25
Years of Discovery 1985 - 2010
years 1911-2011
drumheller
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ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010 From the archives . . .
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ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010 Message from Peter Lougheed Former Premier of Alberta Congratulations to all of those involved with the Royal Tyrrell Museum on its 25th anniversary. My wife Jeanne and I will be there to help celebrate this very important event. We remember well the splendid opening ceremonies on September 25th, 1985, a bright and sunny Alberta day, with a very large and enthusiastic gathering of citizens, and how proud I was to officially open this wonderful facility.
The Drumheller Mail,
Over the years I have had many citizens comment to me about the improvements and steady progress the museum is making.
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We are looking forward to visiting many old friends in the community as well as those involved in the operations of this world-renowned institution.
Peter Lougheed Former Premier of Alberta Message from MP Crowfoot Constituency Kevin Sorenson As the Member of Parliament for Crowfoot and on behalf of the Government of Canada, I welcome everyone to Drumheller to celebrate with the Royal Tyrrell Museum on their 25th Anniversary. Drumheller has long maintained its reputation as a world-class tourism destination, a reputation enhanced by the Royal Tyrrell Museum. It is an honour to join in paying tribute to Canada’s authority on Palaeontology. We can all be proud of this internationally recognized museum located right here in Drumheller, with its amazing displays and exhibits that highlight our Earth’s history. This museum is an attraction always enjoyed and not to be missed by anyone!
"No dusty dinos i here"
I offer my congratulations to all involved with the Royal Tyrrell Museum and my best wishes for the future.
The last time I was at this museum I was about six years old and I was a bit apprehensive about going back. Would it be worth the drive to go see a bunch of dusty dinosaur skeletons? It absolutely was! Having obviously been busy in the past few years, this museum surprised me. The new interactive displays, located in the front section of the museum, are awesome...I had a hard time tearing myself away from the tetris-like one. One section has fossils mounted behind glass and frames to create a more 'gallery' feel. It is really a great place to go visit and the surrounding scenery is fantastic. - Kelsey (Calgary)
Congratulations to the Royal Tyrrell Museum on their 25th Anniversary! It is an honour to join in paying tribute to Canada’s authority on Palaeontology. We can all be proud of this internationally recognized museum, located right here in Drumheller! I offer my congratulations and best wishes for the future.
Kevin Sorenson M.P. Crowfoot
Crowfoot Constituency Office 4945 - 50 St, Camrose, T4V 1P9 Phone: 1-800-665-4358 Fax: 780-608-4603 Email: sorenk1@parl.gc.ca
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ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010 Message from the Honourable Lindsay Blackett Minister of Culture and Community Spirit On behalf of the Government of Alberta, and as the Minister responsible for one of Alberta’s foremost cultural and tourist attractions, it is my honour and pleasure to wish the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology a happy 25th anniversary. In congratulating the Museum I am, of course, congratulating the visionaries who first proposed it then saw it through to completion; the Museum staff who bring the past to life every day; the many supporters, friends and benefactors whose contributions have been invaluable; the community of Drumheller, which has embraced the facility and its millions of visitors in the last quarter century; and finally the people of Alberta, who have made the Royal Tyrrell Museum their own. From its inception, the Museum has had the study of palaeontology at its core – and excellence as its goal. Today this is still true in spades. The Royal Tyrrell Museum celebrates, studies and proudly displays the evidence of our world’s biodiversity through curated exhibits, imaginative public programs and a virtual classroom open to the world.
Message from Bryce Nimmo Mayor of Drumheller It gives me great pleasure to provide this congratulatory message to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology for 25 years of successful operations. Drumheller is very proud of the facility and appreciative of the visitors it attracts from all parts of the world. Thanks to the Museum, Drumheller is an internationally recognized name that generally conjures images of badlands and dinosaurs and as such is ranked by the Province as one of the top three visitor attractions in Alberta. Thank you, Royal Tyrrell Museum, that Drumheller continues to thrive in the area of tourism.
