EDUCATOR’S GUIDE

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About the exhibition

how to PrePAre

Experience dinosaurs like never before in Dinosaurs Revealed: The Exhibition only at Union Station Kansas City, Inc. The exhibition takes visitors on an immersive journey through time to see dinosaurs from world-famous geologic dig-sites across America. A blend of like-life animatronic dinosaurs, actual fossils, full dinosaur skeletons, and interactive exhibits, Dinosaurs Revealed provides new insights about the latest dinosaur discoveries and how these amazing, prehistoric creatures ruled on land for over 200 million years.

In the exhibition, visitors travel across America, while also passing through successive geologic periods in Earth’s history, including the Triassic, Jurassic & Cretaceous Periods. All the while they will hear and see how the Earth’s environment changed over time, and how dinosaurs evolved along the way too. Over 26 animatronic dinosaurs, 2 full skeletons, and dozens of actual fossils realistically recreate each geologic period.

See first-hand what scientists believe dinosaurs looked like, what sounds they made, and how they moved in their own environments. Learn where famous dinosaur dig sites currently exist in North America, and the work it takes to ‘reveal’ and uncover their fossilized remains. Listen to paleontologist experts, meet dinosaur bone hunters in the exhibition, hear about their fossil hunting experiences, and see what fossils they have found and pieced back together. At Dinosaurs Revealed, visitors will also engage in interactive, dinosaur-themed science exhibits that combine both educational content and fun hands-on activities to inspire visitors of all ages – from a 3D Augmented Reality Volcano table, to dinosaur dig-sites, interactive projection, dino tracks, puzzles, and more.

Union Station Kansas City, Inc. is proud to host this uniquely North American, one-of-a-kind

Students should be ready to experience an immersive and educational journey. The exhibition presents relevant information about our planet, recent dinosaur discoveries, and finds from the past. There are learning opportunities for all ages.

The information in this guide will help orient students and prepare them for the experience. Encourage your students to read the age-appropriate books from the list included here. These books will familiarize your students with dinosaurs and the environment they lived in, and help make the most of their visit to the exhibition.

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During Your triP to DinosAurs

reveAleD, stuDents will:

FAst FActs/

DiD You Know? QuicK tiPs

> Travel back in time to see dinosaurs of

North America.

> Journey through all 3 major geologic periods – the

Triassic, Jurassic & Cretaceous.

> Encounter animatronic dinosaurs from

each period.

> Understand how the Earth’s climate

changed over millions of years.

> Experience how dinosaurs adapted to the changing

environment on Earth.

> View full dinosaur skeletons and skulls

from various geologic periods.

> See and touch real dinosaur fossils.

> Dig for fossils at a replicated dig-site.

> Create volcanic events on a 3D augmented

reality sandbox.

> Learn about major extinction events

during the time of dinosaurs.

> Interact with dinosaur video projection.

> View dig-site footage of fossil hunting

expeditions from world-famous sites

across North America.

• The word dinosaur originates from the Ancient

Greek language, meaning ‘terrible lizard.’

• When dinosaurs first evolved 252 million years ago,

the Earth had one super continent called Pangea.

• The Mesozoic Era is the time dinosaurs roamed

the Earth. The Mesozoic was divided into 3 major

periods – The Triassic, The Jurassic, and

The Cretaceous.

• The Triassic Period ended abruptly with a major

extinction event of super-volcano eruptions

occurring over a period of 600,000 years.

• The Cretaceous Period ended with an even bigger

extinction event, caused by the impact of a gigantic

asteroid measuring 7 miles across. The impact

occurred off the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

Over 80% of all animal and plant life on Earth was

wiped out by this cataclysmic event, including the

last of the dinosaurs. This meteorite impact is called

the K-Pg Extinction Event, and occurred 66 million

years ago.

• The exhibit entrance is located on C Level,

accessible via the stairs/escalators by Ticketing,

or via the NW elevators.

• On average, most groups will spend 60 minutes

in the exhibition.

• Restrooms are located in the Atrium. There are

no restrooms in the exhibition.

• No food or beverages are allowed.

• We encourage guests to connect via WiFi network

USKCExhibit and share your experiences with us

#USKCDinosRevealed

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intro theAtre

JurAssic hAll

hAll oF sKulls

cretAceous

hAll A

cretAceous

hAll b

triAssic hAll

A short introductory program

provides an orientation to the

exhibition, helping set the scene

for your journey back in time to

the age of dinosuars.

