Long-extinct creatures come to life in a lush environment that mixes a little imagination and a whole lot of science.

The Scoop: Mary Schweitzer spends the
first half of the semester discussing
dinosaur lifestyles and how they relate to
larger topics such as plate tectonics, rock
records and paleoclimatology.

In the second half, Daniel Kspeka discusses dinosaur diversity and patterns of evolution and extinction. Both relate their discussions to recent dinosaur findings and portrayals of dinosaurs in the media.

Extra Credit: Because this class is taught in the fall and dinosaurs are ancestors of today's birds, students have the opportunity to dissect their Thanksgiving turkey for extra credit.

They must have a photo of them dissecting their turkey, pick a part of the turkey that represents a dinosaur, explain which dinosaur it is and write a short explanation. For example, the wishbone of a turkey is a feature found in the Tyrannosaurus Rex.