Bryce Nimmo Mayor
It is hard to believe that the Museum has been here for 25 years–young and vibrant though it is. At the same time, it is impossible to imagine Alberta without this world-class treasure.
years
Happy 25th Royal Tyrrell, and many happy returns.
1911-2011
published Wednesdays
Lindsay Blackett Minister of Culture and Community Spirit MLA, Calgary-North West
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Thank you for being a HUGE community supporter. Congratulations on 25 years! Mayor Bryce Nimmo and Council
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ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010 Message from Andrew Neuman Executive Director, Royal Tyrrell Museum A Celebration of Life It was 25 years ago that I, along with thousands of others, watched as former Premier Peter Lougheed oďŹƒcially opened the doors of the Royal Tyrrell Museum. As I sat atop the hill just across from the Museum’s front entrance, I had no idea that one day I would work with this amazing group of people as we became an integral part of Alberta’s story.
Message from Jim Ramsbottom Chairman, Royal Tyrrell Museum Cooperating Society Even before ground broke on the construction of the Tyrrell Museum the Drumheller community was actively involved in its formation. In 1979, a group of three local men, Bill Doyle, Bill Doucette, and Ossie Sheddy Sr., met with then Premier Lougheed to discuss having a dinosaur museum built in Drumheller. They had no idea just how warmly their idea would be received, especially by former Assistant Deputy Minister of Culture, Dr. Bill Byrne. The proposed $5 million project quickly grew almost eight times in scope—and in its ďŹ rst quarter century of operations, attracted 10 million visitors from around the world.
One year after the Museum opened I was hired as collections manager, and 21 years later found my way to the oďŹƒce of Executive Director. During the course of my time here, I’ve come to realize that an organiza- That initial project pitch was only the betion’s strength is its resources - in our case, ginning. Drumheller’s commitment to this world-class facility has proven boundless. both scientiďŹ c and human. When Dr. David Baird, our founding director, conceived the plans for the Museum he gave us the theme “A Celebration of Lifeâ€?; he maintained that fossils are not dead things but rather beautiful evidence of the fascinating diversity of life on Earth. For 25 years the Royal Tyrrell Museum has remained committed to this theme, and to telling Alberta’s story with scholarship, and creativity, through access to one of the most impressive natural history collections in the world. We have built up quite a community here at the Museum, both within our facility and surrounding it. It is my sense that this level of support might not have been possible had the Museum been built anywhere but Drumheller, a town where people share an intrepid spirit. All that we have achieved is because of our capable sta, dedicated volunteers, and the unwavering support we receive from local residents and organizations.
In the early 1980s, a Ministerial appointed Advisory Board was established to support the building of the Museum (a Board I was thrilled to serve on). Once the facility was operational, the Friends of the Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology was established—a group charged with supporting the educational, scientiďŹ c and public operations of the Museum. The desire to be part of something amazing and the opportunity to share this beautiful valley with the world ensured there was never a shortage of dedicated supporters giving generously of their time and abilities. When the Royal Tyrrell Museum Cooperating Society was formed in 1993, our role was to advocate on behalf of the Museum through membership programs and fund development. Today, our main focus continues to be Museum enhancement, which includes funding scientiďŹ c research, educational programs, special events, and major projects. However, we also strive to ensure that the Museum is the best corporate citizen it can be. Through donations to local charities, and the administration of endowment funds, the Society ensures the Museum has an active role in improving the quality of life for the entire surrounding community.
So as we reect on past accomplishments let us also look forward to all that is ahead; We are very proud of the role we’ve played in the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s ďŹ rst 25 years and we many more years of discovery, excellence and strength in community. Together we are look forward to everything that lies ahead. sure to ďŹ nd many new and innovative ways to continue to share Alberta’s exceptional Thank you for being with us, as we celebrate our shared successes. stories with our visitors and celebrate our collaborative successes. Andrew Neuman Executive Director, Royal Tyrrell Museum
Jim Ramsbottom, Chairman, Royal Tyrrell Museum Cooperating Society
Congratulations to Royal Tyrrell Museum for achieving 25 years of excellence!
