Kid's Guide to Dinosaur Hunting in Northern Alberta - Palaeontological Society of the Peace

Name: ________________________

       Palaeontological
      Society of the Peace

Kid’s Guide to Dinosaur Hunting
      in Northern Alberta

Equipment
  Surface Collection Tools:

Maps – Essential in case you get disoriented.

Hard hat – Protects your head from falls in rocky areas or along
cliffs. Useful for protection from the sun.

Safety goggles – Protect your eyes from dust and debris better
than sunglasses.

Gloves – Protect your hands from rocks and brush and keeps
them clean.

Steel‐toed boots or rubber boots – Protect your feet from
being crushed or from getting wet and cold.

Layers of clothing – Layering your clothing is the safer than
second guessing Mother Nature. Bring a light‐weight, water‐
proof, highly visible jacket with a hood.

Specimen bags and newspaper – Used to wrap and protect
fossils.

Notebook and pencil – For drawing pictures and describing
the fossil and its location.

Food and drinks – Small portable snacks are convenient and
water is best for rehydration.

First Aid Kit – Never go out into the bush without a first aid kit!
You should also tell someone exactly where you will be
exploring and when you will return.

Backpack or rucksack – Take a strong and lightweight bag for
carrying all of your stuff.

                   Extra Goodies:
Camera –Take photos of the site, your fossil finds and all the
fun you are having.

Cell Phone – Some areas still have 911 service even if they do
not have good phone reception.

Excavation Tools:
(You need a permit to use these!)

 Hammer ‐ Wooden handles are more resistant to shock than
 fibreglass handles which are in turn more resistant to shock
 than steel handles. Heavier heads are used when working
 with hard rocks.

 Pick ‐ These are used instead of hammers on soft rocks such as
 shale or clays. Picks are available with both a pointed end and
 a chiselled end for convenience.

 Chisel ‐ Small chisels are used for fine work while wide chisels
 are used for splitting rocks.

 Trowel and spade ‐ These are used to dig in softer locations
 with sand, clays or crags.

 Dental pick – These can be used for scraping rock off of fossils.

Activities:

Draw the perfect paleontological multi‐purpose tool and
describe how it works.
If you want, you may use an army knife as
a model.

Write a paragraph about how to gear up for a paleontological
expedition.

Design a special bag with labelled compartments that can
hold the five most important items from your paleontological
equipment. Explain why you chose them.

Research the difference between surface collection and
excavation of fossils. For a challenge, find out who can apply
for an excavation permit in the province of Alberta.

        Draw a picture of yourself as a palaeontologist in the
        field working. Make sure you have some of the
        proper tools.

   Who do you think should own fossils? (The person who
   found them or the government?) Give three reasons
   why.

Locations

                                 Palaeontologists could dig for fossils all over the
                                 province of Alberta. However, they prefer to find
fossils that are already partly dug up for them by nature or by industry. Fossils have
been found in river valleys, creek beds, on cliff faces, at the bottom of ravines, in
plowed fields, construction sites, roadcuts, gravel pits and mines.

Dinosaur fossils have been found at:

Hythe – Tyrannosaur bones, adult and juvenile
specimens

Kleskun Hill
(east of Grande Prairie)–Microfossils: Hadrosaur,
Troodon, crocodile, fish, turtle and lizard bones.

Little Buffalo – Ichthyosaur jaw fragments

Peace River (south of the City)– Ankylosaur prints
and skin impressions

Pinto Creek (northwest of Hinton) – Hadrosaur                                 bones,
adult and juvenile specimens, Anklylosaur prints and
skin impressions

Pipestone Creek (Wembley) – Pachyrhinosaurus,
Raptor claw, Tyrannosaur tooth, Ceratopsian
footprint, insect in amber

Red Willow River (Elmworth) – Hadrosaur
(Kritosaurus), Hadrosaur track ways, Tyrannosaur teeth,
broken limb bones, Hadrosaur bones, adult and juvenile
specimens,

Spring Creek – (south of Grande Prairie) Juvenile Hadrosaur bone bed

Sylvester Creek – (southwest of
Grande Prairie) Hadrosaur bones,

In other unnamed sites,
palaeontologists have found:
Champsosaur ribs
and other fragments, mammal
teeth (Alphadon), armored dinosaur
teeth, Hadrosaur teeth, salamanders
and turtle shell fragments

Activities:
Make a title for the map on the next page.

Draw a compass rose for your map to show North, South,
East and West.

Draw a ruler and show the approximate scale of the map as
1 cm = 25 km

Colour over the lakes and rivers so they are bright blue. You
may need to refer to an atlas of Alberta for help.

Create a legend for your map.

Using the symbols on your legend, label the map with the
location of as many local dinosaur sites as you can. You may
need to refer to an atlas of Alberta for help.

www.mapart.com

FOSSIL RECOGNITION
A wise person once said that a hammer covered in mud is easily recognized as a
hammer; the same is true of fossilized bones covered in matrix (extra rock). They
can be spotted because of their shape and the fact that they often have a different
colour and texture from the rocks around them.

Once a fossil is found, palaeontologists can identify the dinosaur by the relative
size and/or shape of specific bones. For example, a Tyrannosaurus rex skull looks
very different from a Brachiosaurus skull.

     Sometimes the fossils of a dinosaur are so similar that the palaeontologist
       must identify the dinosaur by the size of the fossil. For example, here is a
           comparison of adult femur (thigh bone) lengths from Black Hills
            Institute of Geological Research (www.bhigr.com):

Gorgosaurus       81 cm        Tyrannosaurus rex              130 cm
Struthiomimus     62 cm        Edmontosaurus annectens        100 cm

It can be very challenging to identify a dinosaur by its remains when there are
parts missing. They may have been dragged away by predators, washed away
by water or fallen somewhere else due to a landslide.

It is easier for palaeontologist in the field to identify fossils if they have a good
understanding of anatomy and physiology. Before you go dinosaur hunting, you
may want to study some skeletons for reference.

Activities:
On the Pachyrhinosaurus skeleton, draw an arrow from each bone to its name.
For help, use the Triceratops drawing on the previous page.

Write the name of each of the following bones.
If you get stuck refer to your Pachyrhinosaurus skeleton for help.

More Fun Activities:
   Draw yourself a Pachyrhinosaurus

(Modified from dragoart.com Triceratops)

Make a cardboard Pachyrhinosaurus. First colour all the parts. Glue ONLY
the FRONT paper pieces onto some thin cardboard (like a cereal box). Cut
them out. Then glue the BACK paper pieces onto the back of the cardboard
pieces. Fasten the head and the legs onto the body with brad fasteners.

       FRONT

      BACK