Travel into the tropical climate

of the Jurassic Period, where

plant growth thrives and allowed

dinosaurs to reach epic proportions

of size. Animatronic models show

the next evolution for dinosaurs

as their scale and diversity

increased. Explore dinosaur

topics with fun and educational

magnet puzzles, video projection

and other interactives.

Begin your journey face to face with

dinosaur skulls from each geologic

period – the Triassic, Jurassic &

Cretaceous. See how the Earth’s land

mass of Pangea split up during a 200

million year period, and how the

climate and dinosaurs changed

along the way.

See recent fossil discoveries from the

Cretaceous Period of the Kaiparowits

Formation with full skeletons of the

Utahraptor and Kosmoceratops.

Challenge your inner Paleontologist

and see what fossils you can uncover

at the dig-site.

Step into the Cretaceous Period

where T-Rex became King.

Observe how the dinosaurs

evolved in the last period before

the meteorite impact that ended

their reign. See first-hand video

footage and fossil specimens

uncovered in the Hell Creek

Formation by the University of

Kansas Paleontologist Team.

Meet the earliest dinosaurs and see

their environment. Animatronic

dinosaur models make the

Triassic Hall come to life. Create

volcanic simulations at the 3D

Sand Table, representing the

extinction event that ended the

Triassic Period.

whAt to exPect

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Pre FielD triP Questions

Post FielD triP Questions

AnimAls Diets

AnimAls Diets

Fossil recorDs

Fossil recorDs

climAte chAnge

climAte chAnge

ADAPtAtion

ADAPtAtion

1. Based on diet, what are the 3 distinct groups of

animals called?

2. What diet category do human fit? If more than

one, why?

1. What diets are typical of herbivore dinosaurs?

2 . What diets are typical of carnivore dinosaurs?

3. What diets are typical of omnivore dinosaurs?

4. Based on what you eat, what type of dinosaur would

you be?

1. What is a fossil?

2. How is a fossil made?

3. What significant discoveries have been found in the

dinosaur fossil record?

1. What is a fossil?

2. What significant discoveries have been found in the

dinosaur fossil record?

3. Why are the same species of dinosaurs found across

several continents today?

4. Have any scientific theories about dinosaurs proven

false? If so, name one theory, or idea that was false.

1. How has the Earth’s climate changed over time?

Cite specific examples.

2. In what ways has life on Earth adapted as the climate

has changed? Cite specific examples.

1. How did the Earth’s climate changed from the

Triassic to the Jurassic, and from the Jurassic to the

Cretaceous?

2. Can humans adapt to different climates? If so, describe

some tools or technology we utilize to adapt.

3. Describe how continental drift impact the climate

for land-dwelling dinosaurs?

4. What is the significance of the K-Pg Boundary

found in soil & rock layers at the end of the Cretaceous

Period?

1. What is adaptation?

2. Name an animal, or organism, and describe how it has

adapted over time.

3. Are there any animals that have essentially remained

the same on Earth for millions of years? If so, name 3

of them.

1. How did dinosaurs adapt to a changing environment?

2. When the environment changed rapidly, due to

volcanic eruptions, or a meteorite impact, were

dinosaurs able to successfully adaption to the new

conditions?

3. Have humans adapted over time? if so, describe how.

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elementArY school,

grADes K-5

miDDle school,

grADes 6-8

high school,

grADes 9-12

suggesteD booKs For K-12 clAssrooms AnD librAries

1. How Big Were Dinosaurs? By Lita Judge (2013)

2. Dinosaurs by Penelope Arion (2012)

3. National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs by Catherine D. Hughes and Franco Tempesta (2011)

4. Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs by Kathleen Kudlinski (2008)

5. Oh Say Can You Say Di-no-saur? All About Dinosaurs by Bonnie Worth (1999)

http://pbskids.org/dinosaurtrain/fieldguide/

http://discoverymindblown.com/category/dinosaurs/

1. DINOSAUR! by DK and Smithsonian (2014)

2. Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages by Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. (2007)

3. The Fossil Factory: A Kid’s Guide to Digging Up Dinosaurs, Exploring Evolution, and Finding Fossils  by Niles, Gregory, and Douglas Eldredge (2002)

1. The First Fossil Hunters by Adrienne Mayor (2011)

2. Dinosaur Odyssey by Scott Sampson (2011)

3. The Bonehunters’ Revenge by David Rains Wallace (1999)

4. Digging Dinosaurs by John Horner and James Gorman (1990)

recommenDeD websites

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/index.html

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Fossil

triAssic

PlAte tectonics

JurAssic

herbivore

biPeDAl

FlorA

cArnivore

ADAPtAtion

QuADruPeD

FAunA

omnivore

evolution ecosYstem

seDiment

PolYPhYoDont

climAte chAnge

cretAceous

The remains or impression of a

prehistoric organism preserved

in petrified form or as a mold or

cast in rock.

