Curiosity Machine: Build a Balanced Dinosaur

Hands-on Science and Engineering at Pasadena Public Library

Curiosity Machine

August 25, 2016

What I thought of science when I was a

kid:

There’s so much memorization…

This is boring…

My experiments never come out

right…I’ll never be a scientist or engineer because I don’t like math.

What I know NOW:It’s OK to try and fail. Sometimes great scientific discoveries, theories, or inventions happen when you don’t get the results you were expecting.

Examples:*Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias (The Big

Bang Theory)*Alexander Fleming (Penicillin)*Harry Coover (Super Glue)*Roy Plunkett (Teflon)*Charles Robert Richet (Allergies)

How to be a scientist:

Today’s project:Build a balanced dinosaur!

Your inspiration:

T-Rex PostureContrary to popular belief and cultural images of T-Rex, T-Rex did NOT stand like this:

http://www.getcoloringpages.com/coloring/27996

http://dinotoyblog.com/2009/10/23/tyrannosaurus-rex-papo/

T-Rex PostureHe probably walked something more like this:

Created byKent Stevens for The Carnegie Museum of Natural History:http://ix.cs.uoregon.edu/~kent/paleontology/museums/CMNH/index.html

Apatosaurus PostureAnd Apatosaurus never dragged its tail

around like this:

 http://www.copyrightexpired.com/earlyimage/prehistoriclifebeforekt/n2m_brontosaurus.html

Pearson Scott Foresman: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dinosaur_-_brontosaurus_(PSF).png

Apatosaurus PostureIn fact, now that we

know more about why dinosaurs needed such long, strong tails, museums around the world had to change their skeleton displays from this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brontosaurus

Apatosaurus PostureTo this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brontosaurus

But…how do we know what a dinosaur’s gait or

posture was?

Dr. Phil Manning, a paleontologist who digs up dinosaur mummies and writes

books about them!

We learn from scientists like:

https://blog.geolsoc.org.uk/2014/10/09/ask-a-geologist-live/

Dr. Kent Stevens, who helps paleontologists understand dinosaur movement by creating computer animations for them. He studies dinosaur skeletons and determines how they would have shifted their weight and used their limbs to walk, stand or sit.

And:

http://ix.cs.uoregon.edu/~kent/paleontology/museums/index.html

Archimedes of Syracuse  (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC), the ancient Greek scientist who

introduced the world to the concept of center of mass

And:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_of_masshttp://www.keyword-suggestions.com/c3lyYWN1c2UgYXJjaGltZWRlcw/https://www.sciencetopia.net/sites/default/files/twofig.png

Center of gravity for animals and dinosaurs

Created by Kent Stevens for The Carnegie Museum of Natural History:http://ix.cs.uoregon.edu/~kent/paleontology/museums/CMNH/index.html

Dinosaurs with heavy skulls and long necks would have needed long tails to keep their center of gravity in their torso/hip region.

Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History by Tim Haines, published by Dorling Kindersley, 2000

(Eyewitness) Dinosaur by David Lambert, Published by Dorling Kindersley 2010

Tendons (bind muscle to bone)

Ligaments (bind bone to bone)

Diplodocus would have walked with its tail held

straight out.

Diplodocus’s tail was built like a suspension bridge.

Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History by Tim Haines, published by Dorling Kindersley, 2000

Scientists learn from past mistakes and adjust their

theories when they get new evidence!

Walking with Dinosaurs: A Natural History by Tim Haines, published by Dorling Kindersley, 2000

WD Matthew, 1905. This was the image that people consulted for decades!

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/11/drawing-tyrannosaurus-youre-probably-doing-it-wrong/

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/11/drawing-tyrannosaurus-youre-probably-doing-it-wrong/

Watch this funny video of T. Rex standing up!

Mike Jacobsen, http://www.neatoshop.com/product/Science-Ruined-Dinosaurs

What do you think?

Let’s learn more about center of

gravity.

With this device, you will never fail to hang a picture

straight again!Balance It by Howard E. Smith, Jr. with photographs by George Ancona. Published in 1982 by Four Winds Press.

Now we will try our own!

I shared my design process on Curiositymachine.org.

I answered questions about my design and how I could change it.

And I added my picture to the Inspiration Gallery!

When you get home, you can submit photos or videos of your project to

the Curiosity Machine website. You’ll get feedback from scientists and engineers and you can share your

ideas with other kids!

Want to read more about dinosaurs? Check out these great

books from Pasadena Public Library:

Thanks for coming, and keep on tinkering!