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ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010
"Let my imagination run riot," Baird recalls museum's origin Patrick Kolafa | inSide Drumheller
“Nothing but a few cactuses, sage brush and boulders.” Close to 30 years ago, Dr. David Baird hiked up to the top of the hill east of where the Royal Tyrrell Museum now sits. This same hill now has a wooden staircase and a viewing platform. Thousands climb that same hill every year to discover the badlands. For Dr. Baird: “Nothing but a few cactuses, sage brush and boulders." Before this, Dr. Baird was simply given a vision. He believed it was Dr. Bill Byrne, who was then assistant Deputy Minister of Culture, who called him up with this vision. “A voice from Edmonton said ‘We would like some help in finding someone to come and build us, the Government of Alberta, a world class museum to be a tourist attraction for Southern Alberta. It is to be based on the fossil collection and fossil wonders to be found in the valley of the Red Deer River at Drumheller.’” Dr. Baird had already accomplished more than most would in a lifetime, a career as an academic, with dozens of published works. He was also founding Director of the National Museum of Science and Technology. At first, he was apprehensive. The voice from Edmonton laid out its expectations. It told him the government already had $30 million set aside for the project, it had a site picked out, and they would leave him alone to lead the project. “I said 'Better come and have a look,'” he chuckles. “On January 2, 1982, I landed in Drumheller to stay five years. It was the happiest five years I ever spent in my whole 70 years of professional experience,” said Baird, who is now 90. “I was doing something where I could let my imagination run riot.” The fact that he was given a free hand to create the museum was also a blessing for Baird. “For example, within two weeks I realized the terms of reference, ‘to build a world class museum dedicated to the fossil heritage of Alberta’ was not really good enough. I wanted a broader title. So I asked him (Byrne) to go back to the government to change it to read ‘A celebration of three thousand million years on earth, with special but not exclusive reference to Alberta.’ … It means the whole beautiful life on Earth from three thousand million years ago, all the way to the present time, and furthermore I could put mankind at the end of the story, where he actually belongs in the story, and wonder about his future. Within two weeks he came back and the government said yes; I was just on seventh heaven, and I wrote the story of what I thought the museum should be.”
His relationship with the architect was just as comfortable as with the government. He met up with chief architect Doug Craig and gave him a list of 27 architectural requirements of the facility. He then left Craig to design the building. He still has this list. While many of these requirements were simple, they had purpose, and still shape the museum today. One of the requirements was that the building harmonizes with the look of the badlands so it is part of a landscape. Another is routing the driveway to go past the front of the building, simply so people could easily locate the entrance. Another was having space for visitors’ eyes to adjust to entering a building.
“I said the sunlight on the bald old prairie in Drumheller is pretty bright, inside a museum the lighting is controlled. So you are going to step from the bright sunlight into the dark museum,” he said. “Instead of spending your first 20 minutes with your eyes adjusting to the gloom of the museum, I would like 20 or 30 feet of gradually reducing light - increasing darkness to the front door. “He came up with a brilliant solution. It is his, it is Craig’s,” said Baird. Another vision of the museum Baird carried was that the museum be known for having a dramatic view, and he began imagining the great dinosaur hall. His vision came to fruition and he remembers introducing it to the Premier of Alberta on opening night. “I took the whole party into the darkened museum, up the winding stairs to the balcony that overlooks Dinosaur Hall, which was in total darkness. And I said, ‘And now Mister Premier, you wanted me to give you a world class museum, I want to present to you one of the greatest museum views in the world.’ I pushed the button and somewhere downstairs a bell
rang, and a guy threw a couple knife switches and on came the lights. Well, it was the most incredible silence you ever heard.” There were skeptics at the beginning. He recalls there being curiosity about the project in Calgary, and he recalls being invited to a group to give an after-dinner talk on the museum. He recalls telling the audience he was forecasting 400,000 visitors a year. “I was almost laughed out of court. They were polite, but they didn’t believe it for a second,” he said. He is vindicated that in the 25th year, the museum welcomed its 10 millionth visitor. Along with the building of the museum came filling it with interesting exhibits and specimens. He said while there had been fossil collecting for years in Alberta, rather than relying on what they had, he wanted fossils to fit into the narrative. He also insisted on high