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Budding Paleontologist

By Susan Oloier

It seems as though most young boys go through a dinosaur phase. Justin is no exception. He has possessed a love of them since he was two. I've never cared much for the beasts. I was more of a girly girl who played with dolls and Barbies. But with two sons, dinosaurs have become as much a part of my life as washing dishes and doing laundry. Because of Justin's ongoing interest in the prehistoric creatures, I have learned how to pronounce coelophysis and have discovered that velociraptors hunted in packs. Justin's insatiable appetite for everything dinosaur has enabled me to discern the glaring errors present in Jurassic Park (e.g. Tyrannosaurus Rex existed in the Cretaceous period not the Jurassic). When asked when he wants to be when he grows up, without exception Justin answers paleontologist. Because of him, I have come to learn much more about the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods than I ever thought I would.

Fortunately, our area of the country is rich with dinosaur fossils. So we took a trip to southeastern Utah - seemingly in the middle of nowhere - to the home to one of the many dinosaur museums in the state. What better way to captivate a budding paleontologist than to see life-size, reconstructed dinosaurs up close and personal. When we arrived, we were greeted by the giant head of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, so Justin's excitement piqued at the sight of it. For only six dollars, the four of us stepped back in time into a world of fossils and carnivorous dinosaurs. For a mid-Monday, there were quite a few people exploring the museum, including a class of fourth graders on a field trip. According to the woman working in the gift shop, classes come from all over the Four Corners region to peruse the exhibits and learn about prehistoric life. The museum experience certainly beat two-dimensional classroom learning.

The woman who took our money pointed us in the direction of a meteorite near the entrance, as well as to a giant ammonite. While Justin feigned interest to be polite, he really wanted to get to the main reason for being there: the dinosaurs. And it didn't take long. A few steps inside, and we were met with a life-size allosaurus. Even I was impressed. Despite the fact that the allosaurus is one of Justin's all-time favorites, he was in a hurry to move on to see more. While Jeff and I took a leisurely pace with Zane, trying to read the information posted at each exhibit, Justin wanted to push forward toward the next big dino.

Museum-going with a five-year-old is a much different experience than perusing exhibits with adults. Kids do not have the same degree of patience for reading markers beneath the exhibits or for glancing into the display cases at antiquated books or Lego-sized artifacts. At least for Justin, he wanted the experience to be enormous and life-sized, not scaled down to miniature fossils and extraneous information. He went there to experience the dinosaur - at least for a short time.

While Justin has watched documentaries on dinosaur life, he did not fully absorb the sheer size of the dinosaurs until he saw them in person. And, like most kids his age, it was that part of the experience he most craved. And as much as I loved gleaning unknown facts about prehistoric life, I, too, was most taken with the towering, reconstructed creatures, not the written words penciled beneath them. The images from my camera are testimony to my child-like interest in the museum, as well. As part of our visit, I have one or two photographs of sculptures or movie posters. But most of my pictures highlight the large-scale exhibits, often featuring Justin or Zane posed against the backdrop of the T-Rex or the styracosaurus.

Certainly, the small details are critical when piecing together the mysteries of the past. But the end result for any paleontologist - budding or seasoned - is to come to a conclusion about the big picture. In the case of paleontology, that typically means the whole dinosaur, which is why most of us travel to a dinosaur museum to begin with. Imagine our disappointment if we showed up to a dino museum only to discover they had no dinosaurs. Needless to say, we probably wouldn't be too happy.