Dinosaurs Invade Hamden Hall

On Wednesday approximately 50 budding paleontologists got a glimpse 65 million years into the past at Hamden Hall Country Day School’s summer program "Dinosaurs Rock."

“If you’re a dinosaur expert, you may think you know what these [fossils] are," said Andrew Niblock, the director of Lower School, as he opened the morning, "and maybe you can pick out the T-Rex, but think about what these other ones may be.”  

Dinosaurs Rock, a program run out of New York state, “brings the museum to you,” giving the children in attendance Wednesday not only the chance to see genuine dinosaur bones up close, but also handle and take home some as well.

Lori, a teacher who has spent her past five summers as a presenter for Dinosaurs Rock, engaged a crowd of local Hamden young minds with meteorites, fossilized dinosaur eggs, and casts of a dozen bones from the prehistoric period.  

The varying age groups of children present latched onto the hands-on approach to learning, from measuring prehistoric shark teeth in order to calculate its length, to putting together the leg bones of a raptor. 

The presentation ran for 45 minutes and included the participation of nearly a third of the children present. In the remaining time, the children got to “dig” for their own prehistoric bones, teeth, petrified wood, and rocks in three bins throughout the room, and left with three pieces of their choosing.

After the “dig” Lori was barraged with children asking what they had found, and when asked how she became interested in dinosaurs herself she answered just as simply, “Well, who isn’t?”

In their brochure, Dinosaurs Rock solidifies what the enthusiastic kids showed on Wednesday -- “Imagine a new level of learning.  Interactive and hands-on programs, so that children learn the ideal way by doing.”