Monday, January 28, 2008

day at the museum

Several years ago, the state of Tennessee was building a highway in the nearby town of Gray, TN. While excavating, the road construction crew found some fossils. The construction was halted, the road redirected, and a paleontology program was begun by the state university. Since that time, scientists and university students have continued to dig and study fossils found at the site. Two new species of animals have been discovered to date. Recently, a museum was built to commemorate the exciting find and the work being done. On Thursday of last week we decided to visit that museum for awhile.


The East Tennessee State Museum of Natural History...





Currently, this is the museum's main attraction. From now until April, on loan from Chicago, the museum is home to Sue. Sue is the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex in the world. Here is the best picture we got of Sue. Doesn't quite do her justice...





This is a model of Sue's head...and sharp teeth. Although Sarah was very excited about the prospect of going to the museum and "seeing the dinosaur," she was actually somewhat frightened when she saw it person. It wasn't the size of Sue that really bothered her; it was the fact that the museum was piping in recorded "roaring" sounds. The roars, coupled with these ferocious-looking teeth, freaked her out a little...




The other part of the museum showed animals that actually would have lived in the area of the site. It was fascinating to see the models, the fossils, and read the info about the work being done there. Sarah did really enjoy this part of the museum. She kept moving from one exhibit to the next, proclaiming, "I'm so busy!"





Here is Sarah posing with one of the models in the laboratory...





The museum had a spot for children to pretend to be paleontologists and dig for fossils. Sarah really liked this "hands-on" part of the museum! :)



Sarah checks out a model in the laboratory. I don't have pictures of it, but the lab contained mock-up journal pages of the scientists' work identifying the new species they discovered. Fascinating reading!




We had a fun and informative day! Come visit us, and you can go see if for yourself! If you come between now and April, you can even check out Sue, the world's largest T-Rex skeleton! :)



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