindsey, W., The Great Dinosaur Atlas (DK Publishing, New York, 1991) $19.95. Lindsay, W., On the Trail of Incredible Dinosaurs (American Museum of Natural History, DK Publishing, New York, 1998) $14.95. Matt, Margaret. Human Anatomy Coloring Book (Dover, 1981) $2.95. McGowan, C., T-Rex To Go: Build Your Own from Chicken Bones, (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1999) $14.00. McGowan, C., Make Your Own Dinosaur Out of Chicken Bones: Foolproof Instructions for Budding Paleontologists (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1989) $13.00. McGowan, C., Discover Dinosaurs: Become a Dinosaur Detective (Kids Can Press Ltd., Toronto, 1992) $9.95. Munsart, C., Investigating Science with Dinosaurs (Teacher Ideas Press, Englewood, CO. 1993) $24.95. National Wildlife Learning Federation, Digging Into Dinosaur: Ranger Rick's Nature Scope (Triangle Press/McGraw Hill, NY. 1997.) $12.95 Norell, M., and L., A Nest of Dinosaurs: The Story of Oviraptor (Random House, New York, 1999) $17.95. Parker, S., The Practical Paleontologist: A step-by-step guide to finding, studying, and interpreting fossils - from searching for sites to extracting, cleaning, and restoring finds (Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, 1990) $15.00. Sachatello-Sawyer, From the Museum of the Rockies, (Scholastic Inc., New York, 1995) $12.95. Wade, N., The Science Times Book of Fossils and Evolution: The best science reporting from the acclaimed weekly section of The New York Times, (The Lyons Press, New York, 1998) $25.00. Wilkes, A., The Big Book of Dinosaurs, A First Book for Young Children (DK Publishing, New York, 1994) $14.95. Zallinger, P., Dinosaurs and Other Archosaurs (The Random House Library of Knowledge, Random House, New York, 1986) $12.99. Zoehfeld, K., Fossil Fever (Golden Books Publishing, New York, 2000) $3.99. Dinosaurs and Paleontology Glossary bipedal: walking on two legs carnivore: meat-eating animal carpal bone: any of the eight small bones of the wrist excavate: to dig-up or unearth femur: bone of the leg situated between the pelvis and knee in human beings, or a functionally similar bone in the leg or hind limb of a vertebrate animal. It is the largest and strongest bone in the body. Also called thighbone. fibula: the outer and narrower of two bones of the human lower leg, extending from the knee to the ankle, or the corresponding bone in the hind leg of an animal. herbivore: plant-eating animal humerus: the long bone of the arm or forelimb, extending from the shoulder to the elbow. invertebrate: an animal that has no backbone. The vast majority of animals are invertebrates mammals: animals with backbones that have hair, give live birth, and feed their young milk metacarpals: any of the five bones between the fingers and the wrist. metatarsals: any of the five bones between the toes and the ankle. Ornithischians: “bird-hipped” dinosaurs with a hip structure in which the two lower bones on each side lie parallel; all ornithischians were plant eaters paleontologist: a scientist who studies fossils and organisms in ancient times by determining their lifestyles and relationship to other organisms pelvic girdle: plate-shaped bones for limb attachment phalanges: bone of a finger or toe prospect: to explore or search quadrapedal: walking on four legs radius: a long slightly curved bone, the shorter and thicker of the two forearm bones reptiles: animals with backbones that are “cold-blooded”, have scaly skin and lay leathery eggs Saurischians “lizard-hipped” dinosaurs with a hip structure in which the two lower bones on each side point in opposite directions Sauropods: large quadrapedal, saurischian, plant-eating dinosaurs, with very long necks and tails scapula: either of two large, flat, triangular bones forming the back part of the shoulder. Also called shoulder blade. skeleton: the internal structure composed of bone and cartilage that protects and supports the soft organs, tissues, and other parts of a vertebrate organism skull: the bony framework of the head of vertebrates that contains the brain, jaws, and teeth tarsal bones: any of the seven small bones of the human ankle Therapods : carnivorous, bipedal dinosaurs tibia: the inner and larger of the two bones of the lower human leg, extending from the knee to the ankle, or a corresponding bone in other vertebrates. Also called shinbone. ulna: the bone extending from the elbow to the wrist on the side opposite to the thumb in human beings, or the corresponding bone in other vertebrates vertebrae: bones that form the backbone vertebrate: an animal with a backbone |
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