Malta second graders host 11th annual Dinosaur Museum

How much do you know about a dilophosaurus?

Maybe you would like to hear about the velociraptor or the pterodactylus.

These and many other types of dinosaurs were recently on display in Mrs. Veit and Mrs. Blunt's second grade classes at Malta Elementary School last Monday. Mrs. Blunt reports that this is the 11th year that second graders have worked on this special science project. The children spend about two weeks learning all about different dinos and then hold an open house for family and friends to come and enjoy their written reports and displays.

Each child chooses a dino to report on. Information is gathered from the internet and many different books. After completing their research, each child writes a report and also draws a large, colorful and detailed picture of their dino.

Many parents and proud grandparents visited both rooms and listened to the future paleontologists discuss their special dino. Not only could the students correctly pronounce these five syllable dino names, but they could happily give you info about their size, eating habits, and on which continent they were finally discovered and in which year.

In both Mrs. Veit's and Mrs. Blunt's rooms there were many different dino books on display, along with plastic dino models the children brought from home. Tucked away in the corner of Mrs. Blunt's room was a nest of large dino eggs, made from balloons and papier-mâché, being carefully watched over by Duke Williamson and Emree Stuart.

Who knows, maybe in a few weeks those dino eggs will hatch and the second graders will be chasing baby dinos as they all lumber down the hallway. Mrs. Veit reports that the annual dino project will be held in mid-April next year. This is a delightful and informative project not to be missed. One can learn much from these young paleontologists.