Dr. Scott at Carnegie Museum of Natural History

My daughter is a huge dino fan. Like, she could name dinosaurs most adults can't pronounce when she was two. Her 3rd birthday party was a Dino party and when asked what she wanted to do on her "real" birthday, she opted for the museum for the umteenth time. This fall, we were so excited for the premiere of "Dinosaur Train" on PBS. We love it! The way the mesozoic period is represented is such a great idea! The main characters are dinosaurs and pterosaurs that lived in the Cretaceous period. They encounter dinosaurs from the Triassic and Jurassic period as well, but they board a train and travel back in time. This is a great visual for kids! And, if I've lost you with the different periods, it is a great visual for adults, too! It is very important to me that dinosaurs (and science in general) be realistically represented. Despite having talking dinosaurs that play games and travel on a train, there is real science behind this show. At the end of each episode, Dr. Scott Sampson talks to real kids about the info that was presented. We have found out that Dr. Scott will be at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History on January 30th. I've contacted Dr. Scott and this is a child friendly lecture where he will also be signing a copy of his new book. Because my daughter has taken such a serious interest in dinosaurs, I've become a Dr. Scott groupie too! If you haven't checked out Dinosaur Train, you really should! If you have and you are Dr. Scott fans too, you might want to check out the lecture.

This info was taken from CMNH's website:

Dinosaur Odyssey
Scott Sampson, PhD
Saturday, January 30, 2010
CMA Theater, 2:30 p.m.
Free with museum admission

One hundred million years ago, the American West was separated from Pennsylvania by the Western Interior Seaway. This “lost continent,” Laramidia, was the home of giant and often bizarre animals. Dr. Scott the Paleontologist, host of Dinosaur Train on PBS and renowned scientist/educator, takes us on a journey into this lost continent and addresses a variety of mysteries, such as the enigmatic presence of so many giant, plant-eating dinosaurs, and the evolution of the tyrant king, Tyrannosaurus rex.