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The Dinosaur Times 
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April 2015
Issue 54
 
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Happy Easter!

Colorado weather has stayed true to form this month by bringing us snow and some windy days. Snow storms in March have brought some much needed moisture to the area but we are still looking forward to some gentle, cleansing rains. April will be a busy month for the RMDRC so come on up and enjoy spring and check out our new exhibits and events.

March 7th was our annual Scout Free Day here at the RMDRC. We had a beautiful day and hundreds of scouts, leaders and families were able to attend. The Space Foundation was here with a variety of hands-in experiments and programs for all. Inspector Magic also had 2 shows and gave magic lessons in between shows. The Flash and Thelma Hedgehog Rescue and Friends of Dinosaur Ridge were also on hand during the day with activity tables.
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As some of our local visitors may have noticed, our 10 year old electronic message center (LED sign) finally gave up. We are excited to announce we will be replacing it with a full color sign in the near future. The new sign will be capable of using full color images, animations and even video clips. We hope to have it up and running by the second week of April. Let us know what you think of it.
FROM THE EDUCATION DESK
FYI:

Who was Sir Richard Owen?
The paleontologist, who rose from a poor background in Lancashire to become something close to what we might consider a celebrity scientist today, went on to establish London’s Natural History Museum in 1881. He coined the word “dinosaur” in 1842 and said they were like “terrible lizards”.
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Sir Richard Owen
He was labeled “impudent” by teachers at Lancaster Royal Grammar School, which he attended from 1809 to 1819. The current head teacher at the school, Dr. Chris Pyle, says, “it seems he was extremely stubborn, knew exactly what he wanted, was incredibly clever, but not in any way a conformist.” He developed a reputation for controversy, was accused of stealing other scientists’ specimens and undermining people by writing anonymous reviews of their work. Owen’s contemporary and rival Gideon Mantell described him as “overpaid, over-praised and cursed with a jealous monopolizing spirit.” He was also said to have clashed with another great Victorian scientist, Charles Darwin. Owen agreed with Darwin that evolution occurred, but thought it was more complex than outlined in Darwin’s On the Origin of Species . Owen worked on some specimens recovered during Darwin’s famous Beagle expedition.

Dr. David Williams of the Natural History Museum, feels that Owen’s controversial reputation should not be allowed to cloud his scientific achievements. Many of the systems he put in place for researching the anatomy of species remain important today. As well as his academic research, he was motivated by a desire to share the latest specimens and theories with the public and that is why he established the museum. He wanted people to see and to study for themselves. The word dinosaur has its roots in the Greek for “terrible lizard”, but Dr. Williams feels that Owen would have meant the word “terrible” to be understood as “awesome” or “fearfully great”.

Owen’s aim was not just to describe these wonderful creatures, but to find a home for them so that the public would be able to appreciate how wonderful and important they were. After years of work the doors opened in South Kensington where the museum stands as a testament to his persistence and genius.

Geri Lebold
Education Director


"Despite the forecast, live like it's Spring." - Lily Pulitzer

 
Triebold Paleontolgy - In the Lab

Triebold Paleontology staff has just finished installing a new cast skeleton of our Edmontosaurus Annectens, Survey. This new cast has Survey rearing up on his hind legs and looking out over the exhibit hall. Edmontosaurus was a plant eating, 20 to 35 foot long dinosaur, commonly called a “duck bill”, or a “hadrosaur”. Duckbills traveled in large herds (based on trackways, and mass kill sites), to protect themselves from predators. This particular Edmontosaurus displays evidence of having fought a battle with a terrible predator. There are tooth marks on its lower jaw, indicating that it had been attacked. A close examination of those marks reveals that the bone tissue is frothy and has partially healed. This means that this creature survived the initial attack, living for several days, weeks or possibly years before dying of infection or another cause. Survey is 24 feet long. Come by and check him out. 

Check out lab updates on our blog.  Click here!
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Spend some time shopping at Prehistoric Paradise, the largest dinosaur store in the region for hundreds of unique gifts including real fossils, jewelry, games, books, stuffed dinosaurs, t-shirts and much more! A family membership makes a great gift that can be enjoyed for the entire year. If you have someone who’s difficult to buy for, a gift card is the perfect solution. Save yourself time and money by letting our staff gift wrap your purchases free of charge.
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DS Dino Helmet
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Check out our newest shirt!
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Dinosaur chessmen set
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Vintage Bracelets
SPECIAL
Buy 1 Stuffed Animal Get 1 Half Off Of Equal Or Lesser Value

 
[Ex: Offer cannot be combined with any other coupons.  Limited to one coupon per customer.]
 
Expires 04/30/2015
 
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Dinosaur Resource Center
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Saturday, April 11
Free admission and tour with proof of current teaching status. 20% off yearly membership today only, does not apply to school tours. Contact Geri at 719-686-1820×110 to schedule your personal tour.
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The Visitors Experience Guides will be doing a lot of outreach programs this month and early in May.
April 4th, the RMDRC staff will have a booth at the Big Cool Science Festival at Colorado College in the Barnes Science Center from 10:00-3:00. For details go to www.coolscience.org.
April 13th, we will have an 11:00 presentation at Fountain Library, 230 S. Main Street in Fountain, CO.
April 25th, we will have an activity booth at the Ute Pass Cultural Center from 9AM to Noon for The Resource Center and Teller Early Childhood Connections who will be hosting their annual Kid Fest. For more information on Kid Fest call Nicol at 719-687-5873.
May 2nd, we will be at the Fountain Creek Nature Center for Family Fun Day. We will be joining many other local organizations providing fun and educational hands-on activities from 10:00-2:00. Be sure to bring the kids to our booth and say hello.
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COMING IN MAY
May is a busy month for us. We will have a booth at Fountain Creek’s Family Fun Day on Saturday, May 2 and we hope you will come out and join us for that festive event. May 4-10 is “Children’s Book Week” and we will have a special promotion in our gift shop, ”Every Child a Reader” is the theme. Thursday,  May 7 we will have a booth at Education Days at Elitch Gardens in Denver, where we will be joining other organizations from 8:00am-2:00pm. Saturday,  May 9 will be our Dr. Seuss show with Denise Gard and her dog Sienna at 1:30pm at our museum. Come get wacky, have fun and laugh a lot...lots of audience participation...make a craft to take home.
Sunday, May 10 is Mother’s Day.  Mothers are free with 1 paid adult or child admission. Memorial Day is Monday, May 25.  Take some time and visit us to see some of the new exhibits we have. Saturday, May 30 ends our busy month with the USAF Academy and Captain Jacob Harley presenting “Physics is Phun” at 11:30am and 1:30pm. Visitors are also invited to meet with members of the Academy before, in between and after each presentation. We hope you will come to these exciting and fun events and take away with you a learning experience from each of them.
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We will be closed April 5th to allow our employees the opportunity to spend Easter Sunday with their families. April is one of our busiest months for school tours so call now to schedule a tour for your class today. We look forward to seeing you soon.
JJ Triebold
President
 
 

Store Hours
Monday - Saturday 9:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm
Closed - Easter, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day & New Year's Day

We have a marvelous world class museum here in Woodland Park. We feature an awe-inspiring display of dinosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles, pterosaurs and fish of North America’s late Cretaceous period. Our gift store, Prehistoric Paradise is the regions largest dinosaur gift shop and is always free to visit.
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