My Baby
Monsters

Season 2: making a children's book

D is for dis-extinct Dinosaurs playing with di-stinky Diapers and di-scary Dean Martin and Danny Kaye
LISTEN NOW! Season 2, Episode D [Classic, old time – children's radio – podcast]

It's episode/page 4 of our new, fun children's book,
Wild Animal Stories (fun tails for kids and other wild animals).

Play the Dino-Game: answers may continue to evolve
Some of the answers may not be correct because there are no dinosaurs to ask, but all of the information is based on the scientific work of paleontologists.

• When was the first dinosaur's birthday? 230 million years ago.
• Did people and dinosaurs live together? No, but not because they tried to eat each other. The truth is dinosaurs died out long before humans were born. However, if you have a pet bird, you may be living with a dinosaur because many scientists believe that birds are related to dinosaurs.
• Where did dinosaurs live? Anywhere they wanted... more precisely, everywhere. In the beginning, dinosaurs lived on one supercontinent called Pangea. However, over the 165 million years of the dinosaurs existence, this supercontinent broke apart and slowly became the seven continents we know and live on today.
• Who was the biggest dinosaur? The Brachiosaurus – pronounced BRACK-ee-uh-SAWR-us – was about the size of two large, four-story high school buses. It was 75 feet long (23 meters) and 40 feet tall (12 meters).
• Who was the smallest dinosaur? The Compsognathus - pronounced comp-sog-NATH-us – was about the size of a medium-sized dog. It's only 3 feet long (1 meter) and weighed 6.5 pounds (2.5 kg)... but if birds really are dinosaurs, then the smallest dinosaur is the hummingbird.
• What did dinosaurs eat? Different dinosaurs ate different things. Some ate lizards, turtles, or eggs. Some killed and ate other dinosaurs, while some scavenged dead animals. But most were herbivores, that means they ate plants (but not grass, since it hadn't evolved yet).
• When did dinosaurs become extinct? About 65 million years, dinosaurs died off... they went extinct after living on Earth for 165 million years.
• How long is 165 million years? Imagine a one year on a calendar. If dinosaurs were born on January 1 and they became extinct September 21, people would only have been alive for one day, December 31... happy new year!
• Why did the dinosaurs go bye-bye (become extinct)? While no one knows for sure, it is believed that a meteor was (at least) the partial cause for dinosaurs' extinction. A large meteor hitting Earth would cause a climatic change, as well as sea-level changes, and extensive release of volcanic gases.

Learn more about Dinosaurs:

• Dinosaur Birthday Party Ideas: learn how to make a special day even special-er with a Dino-tastic Party... fun foods, Jurassic decorations, and wild games [Kids' Birthday Party Guide]
• Dinosaurs, fact or fiction / science for a changing world: Dinosaurs stretch our imaginations, gives us new perspectives on time and space, and invite us to discover worlds very different from our modern Earth. [U.S. Geological Survey]
• Dino Directory: how do you compare to a dinosaur? learn in this great guide to 311 of the dinosaurs [The Natural History Museum, London]
• Dinosaur Lesson Plans: for children, 5 to 18... Dinosaur Babies, Fossils, and Make Your Own Dinosaur • Dinosaur Dig • Excavating Your Recycling Bin as a Fossil • Fossils with Play-Doh [the educators reference desk]
• Learning and Fun With Dinosaurs: here are a few fun activities for your class or home (colouring pages, picture match-up, name match-up, dinosaur fact sheets, and more.
  
• The Largest T. Rex: SUE is the largest, most complete, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ever discovered. [The Field Museum]
• Tyrant Lizards: Could one of these hungry dinosaurs eat you? Learn more about the Tyrannosauridae, also known as Tyrannosaurs Rex [University of California Museum of Paleontology]

Guest Artists and Songs in this Episode:

• Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur: this cartoon is an important piece of history, as it demonstrates the evolution of Daffy Duck from a completely insane, irrational, and uncontrollable character, to one that is more thoughtful and calculating. It is also one of several Merrie Melodies cartoons that are in the public domain, so enjoy!
• Old Time Radio / Golden Age of TV and Film Stars: Danny Kaye • Dean Martin • Jerry Lewis • Peter Lorrie
• Six Little Ducks is a fun, hard rocking, children's song by Rockosaurus Rex, the prehistoric masters of metal. [listen to more of Rockosaurus Rex's musical nursery rhymes]
• The Wild Alphabet Story, "D is for Dinosaur, as in, dis old dino, he ate one, he ate da baby, not dis-extinct-ie dung. With a great big chomp, and a roar from here to there, diaper scat is everywhere" is a parody of the classic Nursery Rhyme "This Old Man (Knick-Knack Paddywhack)" and Barney & Friends "I love you" songs.

Help save Cheetahs and Kids!

• Learn how by visiting the Cheetah Conservation Fund.
• Learn how by visiting Tobacco Free Kids.
• More information in last episode's educational resources.

LISTEN NOW to season 2, episode D (and read it's children's stories).

<< season 2: C -- Cheetahs

season 2: E -- Elephants >>