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Tyrannosaurs exhibition Teacher and Group Leader Notes

National Museum of Scotland: Until 4 May 2020 • Exhibition Gallery 1, Level 3 Contents Visiting • Introduction 1 the exhibition • Visiting the exhibition 1 (Please ensure each teacher/adult • Exhibition content 2 accompanying the group reads • Follow up activities and resources 3 this information before entering the exhibition) • Questions and feedback 4 We expect this exhibition to be busy so please note: • Food and drink is not permitted. Introduction • Photography is allowed but no flash Meet the most feared and revered of all photography. in this cutting-edge exhibition, • You will enter and exit via different doors. bringing to life the latest discoveries in Please exit via the door at the end of the palaeontology and challenging preconceptions exhibition to assist with visitor flow. about these ferocious predators. • The time slots for visiting the exhibition Learn how these dinosaurs may have functioned are 60 minutes, unless otherwise stated on as living through interactives, models a booking. Please stick to your time slot. and real tyrannosaur . • The exhibition is dimly lit in places. • There is background sound and moving images throughout the exhibition. • Classes of over 20 pupils should divide into smaller groups and split across different sections. • There will be other visitors in the exhibition including a large number of under 5s with their families. Please ask pupils not to run and to use indoor voices.

In our main museum galleries, you can find more exhibits. Use our trail, featuring Wee rex, to explore them before or after your visit to the exhibition. The trail will be available to use -round after the exhibition closes.

1 Exhibition content The exhibition is split into six sections. For each Section 2 section, we have suggested some Don’t Miss exhibits and activities, plus general questions Meet the for you to ask your pupils. This section is a narrow corridor of large screens. The screens show several members Section 1 of the tyrannosaur family running through What is a Tyrannosaur? Edinburgh. There are large footprints projected onto the ground. The dinosaurs make noise, This area explores the features that mark and some can be quite loud. It is dimly lit and tyrannosaurs out from other dinosaurs. gets dimmer as the projection shifts from day Pupils will come face to face with to night. and explore the timeline from 4,560 million ago to now. Don’t miss The full film presentation. It plays on a loop As this is the start of the exhibition, it is likely • which lasts around three minutes and each to be congested. screen shows a different viewpoint. Don’t miss • Timeline interactive – use the dial to explore • The Guanlong diorama which shows a very the tyrannosaur family and find out where colourful dinosaur covered in . they lived in different eras.

• A rex head where you can Questions to ask take a class photograph. • How many pupils can fit into a tyrannosaur Questions to ask footprint? • How would you feel if you met this • Do you recognise the dinosaurs in the film? tyrannosaur in real life? If not, can we find them in the exhibition? • Do tyrannosaurs still exist?

2 Section 3 Section 4 Explore the Family T. rex – The Ultimate This section includes , Dilong, This section focuses on Tyrannosaurus rex and and a display and includes a life-size model of a T. rex of skulls. Pupils can explore different members nicknamed Scotty, fossils and reproductions, of the tyrannosaur family. The interactive and a touch table. touchscreens can be used to discover the There is a wall projection of a skeletal habitats that each dinosaur would have Tyrannosaurus rex behind Scotty. Watch it lived in, as well as their likes and dislikes. closely and you will see it move to roar and This area also explores images of tyrannosaurs make shadow puppets. in popular culture. Don’t miss This area is spacious but can be congested at • Bite force interactive – test your strength busy times. It is dimly lit and there is ambient against the bite force of the T. rex! noise from other areas of the exhibition. • T. rex leg bone in the case – pupils can see Don’t miss how they measure up against it. • Complete the Tyrannosaurs tree. This large Questions to ask flat-screen interactive can be used by (using the touch table in the back corner) multiple pupils at the same time. • Can you describe how the scales and • Real fossils including pubic and nasal bones. skin feel? • What can you see in the poo? Questions to ask (Answer: A tooth that T. rex had swallowed!) • Do the dinosaurs in the posters look different • On the Triceratops tibia (leg bone), what to real dinosaurs? do you think made the holes? Are the holes • Which parts of the skulls make you think that about the same size? Compare it to your tyrannosaurs could smell and see things? teeth marks next time you take a bite out of something. Section 5 T. rex Alive! In this section, you get to meet some of T. rex’s cousins such as Velociraptor, Dilong and a chicken. Don’t miss • Spotting a tyrannosaur interactive. All tyrannosaurs share four features: ‘D’-shaped teeth, fused nasal bones, large hip bones and longer than average hind legs. • Take part in our Augmented Reality exhibit where your pupils can interact with tyrannosaurs running through the gallery. This area can be busy and noisy. Questions to ask • What can you find that the dinosaurs have in common with the chicken? (feathers, clawed feet etc) 3 Section 6 Follow up activities Tyrannosaurs: The Legacy Explore how tyrannosaurs evolved, survived and and resources ultimately became extinct. Compare similarities Before or after your visit, you could set your between dinosaurs and modern chickens. pupils these questions to research: This area leads you to the exit. There is ambient • In the exhibition, find three different noise from the Augmented Reality interactive. dinosaurs. Can you create a fact file It can be busy around the Wipeout interactive. about them? Don’t miss • Would it be good to have a dinosaur • Dinosaurs to plinth – compare how birds as a pet? Can you back up your answer? evolved from dinosaurs. • If a tyrannosaur came for tea, what would • Wipeout interactive – jump on the pad to see you feed it? if you can create an asteroid big enough to • Do tyrannosaurs have sharp teeth or big wipe out the dinosaurs. flat teeth? Why do they have teeth like this?

Questions to ask • Tyrannosaurs were hatched from eggs. How many other animals can you think • How did tyrannosaurs become extinct? of that come from an egg? • Can you spot things that are similar on the • Do you think T. rex could pick its nose? skeletons of the chicken, the Dromornis and the Avimimus? (Dinosaur to plinth) Resources Discover the story behind the Tyrannosaurus rex in our permanent collection. www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/ natural-world/tyrannosaurus-rex/ A factfile aboutTyrannosaurus rex, with links to videos and activities. www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/ tyrannosaurus.html Questions and feedback E-mail: [email protected]

Facebook: @NationalMuseumsScotland Instagram: @NationalMuseumsScotland Twitter: @NtlMuseumsScot #Tyrannosaurs Wee rex illustration by Allistair J Burt Allistair by illustration rex Wee Designed and illustrated by Dawson Creative by Designed and illustrated

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