NSEP Minis: Bone Hunters 6-10 Day 2
Welcome back, Bone Hunters.
Your clay dinos are dry and hard — ready to paint. Today you meet real ancient fossils up close, paint your dino, and tell its story.
By the end of today: you head home with your painted dino, your story, the fossils you dug up yesterday, and a glow egg.
Did anyone tell their family a Dimetrodon fact last night? What did they say?
Quick recap:
- Where are we? (The Permian Basin.)
- Who lived here? (Dimetrodon, trilobites, ancient sea creatures.)
- What's the big rule of paleontology? (Be SLOW.)
Yesterday you dug up real fossils. Today you get to see some BIG ones up close.
The teacher has set out a few special fossils on the lab table. You can pick them up, look at them with your magnifying glass, and turn them over.
- Patterns — lines, spirals, dots
- Texture — smooth, rough, bumpy
- Shape — does it look like an animal? a shell? something else?
- Compare it to the fossils you dug up yesterday
Share with your group: which fossil is your favorite? Why?
While your plaster sets, let's play a game.
You'll get a deck of Permian creature cards. Each one has a picture, a name, and a fun fact.
- Dimetrodon — the sail-back. Not a dinosaur.
- Trilobite — armored sea bug. Lots of legs.
- Ammonite — spiral shell, swam like a squid.
- Brachiopod — clam-like, the most common Permian fossil.
- Helicoprion — ancient shark with a SPIRAL of teeth.
- Edaphosaurus — Dimetrodon's plant-eating cousin.
Flip cards face-down. Take turns flipping two at a time. If they match, you keep them. Most pairs wins.
Eat your snack. Talk to your group about your favorite creature from the deck. Which one would you keep as a pet? Which one would chase you?
Your clay dino is dry and hard. Now you bring it to life with color.
Want it to look like a real museum fossil? Use brown, tan, gray, and rust — earth tones.
Want it to look wild? Use whatever you want. There's no wrong way to imagine an ancient creature.
Use markers or colored pencils. Take your time. This is your fossil — you only get to make it once.
Markers can smudge if they're wet. Put your dino on the drying tray and move to the next station.
Every fossil has a story. Now you tell yours.
Grab the "My Fossil Story" mini-book handout. There are four boxes to fill in. You can write words, draw pictures, or both.
- My fossil's name is... — pick a name. Real or made-up.
- It lived... — when? where?
- It ate... — plants? meat? mystery?
- Draw your fossil ALIVE — what did it look like when it was running around?
Now you share what you made. Quick & easy.
Stand up. Hold your cast and your story book.
Say one thing: "This is [name]. It [one fact]."
You earned this bag. Inside, you'll find:
- Your painted clay dino — your very own fossil cast
- The real fossils you dug up yesterday — millions of years old, yours to keep
- Your Fossil Story book — show your family
- Your Field Specimen Tag — tied to your bag with twine
- A glow-in-the-dark fossil egg — crack it open at home
There's a tiny chisel and a real fossil-style surprise inside. Crack it open at home, ideally with a grown-up nearby (there's plaster dust). Then put it in the sun for 10 minutes — it'll glow in the dark.
"Every time you see your plaster cast — remember, you live on a 270-million-year-old ocean."