Dr. Donna's Review

“Dinosaur Train” – Four stories about dinosaurs

Themes and Other Things
“Dinosaur Train” is a terrific example of preschool children’s programming that highlights young children’s fascination and adoration with both dinosaurs and trains.  The series encourages basic scientific thinking skills as the audience learns about life science, natural history and paleontology. The episodes feature Buddy, an inquisitive and preschool friendly Tyrannosaurus Rex.  Buddy lives with his adoptive Pteranodon family. Together they often board the Dinosaur Train where they discover adventure, intrigue and mystery – all of course age appropriate and in prehistoric settings such as jungles, swamps, volcanoes and oceans in search of fun and facts in context and the awesome world of science and nature.
“Dinosaur Train” consists of four short animated stories – “Fast Friends,” “T. Rex Migration,” “The Burrowers,” and “Under the Volcano” woven together into an appealing presentation that introduces the wonderful world of dinosaurs to young children. Furthermore, it encourages them to explore the natural world. By applying scientific principles to a diverse range of different dinosaurs the young audience is encouraged to develop a broader understanding of and connection to nature. Designed for children between the ages of 3 and 6, there are many lessons that might stem from episode viewing. Moreover, stories and learning also includes opportunities to engage and intrigue older children in the audience.

“Dinosaur Train” introduces children to three important concepts:
Nature and Science Appreciation – The presentation promotes interest in the process of discovery. The stories incorporate examples that nourish a desire within the child for learning and discovering new things in science. It promotes understanding of the scientific experimentation process such as making assumptions, hypothesizing, observation, deductive reasoning, deduction, analysis and the forming of conclusions. It also introduces and promotes understanding of science vocabulary and concepts, encourages children’s appreciation of the environment.

Socialization – The presentation shows that individuals have something unique to offer the world and promotes that being different can be a source of pride. It also shows that skills and abilities are not specific to gender and models that it is hurtful to pick on, dismiss or make fun of those who are different.The four selected stories highlight and demonstrate the importance of meeting commitments to the group, that there are many ways to give and receive help, and examples in which characters show respect for others rights, feelings, and points of view. It also incorporates examples that model skills of negotiating and seeking alternative solutions.

Personal Empowerment  - The selected stories highlight characters demonstrating respect for themselves and other people, making, nurturing, and learning to value friendships, modeling of empathic behaviors such as listening, sharing, comforting, and talking about their feelings and needs.

