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Today marks the official opening of Longmont Museum's Dinosaur Discoveries: Ancient Fossils, New Ideas exhibit.
The engaging exhibit, which Longmont Observer was able to experience in a media-only preview ahead of the official opening, reveals what dinosaurs were like and how the thinking about dinosaur biology has changed over the past two decades.
When asked what made this exhibit unique, Joan Harrold, marketing and development manager for Longmont Museum, told the Longmont Observer that “we wanted to make it more local…more relevant to the people who live here.”
The exhibit features local finds such as a Tyrannosaurus Rex bones found in Jefferson County, Colorado, dinosaur tracks found in Bent County, Colorado, and a K-T boundary soil sample found in Trinidad, Colorado. A T-Rex tooth, which is also on display, was flown on a test flight on NASA's Orion space capsule in 2014.
While there is plenty for adults to enjoy, the Longmont Museum has also made sure there is plenty for families with kids to experience and engage with the exhibits. Some of these fun exhibits include a dinosaur track maker with kinetic sand, and a dinosaur digging pit. The digging pit allows kids to pretend to be archaeologists by "digging and finding" dinosaurs buried under small pieces of rubber cut from the same material found in track and field tracks. It is a clever idea that shows the attention to detail the Longmont Museum has gone into to provide kid-friendly exhibits.
The exhibit will be on display until January 14, 2018. There will also be a free family day on Saturday, June 10, 2017 from 1:30-4:30pm
