Dear Educator;
Thank you for choosing to visit Be The Dinosaur during your field
trip to the Rochester Museum & Science Center.
Be the Dinosaur encourages visitors to imagine dinosaurs not as
fossilized bones or movie monsters but as living animals that filled
certain roles within an ecosystem.
We hope that you and your students enjoy this unique exhibition. If
you have any additional questions or comments please feel free to
contact us at (585)697-1942.
Before Your Visit:
To prepare for your field trip and extend the learning experience for your
students, we suggest that you download the Be The Dinosaur Virtual
Cretaceous Educator’s Field Guide, available at:
http://www.rmsc.org/ForTeachers/Information/Curriculum/.
Videos that are associated with this guide and the interactive “Rock
Formation” elements of the exhibit are available on Youtube. Please go to:
http://www.youtube.com/user/EurekaExhibits
to get short video clips such as:
Do I hunt alone or in packs?
Do I live alone or in a group?
How do I find food? (scavenging)
How do I use my senses?
Hunting pair.
A quick look at the hadrosaurs.
What do I eat? (T. rex)
The world around you.
During Your Visit:
Tip: Alternate Time at the Stations with Time at Other
Educational Components:
Instruct your students that between turns on a station (a turn consists of
dying once), that they read the signage in the exhibit and use the touch
screen stations scattered around the hall before getting in line again to use
another station.
(See the list of Educational Elements below.)
Tips for Stations:
Starting the Station:
Push any button to start.
T. Rex or Triceratops?
Look on the lower left of the screen for a silhouette of either a T. Rex
or Triceratops. These are randomly determined by the computer to
maintain an ecological balance and vary on each station with each
round.
Sniff Often (Yellow button):
Sniff to locate food and friendly creatures and to keep an eye out for
predators. (See YELLOW button below.)
Staying Alive:
•
Keep an eye on the icons on the lower left for a measure of how well
you are (or are not) surviving.
Health
Stamina
Thirst
Hunger
Controls:
• The JOYSTICK moves the dinosaur through the environment.
Push forward to move forward, pull back to move back, etc. To
pan the point of view (look around), hold down the thumb
button and then move the joystick.
•
The RED, BLUE, and GREEN buttons at top center of the controls
perform various functions depending on context.
For example, if you are on the edge of a body of water, the RED
button is pressed to drink. If you are near a food source RED is
pressed to eat. These same buttons are shown on the bottom
center of the screen.
•
The ORANGE button is for vocalization/roaring.
This is largely for theatrical effect, but can alert other dinosaurs
to your presence. (Good if you are an herbivore, maybe not so
good if you are a carnivore looking for something to eat.)
•
The YELLOW button is for "sniff".
When pressed icons and a pop up text appear on the screen:
Blue
Friendly creature, usually a dinosaur of
the same species.
Red
Danger for an herbivore. Prey animal for
a carnivore.
Gray
A carcass - can be scavenged by a
carnivore; a sign that predators are
near for an herbivore.
Green Food source for an herbivore (edible
plants).
Information Boxes on the Lower Right:
•
Provide detailed information about the environment, the creature you
are approaching, or the nearest plant. Hint: pressing sniff repeatedly
gives additional information.
Think like a real T. Rex or Triceratops.
• Don't challenge or attack everything you see…join the herd if possible
as there is safety in numbers.
•
Don't plunge in to the middle of the deepest body of water you can
find…look for a shallow place to cross.
•
If you fall or are forced into a body of water you can swim, but at a
slow pace…try to navigate to a point where the banks have a gentle
slope to exit the water.
•
Staying near friendly creatures is generally much safer (and more fun)
than heading out alone into the wilderness.
Tips for Other Educational Components
The signage and touch screen stations scattered around the hall contain
inside tips and hints about how these creatures may have behaved, survived,
and thrived in the harsh Cretaceous world.
Educational Elements
Icons representing key educational elements clearly link the subject matter
of both the physical and virtual aspects of Be the Dinosaur™ and reinforce
the cyclical flow of learning between the simulation and the more traditional
exhibit elements.
These educational elements each focus on one of the key mysteries
concerning how dinosaurs may have lived their lives. Both physical and
virtual components of the exhibit include all of the following:
"The world around me" Defines an ecosystem and discusses the role of plants and
animals in balancing the ecosystem.
Do I live alone or in groups? Deals with one of the basic mysteries of dinosaur
behavior - were they solitary or social animals? What is the fossil evidence, what are
the benefits and drawbacks to living this way and how would that affect an animal’s
behavior?
How do I find food? Discusses the ongoing debate regarding the lifestyle of T. rex.
Was it a hunter, a scavenger or both? The exhibit provides the evidence for and
against as well as the benefits and risks and allows visitors to try the behaviors and
form their own opinions on the subject.
How do I use my senses? How an animal's senses affect behavior. How we can
determine the capabilities of an animal from fossil evidence.
Do I hunt alone or in packs? Explores competing theories of tyrannosaur behavior were they solitary or social animals. Presents the evidence for and pros and cons of
each lifestyle and allows visitors to try each behavior in the simulation and form their
own opinions.
How do I behave in groups? Explores social interaction between animals of the
same species, the dynamic and strategies of herding behavior and the pros and cons
of this type of lifestyle.
How do I find plants to eat? The basics of nutrition and digestion, dominant plant
life as food sources for Triceratops. Discusses select species of plants, modern
relatives, growth pattern and nutritive value.
Triceratops and the lives of herbivores Discusses Triceratops, the most numerous
herbivore of the time, as an example of an herbivorous animal. Discusses the animal’s
anatomy and what it suggests about possible behavior. Explores the basics of its
nutrition and digestion and relates it to modern animals.
Creatures that share your world Provides an overview of the other animals
(dinosaurs, mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and amphibians) that shared the world with
tyrannosaurs and Triceratops.
T. rex and the lives of carnivores Discusses Tyrannosaurus rex, the most
numerous carnivore of the time, as an example of a carnivorous animal. Discusses the
animal’s anatomy and what that suggests about possible behavior. Explores the basics
of its nutrition and digestion and relates it to modern animals.
Do I defend myself? Focuses on what the anatomy of an animal suggests about how
it might have protected itself. Explores fight or flight, the ways in which an animal
might defend itself, strategies for both herds and solitary creatures.
How do I stay healthy? Explores illness and injury in the fossil record, and
strategies for staying healthy and safe in the virtual Cretaceous simulation.