quality work. Specimens came from all over; some were unearthed, others came from the provincial museum, the Geological Survey of Alberta and some from private collections and even people’s basements. A group of scientists, designers, technicians, artisans and craftsmen toiled away building the exhibits. Like he worked with the architects, he had the same working relationship as he did with the designers. He laid out what was required, and he let them do their job. “It was a busy four or five years, but it was wonderful, we were building a world class museum, we had lots of money and an enthusiastic government,” he said, adding it was not uncommon for politicians and bureaucrats who were “passing through” to come and assess the progress. He fondly remembers many of the people he worked with and is pleased that some are still with the museum, including Dr. Don Brinkman and Dr. Dennis Braman. He also has fond memories of working side by side with Dr. Bruce Naylor, who became the director of the Tyrrell in 1992. “He was a good friend and a much admired person in my view, and he has done a superb job,” said Baird. He also has bouquets for the modern staff at the museum. When he parted ways with the museum, his advice was to keep the exhibits fresh, and the museum’s success proved they have worked hard to continue a tradition of excellence. He has nothing but good memories of his time in Drumheller. “I was a director of a geological survey, I was chair of two or three university departments of geology, and lived all over Canada, all the way from St. John’s Newfoundland to Drumheller, but the most interesting and productive five years was right there in Drumheller,” he said. “If you think I am proud, you are right.”
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ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010
Currie divulges birth and future of Royal Tyrrell Kyle Smylie | inSide Drumheller
Twenty years ago work began on establishing the Royal Tyrrell Museum in a globally unknown town in the Alberta Badlands called Drumheller. Although attracting 180,000 tourists annually, criticism was strong about whether a museum of such scale and calibre would survive, said the Tyrrell’s former curator of dinosaurs and a founding labourer, Philip J. Currie. “There were a lot of people who thought there was no way it would work,” said Currie, who is now a professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. “They thought Drumheller was too small, that we’d never keep the staff there after they’d lived in Edmonton. “But here we are 25 years later.” Initially, work on the Tyrrell’s displays began five years before it opened, 1980, when staff from the Provincial Museum of
Palaeontologist Philip J. Currie was the curator of dinosaurs when work began on the Royal Tyrrell Museum in 1980. Now the University of Alberta professor tells inSide Drumheller about the birth and life of the world class facility situated in the Alberta badlands. photo submitted
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Alberta (now the Royal Alberta Museum), began work in the industrial park of south Drumheller. It was a tight squeeze, Currie said, with 32 technicians preparing dinosaurs in what was thought to be an impossible deadline. “It was hard to go from almost nothing to a major program instantly, we did what was pretty much an impossible job in those five years.” But the staff beat the unthinkable deadline to create without question the biggest palaeontologic museum in Canada, and among the best in the world. Upon opening, staff were still painting walls and wiring lights as the first visitors walked through the doors to what would become one of the biggest tourist attractions for Alberta. Right from day one, cars were parked as far as the railroad tracks nearly a kilometre away. “It had really strained the resources of the town, but we pulled it off successfully. It showed that the Tyrrell could be done in Drumheller, and it greatly increased our reputation,” Currie reminisced. The Tyrrell, then not yet honoured with the ‘Royal’ designation, hosted international conferences to stir buzz among scientists throughout the world and to build an identity. When it opened, it had close to the same amount of specimens it does now, but few were original casts found in the Red Deer River valley due to the short time-line given to the dedicated staff. Many were made elsewhere and contracted to the Tyrrell. Before opening, Drumheller had a reputation that saw close to 200,000 tourists pass through every year. “It was a place waiting for a museum to open, even if we continued to see 180,000 people through, it would have survived. Now we have doubled and even almost tripled that.” At history museums in New York, England, Argentina, and Ottawa, visitors would see Alberta dinosaurs on display, Currie said. “If your a kid, you notice this and beg your parents to bring you there.” Now it is one of the premier institutions in North America, and there is no question if you look at the visiting staff and listen to palaeontologists, it’s one of the leading museums, Currie said. “The Tyrrell doesn’t yet compete with the Museum of Natural History in New York,” Currie pointed out, “but they’ve had 100 years on us and a bigger population to lean on.
