Dinosaur Extinction Puppet Show

Narrator: The time is 65 million years ago and the Earth is rich with plants and animals ((Have animals and plants that pop down hanging on strings). Life on Earth, as was, is about to change forever. One group of animals will face its toughest challenge yet. And to tell this story we are joined by some of these dinosaurs, brought back on this special day to share their tale. Lets begin with introductions…

First we have one of the largest dinosaurs that lived, measuring 8o feet long or the size of 26 preschoolers stacked tall. This dinosaur used its long neck to satisfy its herbivore diet by eating leaves high in the trees… meet “Brachi” our Brachiosaurus

Our second dinosaur had back legs twice the size as its front legs just like its early ancestors the ornithiscians; however, this dinosaur is better known for the sharp spikes that armor its tail and were used to scare and fight off unwanted carnivore predators. Let us welcome “Stego” the Stegosaurus

Our third and final dinosaur, here to tell the story, has a hooked beak like a modern day raptor that it used to slice off leaves and twigs, though unlike raptors it also had sharp teeth like scissors to assist in the cutting. This dinosaur had a built in shield to protect its neck and three large horns adorned the front of its head to fight off unruly predators, meet “Tria” the Triceratops!

Narrator: I now turn the story over to Stego

Stego: Well check it out kids, it all changed the day that large thing began to drop from the sky.

Tria: He means the meteor. (Tria looks up and we begin to lower the rock that is above the puppet show a bit). You see that big thing up there

Stego: Right the meteor, which is a big rock formation from outer-space.

Brachi: Mhmmmm you tell them Stego,

Stego: Thanks Brachi, well where was I, right, that large rock kept getting closer to us… and closer… and CLOSER (Move rock closer to dinosaurs) until one day it hits the Earth(Have meteor fall, and make loud kaboom noise, and throw orange/red tissue paper out to represent fire) and fire spreads through the land. Some survived this blow and some did not. Tria can you explain what happened after the blow, it is a little fuzzy for me.

Tria: Of course! You see, after the meteor hit, the Earth began to change… the air got dark, it was like little bits of dirt floating around all the time (Wave black paper or something else to represent the dusty air)

Stego: That’s right, thanks Tria. You see the dust made it hard to breathe and see, and the sun’s warm shine did not touch Earth for a long long long long time, (hide the sun with black paper) Brachi, what was this like for you.

Brachi: It was a bummer. Without sunlight some of my favorite foods began to disappear. Like leafy greens. The plants relied on the sunlight to grow (make the plants disappear) I was hungry, and could not find any food to eat.

Tria: The same with me Brachi and with many other dinosaurs. With no more plants to eat most of us plant eaters could not survive, so as time continued on all the herbivores disappeared.

Stego: Right right, and without herbivores to eat, the carnivores eventually disappeared to.

All 3: (shake heads sadly) and after this the dinosaurs went EXTINCT!

Narrator: Well thank you all for sharing your story with us. Kids let’s give our dinosaur friends a big thank you for being here today. –break- Many scientists think that a meteor was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs, but lots of other things may have contributed to it as well. The more we study bones and fossils the more things we can learn about the dinosaurs!

Chimney Swift Sit

Photo from: http://warbler.ornith.cornell.edu/nest-cam-highlights/cameras/chimney%20swift.jpg

Today was my first time counting Chimney Swifts. It was a good reminder to me that I love Citizen Science. I took my mom with me to the chimney at St.Stephan's Lutheran Church near Dodge Nature Center. It is always a treat to share bird-watching with a new observer.

A flock of Chimney Swifts can be called a 'screaming frenzy', which is fitting once you hear their discordant chatter. Watching their flight, I ponder if an amusement ride could be designed from their flight patterns. If it was, it would be certain to make the most arduous riders nauseated.

Audubon Minnesota is sponsoring this years annual Chimney Swift Sit. The survey dates are August 9-12 and August 26-30. Just scout out your chimney and then sit there beginning about 15 minutes before dusk and count all the swifts that enter.

Here is some links about the Chimney Swift Sit if you are interested:
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/blogs/99889884.html
http://mn.audubon.org/events/1816