travel_exploreDiscovery · Dinosaur detectives

🔍 Dinosaur detectives

How does a dinosaur become a fossil? Simple, true dinosaur detectives facts for young children, each with a fun fact, a tiny activity and a question to talk about together.

Tap a question to reveal the answer, share the fun fact, try the tiny activity, then talk about it together.

schedule2 minstarMediumgroupTogether

How does a dinosaur become a fossil? Revealexpand_more

When a dinosaur died and was quickly buried in mud or sand, its soft parts rotted away but its hard bones stayed protected. Over millions of years, water carrying minerals slowly seeped in and turned those bones to stone. What we dig up today is a rocky copy of the original dinosaur bone.

🌟

Talk about itWhy do you think it is so rare for a dinosaur to become a fossil?

⭐

Did you know?Only a tiny fraction of dinosaurs ever became fossils, so each one is a rare treasure.

🎲

Try itPress a toy dinosaur into damp sand and lift it out. The dent left behind is like a fossil imprint.

Explore the map

🔍⛏️How do people dig up dinosaurs?🦴How do scientists rebuild a dinosaur skeleton?🪨How do scientists know how old a fossil is?

🤖Still curious?What is the difference between a bone fossil and a footprint fossil?arrow_forward

schedule2 minstarMediumgroupTogether

How do people dig up dinosaurs? Revealexpand_more

Fossil hunters search rocky places where old layers of the Earth are exposed, looking for bits of bone poking out. When they find one, they dig very carefully with small tools and brushes so they do not break anything. Then they wrap the fossils in protective jackets to carry them safely to a museum.

🌟

Talk about itWould you enjoy being a fossil hunter? Where would you dig?

⭐

Did you know?Digging out one big dinosaur skeleton can take a whole team many weeks or even months.

🎲

Try itBury small objects in sand and gently brush them out with a paintbrush. That slow care is how fossils are dug.

Explore the map

🔍🦴How does a dinosaur become a fossil?🦴How do scientists rebuild a dinosaur skeleton?🦴Are new dinosaurs still being discovered?

🤖Still curious?How do fossil hunters know where to look?arrow_forward

schedule2 minstarMediumgroupTogether

How do we know what colour dinosaurs were? Revealexpand_more

For a long time nobody knew dinosaur colours, so they were only a guess. But in some beautifully preserved feathered fossils, scientists found tiny structures that once held colour. By comparing them with the same structures in modern birds, they can now work out real colours and patterns for a few dinosaurs.

🌟

Talk about itWhat colours and patterns would you give your own dinosaur?

⭐

Did you know?One small feathered dinosaur is now known to have had a stripy ginger tail.

🎲

Try itColour in a dinosaur picture however you like, then imagine a scientist proving its real colours from a fossil.

Explore the map

🔍🪶Did any dinosaurs have feathers?🦴How do scientists rebuild a dinosaur skeleton?🔬What can scientists learn from inside a fossil?

🤖Still curious?Which part of a fossil holds clues about colour?arrow_forward

schedule2 minstarMediumgroupTogether

How do scientists rebuild a dinosaur skeleton? Revealexpand_more

Fossil bones are almost never found complete, so scientists work like puzzle solvers. They clean each bone, figure out where it fits, and compare it with other, more complete dinosaurs to fill in missing pieces. Then they mount the bones on a strong frame so the whole dinosaur can stand up in a museum.

🌟

Talk about itWhat would be the trickiest part of rebuilding a giant skeleton?

⭐

Did you know?When bones are missing, museums sometimes fill the gaps with careful copies made from models.

🎲

Try itDo a jigsaw with a few pieces missing and guess the picture. That is a bit like rebuilding a dinosaur.

Explore the map

🔍🦴How does a dinosaur become a fossil?⛏️How do people dig up dinosaurs?🎨How do we know what colour dinosaurs were?

🤖Still curious?How do scientists know how the bones connect?arrow_forward

🔍 Dinosaur detectives

More topics

Sources