“Nonetheless, the visitor numbers per capita were, and are, staggering.” Currie said the mandate of the museum has changed somewhat since 1985. The original proposal for the Tyrrell listed tourism sixth or seventh on the list of reasons to open. They had no idea it would be such a massive tourist attraction. Other things in the original mandate that were once priority are not gone, but just shifted to the bottom, with tourism ranking near the top, Currie said. “And I can only see that its responsibilities will grow in the future. As long as the museum changes displays and keeps collecting specimens of interest around the world, it will always be one of the major museums in Canada.” Currie sees expansion in the Tyrrell’s future. There’s no doubt in his mind that the staff are feeling the squeeze, and that museum expansion is undoubtedly in the future. “Things could be better - not that bigger is better, but a place that has quality and quantity. Both.” The Red Deer River is the 'River of Time', it gives the world a glimpse of life at the very end of the Cretatious period. It features “exquisitely” preserved specimens and incredible diversity. “The badlands is one of the most spectacular outdoor classrooms in the world as far as palaeontologists are concerned. There’s no doubt that it’s totally unique.” Currie still spends time in the prep labs of the Tyrrell, a museum that he helped birth. He wishes that Drumheller will continue to be proud of what was given to the residents in 1985. “The fact of the matter is that when you have something in your own backyard, you tend to ignore and feel it’s not all that special. But it is a very special place.” “If you travel a lot and see what other museums do, you find that the Royal Tyrrell Museum is a truly unique facility and really is world class in just about every way.”
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ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010
Richard Marz, MLA
Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Constituency (403) 556-3132 http://marz.mypcmla.ca/ oldsdidsbury.threehills@assembly.ab.ca Follow on Facebook
This provincially operated facility has gained international recognition as both an outstanding research facility and one of Alberta’s primary tourist attractions by welcoming hundreds of thousands of people to this valley every year.
25th Anniversary It has been an incredible 25 years. The Museum has much to be proud of. Congratulations to all who dreamed of this project, who made it happen, and who have supported and nurtured its success.
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ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010
Celebration exhibit offers glimpse into museum and world’s living history Patrick Kolafa | inSide Drumheller
Already in the year of the 25th anniversary of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, thousands have taken in the spectacle of Alberta Unearthed: 25 Years of Discovery. The celebration exhibit showcases 25 of the most significant specimens of the Royal Tyrrell Museum and the stories behind them. It has been an exciting year for Dr. Don Brinkman, who has a long history with the museum. He and Dr. Don Henderson were the scientific leads for the exhibition. He is elated by how well the exhibited has been received by visitors. He is also satisfied to see many of the actual specimens on display. “It is one thing to have them in the collection, but another to have them exhibited,” he said. A trip through the exhibit is more than a chance to see some rare and significant finds, but it is also in many ways, chapters in the history of the museum. Each specimen has a story behind it, and each is accompanied by a write up of its background. Brinkman says at first they were worried there would be too much writing in the exhibit, or the stories would be overlooked by the astonishing collection. “It’s proved to be wildly successful. People are stopping and reading, which is great,” he said. “In this case it is designed to have the human connection.” Brinkman himself has a connection to many of the exhibits. He fondly remembers what is titled the 'Colossal Block'. When the time came to harvest the Gorgosaurus in a dramatic death pose from Dinosaur Provincial Park, to preserve the specimen intact, they brought with it 10 tons of stone. Even today, he has a twinkle in his eye explaining how well the death pose was preserved. He also marvels at 'The Granddaddy of Them All', the skull of a horned d i n o s au r t a k e n f r o m Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park. O l d e r than any oth-
er Triceratops known, it was determined to be a new genus. Scientifically speaking, he says the exhibit called 'Bird Brain', a Troodon braincase, may be the most significant. In examining the braincase of this relatively small and far ranging dinosaur, Currie began to gather more evidence of the relationship between birds and dinosaurs. Shortly thereafter, feathered dinosaurs were discovered in China, and most now believe birds descended from dinosaurs. The one specimen that dramatically stands out above the rest is 'Black Beauty'. While one of the smallest adult T-rex discovered, the menacing figure hulks over the gallery. Found in the Crowsnest Pass about 30 years ago, it has been around the world, and casts of it appear in a number of museums. Not many dinosaurs have the cache of a T-rex and few specimens are as complete as 'Black Beauty'. Brinkman says while the exhibit was completed in time for the 25th anniversary of the Tyrrell, he says it will remain at the museum for at least another year for visitors to enjoy. He hopes those who make the trek see more than some interesting specimens, but leave with a sense of their own place in history, time and diversity, and awareness of how ecologically interconnected the world is.