Denotes or relates to the

earliest period of the Mesozoic

era, between the Permian and

Jurassic periods.

A theory explaining the structure of the earth’s crust and the associated phenomena from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates that move slowly over the underlying mantle.

Denotes or relates to the second period of the Mesozoic era, between the Triassic and Cretaceous periods.

An animal that feeds on plants.

(Of an animal) using only two legs for walking.

The plants of a particular region, habitat, or geological period.

An animal that feeds on flesh.

An advantageous inheritable physical or behavioral trait that serves a specific function and improves an organism’s fitness for survival in its environment.

An animal that uses four legs for walking.

All of the animal life of any particular region or time.

An animal that eats food of both plant and animal origin.

The process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth.

A complex community of organisms and their environment functioning as an ecological unit.

Material deposited by water, wind or glaciers.

Any animal whose teeth are continually replaced.

A change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended period of time (i.e., decades to millions of years).

Denotes or relates to the last period of the Mesozoic era, between the Jurassic and Tertiary periods.

vocAbulArY terms

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whAt is A DinosAur?

introDuction Dinosaurs are prehistoric reptiles that lived on Earth from about 232 million years ago to the present.

Modern birds are one kind of dinosaur because they share a common ancestor with non-avian dinosaurs.

Non-avian dinosaurs (all dinosaurs besides birds), which are now extinct, varied greatly in shape and size. Some

weighed as much as 80 tons and were more than 120 feet long. Others were the size of a chicken and weighed

as little as 8 pounds. All non-avian dinosaurs lived on land. Some may have gone into the swamps and lakes for

food, but they did not live entirely in water. Meat-eaters walked on two legs and hunted alone or in groups.

Plant-eaters walked on either two or four legs and grazed on plants. The feature that distinguishes dinosaurs

from other reptiles is a hole in the hip socket. This feature allowed dinosaurs to walk upright. Pterosaurs, or

flying reptiles, and plesiosaurs, ocean-dwelling reptiles, did not have this feature and were not dinosaurs.

ActivitY For grADes K-5

obJective This activity will help students understand the difference

between dinosaurs and other animals.

mAteriAls • Picture of a dinosaur and a picture of a lizard

or alligator (from a nature magazine or calendar)

• Dinosaur or Not? duplicated for each student

• Crayons

• Recommended Dinosaur Books on Pg. 05 of the

Educator’s Guide.

ProceDure 1 Write What Is a Dinosaur? on the chalkboard. Instruct

students today you will explore this question. Have students work in small groups. Distribute dinosaur books to each group. Give groups 10 minutes to look through the books and find three interesting facts about dinosaurs.

2 Have groups report their facts to the class. Using students’ responses, create a bubble map like the one shown.

3 Display the pictures of the lizard and the dinosaur. Ask students how the two reptiles are different. Point out the lizard has legs that sprawl out to the side, while the dinosaur’s legs are directly underneath its body. Explain dinosaurs had a hole in their hip socket which allowed them to stand upright. Other reptiles, like crocodiles, do not have such a hole and therefore are not dinosaurs. Call on student volunteers to imitate a sprawling stance and a dinosaur stance. Have them try walking forward using each stance.

4 Distribute Dinosaurs or Not? to each student. Instruct students to look carefully at each animal and to color those that are dinosaurs. When students are done, review their answers with them. (Answers: The lion, woolly mammoth, and alligator are not dinosaurs.)

5 As an extension to this activity, have students play a riddle game. Have students work with a partner. Distribute index cards. Have partners choose a dinosaur or another animal. Have them write three clues that tell about the organism’s features on one side of the card. The answer to the riddle should be written on the back. Call on partners to read their clues aloud. Have the class guess what animal or dinosaur is being described.

