July 2007

BIG is Cool at Dinosaur Exhibit

by Dana Thompson

Big may not always be better, but in the eyes of a child, it’s hard to argue that brawn sometimes beats brain. Especially when the brawn is a 58-foot-long Mamenchisaurus or “long neck” dinosaur cast stretching across the rafters of the Pacific Science Center. This enormous plant-eater, who sported the longest neck of any creature on earth, joins other giants in the Science Center’s new exhibit, Colossal Fossils: Dinosaurs around the World. They’ll be there through Jan. 6, 2008.

Displaying fossils on loan from China, Colossal Fossils provides a glimpse of dinosaurs, as well as plants, insects and birds, ranging from a ripe 200 million years old to as young as 80 million years. Many have never been viewed outside China, the only place with a sampling of fossils spanning all of the dinosaur periods.

A fossil wall invites little fingers to experience how dinosaur bones are discovered – rarely whole, but as scattered remains preserved for millions of years in hard-caked sediment. (While tempting, this is not a climbing wall.) Interactive computer modules test dinosaur knowledge and show dinosaurs in animated action. Stunning photographs show the sometimes glamorous, but more often painstaking, work of dinosaur hunters.

Dinosaurs, much like superheroes, seem all-powerful to kids – after all, they ruled the earth for millions of years. The exhibit’s assembled life-sized skeletons, set off with colored lights against original murals, exemplify this power. They include a 10- by 10- by 10-foot cast of a Monolophosaurus Jurassic meat-eater fighting a Tuojiangosaurus Stegosaur.

“To me, it is most important that kids get the scale of the dinosaurs more than the facts,” says “Dino” Don Lessem, who helped develop the Colossal Fossil exhibit. A leading presenter of dinosaur science, Lessem is a host and writer for Nova and the Discovery Channel and dinosaur columnist for Highlights Magazine. He advised Stephen Spielberg on the Jurassic Park film series. “It’s the enduring sense of awe and mystery and wonder that makes kids later want to go on in science,” he adds.

The exhibit’s open-floor format provides space to view the massive skeletons, while also providing good visibility for visitors with small children. Contemplation is fostered over busyness, making the exhibit ideal for solo viewing, school-age children in small groups, or parent-child twosomes.

The Hatching the Past: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies section of the exhibit offers something for all ages with animated video presentations, authentic dinosaur eggs and nests gathered from all over the world, along with hands-on dig stations where future paleontologists can uncover fossil eggs. Highlights include a 75-million-year-old bowling-ball-sized egg from a South American long-necked plant-eating Titanosaur and “Baby Louie,” a skeleton of an Oviraptorosaur embryo preserved just prior to hatching. Hatching the Past gives insight into the strong relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

The Science Center has also re-vamped its permanent dinosaur section, where favorite dinosaur models thrill visitors in simulated motion. (Many of the youngest viewers prefer these to the new skeletons because they are in motion.)

Big may not be better, but it is definitely cool.

Two companion IMAX films complement the exhibit; they’re best for children ages 5 and older.

Now-Jan 6, 2008: Dinosaurs Alive! 3D combines science, history and technology, tracing the earliest dinosaurs of the Triassic period to the giants of the Cretaceous period. It includes stunning scenery of Mongolia’s Gobi Desert and the rugged sandstone buttes of New Mexico.

Opening Oct. 5: Sea Monsters 3D: A Prehistoric Adventure takes viewers through the Late Cretaceous period, when North America was divided by a great inland sea. Viewers follow current and historical fossil hunters through an ancient ocean world, exploring the mystery surrounding giant “sea monsters.”

Dana Thompson is a Bainbridge Island writer and mother of two dinosaur enthusiasts.

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