Calling all dinosaur lovers!
If you spend your free time watching Netflix documentaries about dinosaurs, watching dino-themed TV shows, pouring over dinosaur books, playing with dinosaur toys, and wishing YOU could travel to Jurassic World, then this is the club for you!

This is an ongoing, one-year course.  We meet year round with a few breaks for holidays, etc.  You can join in at any time and stay for as many weeks as you want.  The content repeats annually--so, if you join in January (or October, or May, etc) you can expect new material every week for a full year--that's a LOT of dinosaurs!

Each week, I will present a brief lesson about a featured dinosaur of my choosing.  These will almost always be different from the dinosaurs that i cover in my 5-week "Junior Paleontology: Discovering Dinosaurs" class, so you don't have to worry about repeats. 
 We will then practice our scientific observation skills by examining an illustration of that dinosaur together, looking at special attributes of each individual dinosaur.  Once we have shared our observations, students will draw (or color the provided coloring page) the dinosaur in their "field guide" journal and label it.  Weekly printed fact sheets will be provided, which students may cut out and add to their journals, as well.

The remainder of the class will be spent exchanging dinosaur facts, sharing favorite dinosaur toys and books, and generally "geeking out" about dinos together.  We will also occasionally play related interactive games, do movement activities, and more (see below).  Students will be encouraged to bring something to share each week, and will also occasionally be provided extension activities between meetings.

2024 Themes:
Week of January 7: Pachycephalosaurus
Week of January 14: Dilophosaurus
Week of Jan 21: Suchomimus
Week of Jan 28: Brontosaurus
Week of February 4: Megalosaurus
Week of Feb 11: Therizinosaurus
Week of Feb 18:  Fukuiraptor
Week of Feb 25: Kosmoceratops
Week of March 3: Coelophysis
Week of March 10: Tyrannosaurus Rex
Week of March 17: Ceratosaurus
Wee of March 24: Pterodactylus (NO CLASS 3/29)
Week of March 31: NO CLASS
Week of April 7: DINO FUN WEEK! (games, trivia, sharing)
Week of April 14: Archelon
Week of April 21: Majungasaurus
Week of April 28: Diplodocus
Week of May 5: Edmontosaurus (no class Thursday and Friday)
Week of May 12: Edmontosaurus (no class Monday-Wed)
Week of May 21:  Carcharodontosaurus
Week of May 26: Indominus Rex
Week of June 2: Compsagnathus (NO CLASS Friday 6/7)
(SCHOOL YEAR Field Guide ends)

SUMMER 2024
Week of June 9: NO CLASSES 
Week of June 18: SUMMER COMPENDIUM BEGINS! (we will change formats for our field guide for the summer series of dinosaurs) Styracosaurus
Week of June 25: Liopleurodon
Week of July 2: FUN WEEK!  Dino-themed games, trivia, show & tell (NO CLASS Thursday, July 4)
Week of July 7: Quetzalcoatlus
Week of July 14: Albertosaurus
Week of July 21:Elsamosaurus
Week of July 28:  Troodon
Week of August 4: Rhamphorynchus
Week of August 11: Ichthyosaurus
Week of August 18:  Utahraptor
Week of August 25: Xiphactinus
Week of September 8: Xiphactinus
Week of September 15: Pterodaustro 
Week of September 22: Microraptor 

FALL FIELD GUIDES BEGIN Week of September 29, 2024 (themes rotate on an annual basis--join anytime and stay as long as you want!)

Week of September 29: Allosaurus
Week of October 6:Stegosaurus
Week of October 13: Iguanodon (NO CLASS on Monday due to Indiginous Peoples' Day)
Week of October 20: Parasaurolophus
Week of October 29:  Iguanodon (NO CLASS on Thursday due to Halloween)
Week of November 3: Ankylosaurus
Week of November 10: Gallimimus
Week of November 17: Dimorphodon
Week of November 24: NO CLASS due to Thanksgiving Holiday (US)
Week of December 1: Argentinosaurus
Week of December 8:Archaeopteryx
Week of December 15: Velociraptor
Week of December 22: NO CLASS (Holiday Break)
Week of December 29: NO CLASS (Holiday Break)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2025!
Week of January 5: Mosasaurus
Week of January 12: Pachycephalosaurus
Week of January 19: Dilophosaurus
Week of Jan 26: Suchomimus
Week of February 2: Brontosaurus
Week of February 9: Megalosaurus
Week of Feb 16: Therizinosaurus
Week of Feb 23:  Fukuiraptor
Week of March 2: Kosmoceratops
Week of March 9: Coelophysis
Week of March 16: Tyrannosaurus Rex

In each short, introductory lesson, students will learn about the weekly featured dinosaur through a variety of approaches, such as read aloud stories, informative slides, video clips, and graphics, and more.  We will also intermittently add playful learning activities such as: building and sculpting, movement activities, games, discussion, repetition and more.  Vocabulary words such as paleontologist, herbivore, carnivore, timeline, mesozoic, triassic, jurassic, cretaceous, fossil, bipedal, quadrupedal,  prehistoric, extinction and more will be introduced and used during these interactive, engaging lessons.

***Access to a printer is required for this course. ***