New Mobile Museum Brings "prehistoric poop" to NYC Schools

Friday, 31 March 2006 10:21

New York City - The American Museum of Natural History is taking some of the most exciting discoveries about how dinosaurs behaved, what they looked like, and even how they moved, and is packing it into Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries, the Museum's newest Moveable Museum, where it will travel to schools and communities throughout the New York City area. Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries, based on the Museum's recent blockbuster exhibition of the same name, is a 37-foot-long converted recreational vehicle with an exterior graphic of a nearly life-size image of a fully-fleshed, long-necked Apatosaurus and equipped inside with hands-on fossil specimens, captivating video presentations, computer interactives, and a diorama depicting feathered dinosaurs from Liaoning, China. This new Moveable Museum made its official debut today in the Bronx with third-graders from P.S. 304 and fifth-graders from M.S. 101, both affiliated with the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club. The Moveable Museums, which visit more than 300 schools and community sites every year, have served more than a quarter of a million visitors since the program's establishment in 1993. "Science is an ever-changing pursuit, and the study of dinosaurs is no exception," says Myles Gordon, Vice President for Education at the American Museum of Natural History. "This new Moveable introduces visitors to the methods and technologies now being used by paleontologists to analyze and interpret fossil evidence. Concepts such as dinosaur anatomy and behavior are presented in a manner that is not only engaging and stimulating for children, but easy to understand." With colorful, captivating images of small feathered dinosaurs and a large-scale Apatosaurus framed against a brilliant blue background on the outside of the vehicle, Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries immediately introduces visitors to a dynamic new vision of dinosaurs and the scientists who study them. The interior exhibition space is divided into three main activity zones: * In the "Age of Dinosaurs," visitors touch and examine fossil evidence as they learn how paleontologists classify dinosaurs, study their environment, and understand what may have caused the great mass extinction that ended the Age of Dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Visitors discover how fossils are formed and later discovered, and can reconstruct a full-scale model of a Coelophysis skeleton "a small, meat-eating dinosaur that walked on two long legs over 200 million years ago" based on what they've learned. * "Mesozoic Mysteries" introduces a series of questions about dinosaur diet, movement and behavior that are explored based on analysis of fossil teeth, eggs, footprints and trackways, and even their coprolites (or fossilized dinosaur dung). Kids can touch specimens of dinosaur teeth and "prehistoric poop" to determine the dietary habits of dinosaurs. * Finally, "Bird-Dino Connection," features a small diorama recreating part of a 130-million-year-old prehistoric forest in what is now Liaoning Province, China. Showcased is a life-size, three-dimensional model of Sinornithosaurus, a carnivorous dinosaur covered with downy fluff and primitive feathers. Kids can evaluate the fossil evidence indicating that birds are living dinosaurs by comparing their skeletons, feathers, and behavioral patterns. All school groups who visit the Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries Moveable Museum are given a "Field Journal" that, through a series of questions and activities, guides their visit and allows them to capture their experience in sketches and notes. Visit The American Museum of Natural History at : American Museum of Natural History

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