Talking Points

• Talk about the race that Buddy the Tyrannosaurus Rex has with his Pteranodon siblings.  Buddy has to run but the Pteranodons fly.  Ask the children why the Pteranodons win.  Do they think the Pteranodons will always win? Why or why not? Could Buddy ever win? Why or why not?
• Ask the children if they can think of any other dinosaurs that can fly? What are the children’s favorite dinosaurs? Ask children to describe what their favorite dinosaur  looks like?
• In the story entitled, “Fast Friends” the dinosaurs talk about another very fast dinosaur. A dinosaur that can run very fast. It is called an Ornithomimus. What physical characteristics does this dinosaur have that helps it to run fast? Help the children to remember that the episode highlights that they have small heads, long tails, long legs, and long feet. The Pteranodons joke that if Buddy was an Ornithomimus he would run faster than the Dinosaur Train.  Why do they say this? Do the children think that is a true statement?
• The dinosaurs take the dinosaur train through the time tunnel. Discuss with the children what the time tunnel is used for and ask them why the dinosaur train has to take them back in time..  Where would the children travel if they could travel through a time tunnel? Why did they choose the particular destination or time period?  Older children can talk about the Cretaceous Period and other prehistoric periods such as the Jurassic period – both are periods when Tyrannosaurus Rexes lived.
• Orin and Ollie, the Ornithomimus twins are very fast runners. They often sneak up on Buddy. Ask the children what they would do if they could run very fast.  Where would they go? What else would they do if they could run as fast at Orin and Ollie? Ask the children for examples of other animals that might run as fast as the Ornithomimus. 
• Orin and Ollie are ominivores. Discuss with children the definition of herbivore (Brachiosaurus), carnivore (Tyrannosaurus Rex like Buddy) and omnivores (Ornithomimus). Use specific dinosaur examples for each type of eater.
• Buddy learns about migration (moving or traveling) when he takes the dinosaur train to look for more Tyrannosaurus Rexes. Use the story
• “T. Rex Migration” to  highlight, elaborate and give details about animal migration.  Buddy learns that the Tyrannosaurus Rexes  migrated North when the weather got warm and they needed to follow the quadrupeds  (4 legged animals) that eat the leaves.  Older children will be interested to learn about “directions”,  – North, South, East and West. Use a picture of the earth or the globe to introduce the idea of direction.
• In the story entitled, “The Burrowers” Buddy learns about the Oryctodromeus.  These are dinosaurs that dig holes and live in them.  Talk to the children about what other animals dig holes to live in.. Use examples such as gophers, moles, rabbits, foxes, etc.
• Buddy says he thinks that living in a hole sounds like fun.  Help children understand why some animals live underground.  The Oryctodromeus tells Buddy that the holes are a good place to live because it keeps them safe, gives them a place to sleep (during the day) and a place to keep their babies. The holes are also close together so that they can all work together as a family.
•  Ask the children to remember what makes the Oryctodromeus good diggers -  their long bodies, strong arms, hands, snouts (nose) and tails that helps them to wiggle and burrow.
• Buddy and his siblings model curiosity and willingness to investigate, uncover details about mystery and adventure when they ask questions like. “I want to find out about their holes.” “Who wants to find out?” “Let’s find some clues.” Talk to the children about what it means to investigate or search for clues or details. .
• In the story entitled, “Under the Volcano” Buddy learns about a mountain with smoke, heat and rocks (lava) that comes out of the top of a mountain called a volcano. The dinosaurs each have their own opinion about visiting the volcano. Ask the children what they think about seeing a volcano. Would it be scary or fun? Why or why not?
• Talk about what comes out of the volcano and why?  Discuss the idea of heat combining with rock and the connection to an eruption.  Define eruption for the children and use terms such as when the lava shoots up and out of the top of the mountain. Use “Old Smokey” the volcano from the episode as a way to help the children remember and recall the eruption process.  Buddy thinks that the eruption is “beautiful” and “amazing.” Ask the children what adjectives or descriptive words they would use if they saw a volcano erupt.

Activity Ideas

• Have younger children draw pictures of their favorite scene from the stories.  Help them write a caption under the picture. Post the picture for all to see.  They might want to draw their favorite dinosaur or a picture of a volcano.
• Help children understand and apply the term “hypothesis.”  Discuss the example from “Fast Friends” in which Buddy elaborates on his hypothesis of why the Ornithominus twins run very fast.  Then apply the term while investigating a simple science or nature concept such as “I think frogs are green because…………” or “I think giraffe’s have long necks because…..”
• Encourage children to develop an appreciation of nature.  Plan a special day trip to explore nature together. Help children build a collection of items found in their neighborhood, the local beach, pond, woods or park and organize their collections into displays.   Ask children to talk about what they choose and explain why the chose the item and what makes it special to them.
• Collect illustrations of different types of dinosaurs and compare and contrast their size and scale in relation to one another and in relation to the size and scale of human beings. Talk about the height, size and scale of the mightiest of dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
• Help children create a dinosaur alphabet chart like the one the Dinosaur Train Conductor sang about..  Assist the children in using encyclopedias, the Internet or other reference materials to help cover all the letters A to Z.
• Create and compare two collages to help children understand the concept of a herbivore or carnivore. Use old magazines or newspapers to cut out and glue pictures, words or phrases.  Use crayons, markers or coloring pencils to draw or sketch and creative original pictures, images, or ideas.
• Have a dinosaur picnic!  Consider choosing a herbivore such as a  Brachiosaurus as your imaginary special guest. Help the children prepare and enjoy a special picnic and games while learning about vegetarianism. Be sure to include information or a lesson about the importance for proper hand washing before eating or preparing food.

Book Suggestions:
“How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends” by Jane Yolen (friendship)

“Big Book of Dinosaurs by Angela Wilkes” (dinosaur information)

“First Dinosaur Encyclopedia” by Caroline Bingham (dinosaur information)

“Dinosaur Train” by John Steven Gurney (dinosaur fantasy)

“Buddy’s Work (Dinosaur Train)” (television characters) available 9/2/10