Dr. Don Brinkman is pleased with the public’s reception of Alberta Unearthed: 25 Years of Discovery.
Black Beauty
In a sample slab of rock is evidence of the end of the era of the dinosaur. The K/T boundary slab displays a point in history where the Earth’s environment changed. Above this slim layer, no dinosaurs have ever been discovered.
Congratulations to The Royal Tyrrell Museum on 25 years of unraveling the mysteries of the past. May the past continue to unravel for years to come. Honourable Jack Hayden Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development MLA - Drumheller-Stettler
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ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010
Exhibit features another side of Tyrrell Patrick Kolafa | inSide Drumheller
While the Royal Tyrrell Museum is celebrating its first 25 years featuring their 25 most exciting discoveries, Fred
Orosz has created a display featuring some of the human history of the museum. Orosz began with the museum in 1983, before it opened its doors. He was contracted
Fred Orosz has put together a display featuring some of the history of the Royal Tyrrell Museum over the last 25 years, from educational exhibits
for six months, and remained at the museum until he retired in 2006. Along the way he has amassed a collection of hundreds of artifacts and keepsakes from the museum, from
to newspaper clippings and artifacts. They are currently on display at Drumheller Freson IGA. inSide photo by Patrick Kolafa
its opening day to the modern years. He has assembled them into a collection he calls 25 Years of the Tyrrell Museum Education and Fun. “I wanted to show another part of the museum,” said Orosz, with his collection that reflects more of the human history of the museum. Orosz’s first contract with the Museum was the creation of the exhibits in the Science Hall. These were hands on exhibits that demonstrated scientific principles. He and others toiled away at the former Co-op building, now Reptile World in downtown Drumheller, building the exhibits in anticipation of the opening of the museum. These stayed in the museum for years and thousands and of youngsters have pulled, pushed and squeezed the exhibits, and more importantly, learned. “The kids enjoyed these; they were demonstrations of science, rather than just looking and reading,” said Orosz. These former exhibits are featured prominently in Oro-
sz’s display. They include the famous swimming squid, the falling bell demonstrating buoyancy, a sorting and settling demonstration and an exhibit demonstrating light refraction. There is also an extensive collection of newspaper clippings. Everything from opening day to The Great Dinosaur Adventure Expo, in 1990 in Japan, in which a number of Tyrrell Museum personnel took part. All of these feature faces from the community past and present who were involved in the museum. There is also a collection of promotional items, historic T-shirts, uniforms and even a Tyrrell Terrasaurs slo-pitch team uniform. Other items that may look familiar include the original benches from the gallery, and even a display case that Orosz built for his display was constructed from some of the original ash handrails. Orosz’s exhibition is on display at Drumheller Freson IGA.
