Project Prosauropod: Discover a Dinosaur with us.

Parrsboro, Nova Scotia

Current Lab Update

Making a Plaster Cast

Fibreglass is cut into strips to help form a plaster cast around a fragile section of sandstone.
Wet paper towel is placed around the sandstone first to make the plaster easy to remove if needed.
The strips are cut to fit, then smoothed over and left to dry.

Rib Bone

Dorsal Vertebra

Broken pieces of bone are set aside to be re-attached when more sandstone has been cleared off of the original piece (above).
The technician continues to work on the dorsal vertebra. The handpick must be used very carefully at this point. Ethanol is also used in small amounts to dissolve pieces of gypsum which interfere with removal of the sandstone around the bone (above right).
The spinal canal has now been cleared all of the way through. Sandstone is left around the bone to provide support as the bones are very weak (below right).

Keeping Track of the Specimens

A specimen number is used to keep track of each fossil in the Museum.
Rice paper is acid-free, therefore it is perfect to record the specimen number on, because it won't damage the fossils.
In small fine print the number is written on the paper, then cut out, glue is used to attach the paper to the specimen.

Questions and Answers	Schools
Email your questions to DinoProj@gov.ns.ca When submitting a question please provide your name, age, and school name (if you are a student). Check the Q&A Archive to see the answers to previous questions.	Is your school watching us? We are trying to reach as many students, from as many different schools as possible. Whether you are in elementary, public, private, high school or university, we want to hear from you! Please send us an email with your school name and city, and we will include your school in the list of schools that are following our progress.