Our Journey to the Royal Tyrrell Museum

Did you know that the Royal Tyrrell Museum contains one of the largest displays of dinosaur remains in the world?

    On Tuesday, April 23rd, students in Grade 3 boarded a chartered bus (which was a nice surprise) and took the one hour and forty-five minute drive to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. Once there, students were able to take part in two incredible workshops.

    Our first workshop entitled, “Fossil Casting” provided students with the opportunity to touch and examine real fossils. Students also learned that some of the displays in the museum include both real fossils and fossil castings. In addition to this, students were all presented with a unique fossil mold (a replica of a Museum fossil) and were then required to fill it with plaster. Once their plaster dried, students were tasked to find out some details about their new fossil casting, including its age and where it was found.

    After lunch and a quick gallery exhibit tour, students proceeded to their next workshop. In the “Digging for Dinos” program, students learned about the unique process of fossilization. Students used real tools of the trade to uncover and excavate real dinosaur fossils in a simulated quarry. Students so learned how scientists map and interpret their discoveries. Several students were surprised to learn the paleontologists need to be patient as it can take years to excavate entire dinosaur fossils from rock!

    We were thrilled to be able to take this out-of-Calgary field study and students have enjoyed reflecting on their learning experience back in the classroom. We hope you enjoy browsing through our photo gallery below.

Earth Systems: Understandings of the living world, Earth, and space are deepened by investigating natural systems and their interactions.

Learning Intentions:

• I understand that layers of Earth’s surface hold information about the past
• I can explain how palaeontologists know that dinosaurs lived on Earth millions of years ago
• I can investigate fossilized dinosaur bones that have been found in Alberta and the dinosaurs they belong to
• I can identify and discuss where fossilized dinosaur bones have been found or are on display in Alberta