Royal Tyrrell Museum salutes Alberta Arts Days with something for everyone Patrick Kolafa | inSide Drumheller
From fossil casting to mask making, join the Royal Tyrrell Museum for an amazing celebration of Alberta Arts Days, September 17-19. Try your hand at palaeo-art and take home your very own fossil cast or dinosaur mask. Take a free photography workshop from the museum’s resident photographer. Take a guided tour of the Badlands or have a seat in the auditorium for Alberta Unearthed: The Game. Admission to the Royal Tyrrell Museum is free for all visitors during Alberta Arts Days, September 17, 18 and 19. Fees will be charged for select programs as indicated below. Alberta Arts Days programs run each day, September 17-19. • 11:00 a.m. & 3:00 p.m. - Seven Wonders of the Badlands Guided Hike (60 min., $5 per person, $18 family) • 11:30 a.m. & 3:30 p.m. - Fossil Casting (45 min., $7 per person, $24 family) • 11:30 a.m. & 4:00 p.m. - Passion for the Past video (25 min., free)
25 years old and still obsessed with dinosaurs… Some people never grow up. Congratulations.
• 1:00 p.m. - Dinosite (90 min., $8 per person, $28 family) • 1:30 p.m. - Alberta Unearthed: The Game (30 min., free) Saturday, September 18 only • 1:00 a.m. & 2:00 p.m. - Digital Photography Workshop (60 min., free) Sunday, September 19 only • 11:00 a.m. & 2:00 p.m. - Dino Mask Making (60 min., free) Alberta Arts Days, September 17-19, are an annual celebration of our culture, heritage, artistic diversity and provincial pride. This province-wide initiative is helping to achieve the goals of our cultural policy. The Spirit of Alberta is part of National Culture Days, a pan-Canadian movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of all Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities. For more information or to access a listing of other Arts Days events taking place across the province visit www.AlbertaArtsDays.ca.
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ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010
ATCO Learning Centre gets kids hands-on
ATCO Learning Centre Science Educator Jennifer Dick digs for fossils in one of four classrooms in the educational centre. The learning centre was built in
2003 with support from ATCO Ltd., and continues to be a kid favourite of the thousands of classes who have visited the museum. inSide photo by Kyle Smylie
Kyle Smylie | inSide Drumheller
Walking the gallery of the Royal Tyrrell Museum does much for the imagination, but at the end of a tour one may find themself eager to get dirty and hands-on like the palaeontologists who discovered the fossils dotting Alberta.
The ATCO Learning Centre opened in 2003 and has been offering school classes indepth immersion unlike most other museums. “Out in the gallery you can only do so much as far as hands-on goes,” says Tyrrell science educator Jennifer
Dick, who’s been with the museum for three years. “It offers us the opportunity to get the kids to hold and touch and connect with palaeontology.” Schools bring students in to do a number of activities in the centre’s four classrooms,
from digging up ancient turtle fossils using the same dentist’s pick and toothbrush a palaeontologist would use, learning how to identify past life using a state-of-the-art SMART Board, to even camping in the halls of the famed museum for a night with their friends. “I think it draws a lot of people into the museum who wouldn't necessarily come in,” Dick said. “I know education has been a big part of the Tyrrell since it started, but before, we didn’t have the facilities to offer these kinds of opportunities.” ATCO was keen to support an Alberta-based effort. “The Tyrrell Museum and learning centre fit perfectly with ATCO’s philosophy of improving the life of the communities we serve,” said Siegfried Kiefer, Managing Director of Utilities at ATCO Ltd. “It’s one of those sights you just have to see, I know whenever I have relatives come visit me it’s a for sure item on our agenda for at least a day.” ATCO, an Alberta-based corporation in the business of power generation, utilities, and global enterprises decided to sponsor the learning centre earlier this decade.
