The Dino Pit will instruct visitors about the field of paleontology through hands-on educational experience. The main component will be a multi-leveled sand pit area called Dig and Discover which will contain over 15 reproductions of actual specimens found in Texas by scientists and students at the Texas Memorial Museum of Science and History. Other features of the Dino Pit will include dinosaur trackways, a field collection display highlighting fossil finds from the 301 Congress Avenue construction site, a field lab, and an observation deck. The Dino Pit project is being developed and built through a collaborative effort of the Austin Nature and Science Center, the Texas Memorial Museum of Science and History, and the Austin Community Foundation. The Texas Memorial Museum of Science and History is providing cement castings of the Museum s fossils and serving as the scientific resource for accurate and contemporary information upon which interpretive materials and signage will be built.
Children get the chance to learn about science hands-on, and that is very exciting.
Our community will benefit from this exhibit on so many levels. It s wonderful to see the City of Austin and the University of Texas in partnership on this. The vision of supporters like Sarah and Ernest Butler will result in an outstanding and unique gift to the people of Central Texas. The Dino Pit will be incorporated into the many visitor programs offered by the Austin Nature and Science Center, and will be made available for use in youth programs, school field trips, camps, birthday parties, adult workshops, and teacher training. This, as well as all other displays at the Austin Nature and Science Center, will be free to the public.