DinosAur or not?

Look at the animals. Color the animals that are dinosaurs.

nAme DAte

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whAt mAKes A DinosAur A DinosAur?

introDuction What distinguishes dinosaurs from other reptiles? Reptiles, such as crocodiles and lizards, have legs that sprawl

out to the side. Their thigh bones are almost parallel to the ground. They walk and run with a side-to-side motion.

Dinosaurs, on the other hand, stand with their legs positioned directly under their bodies. A hole in the hip socket

permits this upright stance. This posture allows dinosaurs to run faster and with greater endurance than other

reptiles of the same size.

During the Age of Dinosaurs there were other reptiles living on the land and in the seas. While these animals lived

alongside dinosaurs, they did not have a hole in their hip socket and thus were not dinosaurs. Modern birds are

one kind of dinosaur because they share a common ancestor with nonavian dinosaurs. They have features such as

the three-toed foot and s-shaped neck, and therefore are classified as dinosaurs.

obJective In this activity, students will explore dinosaur stance and

the dinosaur-bird connection.

mAteriAls • Picture of a four-footed dinosaur, such as Apatosaurus

• Picture of a lizard and birds (from a nature

magazine or calendar)

ProceDure 1. Display the picture of the lizard and the picture of

the dinosaur. Instruct students to compare the stances and discuss how the lizard’s legs are sprawled out to the side, while the dinosaur’s legs are directly underneath its body. Inform students all dinosaurs had a hole in their hip socket that allowed them to stand this way. The hole in the hip socket distinguishes dinosaurs from other reptiles.

2. Call on volunteers to duplicate the lizard stance by assuming a crawling position and then moving their arms and legs out to the side. Back feet should point forward, hands should point slightly away from the body. Have volunteers walk forward as students observe. They should shift their weight from side to side (waddle), move slowly, and awkwardly.

3. Call on volunteers to duplicate a quadrupedal dinosaur stance, with arms and legs positioned directly under their bodies. Have volunteers walk forward as students observe. They should move more quickly, not as awkwardly.

4. Discuss with students how paleontologists classify birds as dinosaurs. Instruct students to examine pictures of birds and a dinosaur to find similarities.

5. Divide students into work groups. Distribute duplicates of the T-Rex and modern day bird skeletons. Have groups compare the two and note which features the two animals share. Give groups time to share their findings. Discuss shared features such as the s-shaped neck and three-toed foot.

ActivitY For grADes 6-8

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educational standards

Grades K-5, Next Generation Science Standards, Life Science

Grades K-5, Next Generation Science Standards,

Earth and Space Science

2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

3-LS4-1. Analysis and interpret date from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments

in which they lived long ago.

3-LS4-1. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals

of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.

3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well,

some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

3-LS4-4. Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and

the types of plants and animals that live there may change.

2-ESS1-1. Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly

or slowly. Examples of events and timescales could include volcanic explosions and earthquakes.

3-ESS4-3. Analyze and interpret data from maps to describe patterns of Earth’s features. Maps can include

topographic maps of Earth’s land and ocean floor, as well as maps of the locations of mountains,

continental boundaries, volcanoes, and earthquakes.

4-ESS1-1. Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils in rock layers to support an

explanation for changes in a landscape over time.

4-ESS2-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals

of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.

5-ESS2-1. Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or

atmosphere interact.

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educational standards

Grades 6-8, Next Generation Science Standards, Life Science

Grades 6-8, Next Generation Science Standards,

Earth and Space Science

MS-LS4-1. Analysis and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity,

extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that

natural laws operate today as in the past.

MS-LS4-2. Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences

among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary

relationships.

MS-LS4-4. Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in

a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific

environment.

MS-ESS1-4. Construct a specific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for how the geologic time scale is

used to organize Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old history. Emphasis is on how analyses of rock formations

and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history.

MS-ESS2-1. Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth’s materials and the flow of energy that drives

this process. Emphasis is on the process of melting, crystallization, weather, deformation, and

sedimentation, which act together to form minerals and rocks through the cycling of Earth’s

materials.

MS-ESS2-2. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how geoscience processes have changed Earth’s

surface at varying time and spatial scales.

MS-ESS2-3. Analyze and interpret data on the distribution of fossils and rocks, continental shapes, and seafloor

structures to provide evidence of the past plate motions. Examples of data includes similarities of rock

and fossil types on different continents.

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