DINOSAUR PARK: THE MULTI-PURPOSE GEOLOGICAL PLATFORM AT WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

One primary goal of higher education is to facilitate a learning environment that encourages students to become active members of society, while at the same time, keeping the general public abreast of recent advances in science and technology. It is difficult to gain a comprehensive understanding of Earth’s dynamic processes through a passive approach; rather, people benefit most from an active learning environment, outside the classroom, that reinforces in-class lectures through collaborative exercises and discussions. The Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Western Michigan University, to better accomplish this goal, is constructing an interactive “Dinosaur Park” that will not only serve as a vibrant addition to the university community, but will also be used in general education and upper level geology courses as a three-dimensional laboratory and museum exhibit.

“Dinosaur Park” supplements the existing outreach programs of the “Schmaltz Geological Museum” and the “CoreKids” initiatives at WMU. The park currently hosts life-size replicas of Triceratops, Stegosaurus and Utahraptor. Plant materials include a variety of Mesozoic-like flora including conifers, ginkgoes, and ferns. Future installations will include additional dinosaurs, various dinosaur trackways, rock-walls depicting stratigraphic and chronological relationships, and rock outcrops indicating subsurface, geological structures. Installation of these additional features will begin during the summer of 2019.

Exhibits will incorporate real-world data from many sub-disciplines of “Earth Systems Science” (e.g. paleontology, sedimentology, structure, geochemistry, geophysics, and astronomy). These exhibits will provide a three-dimensional, hands-on, learning environment where students will be able to interact with the exhibits to make observations, perform measurements (e.g., strike-and-dip, dinosaur stride length), and log scientific descriptions. This approach will allow them to better explore, interpret, and reach conclusions concerning several aspects of the Mesozoic world. Such an approach is quickly becoming fundamental to a modern research environment where investigators must assess multidisciplinary datasets to answer key questions concerning changes in “Earth Systems Science.”