About 20 kids got together for the third and final virtual tour of the Royal Tyrrell Museum at the Stettler Public Library on Friday, July 29.
The all-ages event used the wonders of modern technology to learn about dinosaurs at North America’s premier dinosaur museum as a curator brought the kids through displays using teleconferencing.
The technological tour came at just the right price for the library, which was able to offer three different virtual tours, with the first two being for specific age groups. The medium in which the tour was conducted allowed for digital displays demonstrating different processes and changes, such as how white dinosaur bones turned black, in a way that wouldn’t be possible in a live museum demonstration.
“The goal is to introduce the museum in a different way,” summer programming student Abby Spencer explained. “It allows people who’ve never been to the museum to go there, virtually, as well as for those who’ve seen it to see it in a different way. It allows the curators to show us behind-the-scenes moments as well.”
Mary Zazelenchuk, library manager, called it a great resource, adding that this is the first time the library’s taken the virtual tour. Given the great response, she said she wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up being on offer again in the future.
“All kids love dinosaurs,” she added with a laugh.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology was founded in 1985 to house Alberta’s generous supply of paleontological fossils, and has expanded in the past 30 years to include fossils and skeletons from all over North America and the world. The collection includes more than 130,000 fossils.
The museum’s home near Drumheller places is within a short drive from Stettler, and in the middle of the late cretaceous horseshoe canyon formation. The formation holds many specimens from the Alberta badlands, according to the museum.
Named after Joseph Burr Tyrrell, a geologist who, while looking for coal seams in the Red Deer River Valley, found dinosaur fossils, the museum earned its “Royal” title five years after opening.
While the 4,400 square metre facility sees more than 400,000 visitors a year, with its virtual tours and distance education programs, the museum is able to reach classrooms and organizations across Canada and the United States.