fossil casting
at tyrell dinosaur museum
all my boyz had fun making castings of fossils at the museum
lucas got a prehistoric sloth claw from the La Brae Tar Pits in California
matt got a t-rex claw from somewhere in Alberta (can't remember)
josh got an alligator jaw found in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta
we learned that fossilization is the replacement of organic material with minerals over long periods of time
fossilized matter is very heavy because it is literally made of stone
the kids felt the difference in weight between a plaster casting of a dinosaur fossil and a real dinosaur fossil
the replicas at the museum allow the scientists to manipulate the positioning of the parts of the dinosaurs with ease as compared to the originals because they can drill into them and not worry as much about breaking them
we enjoyed viewing some fantastic displays of dinosaur skeletons and especially liked the woolly mammoth! Wowzers!