“The Tyrrell approached us with an idea for a learning centre, it struck a chord with us and we jumped on board,” said Kiefer. The centre won numerous awards in 2009. The Distance Learning Program won a Canadian Museums Association Outstanding Achievement in Education Award; the webbased version of Cretaceous Crime Scene won an American Association of Museums Honorable Mention; and the Distance Learning Promotional Video won an American Association of Museums Bronze Award. Programs at the Tyrrell run every week, and in 2009 eleven different programs were each offered over 1500 times, to approximately 37,000 visitors from 41 countries. Over 20,000 students have been through the learning centre, being educated on the “wonders of our history,” said Kiefer. But all these awards and statistics about the success of the ATCO Learning Centre is not what it’s about. “The kids just love it here, for the most part they all want to be here.”
12 - Friday, September 17, 2010
Supplement to inSide | Drumheller - inSideDrumheller.com
ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM • 25 YEARS OF DISCOVERY 1985 - 2010
High school palaeontology course gives students chance to engage in valley history Kyle Smylie | inSide Drumheller
In a town like Drumheller, you’d think that a palaeontology course would be one of the first option courses to be added to the high school curriculum.
students in the valley. “Word has spread, and it’s well received,” said Rasmussen about the program, which was introduced in 2006. “The interest has surprised me every year, and I would like to think that everyone
The Palaeontology 15 class developed by Drumheller Composite High School sciences teacher Jason Rasmussen was a joint effort with the Royal Tyrrell Museum, complementing the dinosaurs and past Earth Drumheller is exposed to constantly. inSide photo by Kyle Smylie
But it took decades before Drumheller Composite High School sciences teacher Jason Rasmussen was asked to put together Palaeontology 15, DCHS’ first venture into dinosaur-based education for
who’s taking it is out of pure and genuine intrigue about palaeontology.” Each year the Paleo 15 class has a full class of students ready to study the life of the planet, the rise and fall of the
ancient monsters the people of the valley know all too well. Rasmussen, the high school’s biology and science teacher, has always been interested in palaeontology, and when the Golden Hills School Division asked him to spend a summer prepping the course, he was all for it. The Royal Tyrrell Museum worked closely with him over the summer, helping develop the initial course outline. “The Tyrrell has been excellent in regards to offering workshops.” He had the honour of spending a summer “putting the flesh and bones” onto the course that went on to receive several awards for the program, and the interest is not only within Drumheller. “The palaeontology word has spread, and has been very well received in schools within and without the division,” Rasmussen said. He often teaches to other schools through video conferencing programs. “Outside of Drumheller, these interests are represented by the warm reception it’s received.” Designing the course has given Rasmussen the background and comfort to engage
the students with the same passion he’s found for the Earth’s past. “When you say paleontology, it is wrongfully synonymous with dinosaurs. It’s the study of past life.” With the overlap between the existing biology courses and palaeontology, Rasmussen said it’s one of the ideas that the educators at the museum and DCHS shared. It was intended to be a Grade 10 introductory course, and acts as a gateway to the other high school sciences. The principles taught in Paleo 15 tie in directly with the Bio 20, Chem 20, or the Science 10 curriculum. “When you start talking about radiometric dating of carbon-14, there is an obvious tie in to chemistry. “There are a lot of scientific doors opened through the paleontologic medium." For now, Paleo 15 has been approved as a continuing course to be offered at the school, and it fills the classroom to the maximum limit every semester. “Paleo 15 is alive and strong.” Palaeontology 25 had been developed, not by Rasmussen,
and offered once, and it can be offered again if the resources are available. The thought is to eventually develop a Palaeontology 35 course which could allow students to earn credits at post-secondary institutions, but for now Paleo 15 is satisfying both the teachers' and students' needs. “I don’t understand how someone wouldn’t be intrigued about the mass extinction at the end of the Permian period... If that doesn’t get you thinking about what and how the creatures survived, that’s alien to me. These things should be universal.” Palaeontology is a natural choice for DCHS, and other area schools, to offer their students. Every person living in Drumheller is directly or indirectly exposed to paleontology in their day-to-day lives, whether it be the cheekily coloured dinosaurs that dot the roadways or the legion of tourists climbing the mouth of the dinosaur who constantly watches over the Red Deer River valley, the people here live it.