crated dinosaur photo source : Lorie Pierce
There is a brand new dinosaur, as yet unnamed, ready to make its appearance at our museum. It’s sitting in this crate, ready to be released on January 24th.
Anticipation is building visitor interest and many are planning a return trip to see the event.
Why is this animal named Parksosaurus?
Dinosaurs get their names from the places their remains are found, in honour of a person (often a funding patron) who supported the excavation, and in description of aspects of their appearance and behaviour.
The latest Palaeo Quiz centres on how specific dinosaurs were named.
Participants are given three plausible explanations for the dinosaur’s name and have to choose the correct one.
In pretesting this activity, one high school co-op student told me that if she does not know the answer, she chooses the longest one. So I have made sure that my false choices are as long, or longer, than the truthful one.
This quiz will be used during our disco night aimed at the 19 to 30 year old crowd.
game components photo source : Lorie Pierce
The disco party event at the museum last night was rocking, in more ways than one. Party-goers were invited to match 4 fossils with the time periods the original animal or plant lived within.
Since the focus for the evening was all things African, the fossils were specifically picked from the collection to represent Morocco, Egypt, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. Since the no actual bones of the dinosaur Spinosaurus were available, a plastic model and a reproduction claw were used as samples. Teams who were successful in making the match received stickers portraying dinosaurs, pterosaurs, icthyosaurs and ancient mammals. Since the participants were allowed to make as many guesses as they wanted, everyone who tried ended up a winner….while learning about ancient life in Africa at the same time.
game in action – it’s kind of dark photo source : Lorie Pierce
Definitely a quiz we will repeat.
Google Doodle to commemorate Kenojuak’s 87th anniversary of birth
The Google Doodle has become a way to deciminate information about important events and people. Today the great Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak was honoured in a doodle that draws on the spirit of her paintings. She passed away almost two years ago, outliving 3 husbands and many children.
Her Enchanted Owl print from 1960 is a classic. The image has graced many calendars, note cards and a Canadian postage stamp.
Enchanted Owl print © Reproduced with the permission of the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative, Cape Dorset, Nunavut
Perhaps museums can find small ways, like Google uses the doodle, to highlight aspects of their collection. A doodle or a trivia fact could be posted on the museum website or sent out by Twitter or other social media.
Iostrate stele photo source : ROM images
The next mini-museum event off-site will feature Rocks, Gems and Space. Children will be making pendant necklaces, jeweled paper crowns, and volcanoes, as well as using cylinder seals to create writing in clay.
This beautiful Greek woman is being shown with her worldly possessions. Her maid and her jewelry box filled with gems, silver and gold. Originally a necklace dangled from the outstretched fingers of her right hand and there was a jeweled earring in her left ear. However, grave robbers removed those pieces in antiquity.
passenger pigeon exhibit photo source : Lorie Pierce
Exactly one hundred years ago today, the last known passenger pigeon died at the Cincinnati Zoo at the age of 29. Known as Martha, after the US first Lady Martha Washington,the passenger pigeon’s formal name is Ectopistes migratorius. The taxidermied specimen is now housed in the Smithsonian Museum.
The Royal Ontario Museum has opened an exhibit recognizing this sad anniversary, which is also expanded into a second case showing current birds who are in danger due to habitat loss and other threats.
Advertising was problematic. Thunderstorms were forecast. One of the Paleontologist guides was in a cast.
However, the tour to find fossils within a local reclaimed quarry was well-attended, untouched by rain and was a pleasant (if not somewhat muddy) day for all.
Kevin Seymour at illustrative signage showing quarry face photo source : Lorie Pierce
Dave Rudkin showing strata layers from rocks and bricks washed down from cliff face photo source : Lorie Pierce
Fossil site with poison ivy along edges photo source : Lorie Pierce
Pleistocene beaver tooth reproduction photo source : Lorie Pierce
Night Heron watching proceedings photo source : Lorie Pierce
Tom Tierney photo source : Dith Pran, NY Times
Paper Doll Author Tom Tierney 1928 – 2014
Artist Tom Tierney wrote and illustrated Dover books for over 30 years. His best-known and most popular creations are paper dolls of historical figures, movie stars, and fictional characters that model the fashions of bygone eras. Dover publishes over 150 of his paper doll collections, plus coloring books and other works that he has authored.
paper doll outfits photo source : Dover Publications
Reviving the art of paper dolls, Tierney was responsible for giving museums a wonderful legacy of period costume illustrations in a fun and practical format.
In particular are the books of his Legacy Series.
You can find out more about Tom’s life and art on his website. http://www.tomtierney.com/index.htm
There is a special tour scheduled in three weeks time so I set about to doublecheck the venue in advance. It’s a beautiful urban park that used to be a quarry and brickworks. Now it is home to a farmer’s market, nature trails, ponds, pottery workshops, and a children’s garden. The feature that attracts our museum group to this area is access to fossils of life from an ancient lake.
former brick works building photo source : Lorie Pierce
pond with fossil cliff face in background photo source : Lorie Pierce
map of service buildings photo source : Lorie Pierce
My intention during the pre-visit was to investigate the best place to congregate for the start of the tour, location of washrooms, public transit stops, any impediments to walking on the trails, and identifying covered areas if the weather should turn inclement.
I recently came across a Twitter site called #bakeyourstudyspecies , that immortalized scientific pursuits into (no doubt, temporary) confections.
Then I came across this historic record of a cake created at the time of the 60th anniversary of the founding of our museum (the building was opened in 1914).
ROM-shaped cake photo : @ROMToronto
Here are some additions to the #bakeyourstudyspecies Twitter site.
echinoderm cookies photo source : @Dietrich_R
shore crab cake photo source @Jenny_Easley33
5 spot Burnet Moth cake photo source : @SensoryEcology
Research never tasted so good!
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