The Case of the Terrible T. Rex (11 page)
9.
Carefully remove the fossil and put it on display in your private museum collection!
DIG THIS!
Are you itching to be the next India Wood? Whether you’re after an
Allosaurus
or a trilobite, here is some information on clubs, organizations, museums, and summer digs to get you started. Dig it?
CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Paleontological Society:
www.paleosoc.org
Western Interior Paleontological Society:
www.wipsppc.com
Paleontological Societies and Clubs:
www.paleo.cc/kpaleo/paleorgs.htm
Ozark Earth Science Gem,
Mineral & Fossil Club, Arkansas:
www.ozarkearthscience.org
Florida Fossil Hunters:
www.floridafossilhunters.com/Kids.htm
Delaware Valley Paleontological Society,
Pennsylvania:
dvps.essentrix.net
SUMMER DIGS AND PROGRAMS
Wyoming Dinosaur Center & Dig Sites:
www.wyodino.org
Dinosaur State Park, Connecticut:
www.dinosaurstatepark.org
Paleo Park, Wyoming:
www.paleopark.com
Judith River Dinosaur Institute, Montana:
www.montanadinosaurdigs.com
(minimum age:14)
Museum of Western Colorado:
www.dinodigs.org
PaleoWorld Research Foundation, Montana:
www.paleoworld.org
MUSEUMS
American Museum of Natural History, New York:
www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/fossilhalls
Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Colorado:
www.dmns.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/prehistoric-journey
Paleontolgical Education Preserve, Florida:
www.paleopreserve.org
A
bout 170 years ago, no one knew how to transmit voices (or music) over the radio. (Heck, no one even knew that radio waves
existed.
) It was impossible to communicate quickly with someone who lived thousands of miles away. (Remember—no e-mail, no faxes, no text messaging, no telephones … egads!) Fortunately, a man named Samuel Morse (1791–1872) developed a code, called
Morse code
, which enabled people to communicate quickly over long distances. This communication system was called the
telegraph
.
| MORSE CODE | |
| A .– | S … |
| B –… | T – |
| C –.–. | U ..– |
| D –.. | V …– |
| E . | W .– – |
| F ..–. | X –..– |
| G – –. | Y –.– – |
| H .… | Z – –.. |
| I .. | 1 .– – – – |
| J .– – – | 2 ..– – – |
| K –.– | 3 …– – |
| L .–.. | 4 ….– |
| M – – | 5 ….. |
| N –. | 6 – …. |
| O – – – | 7 – – … |
| P .– –. | 8 – – –.. |
| Q – –.– | 9 – – – –. |
| R .–. | 0 – – – – – |
Morse code doesn’t require the human voice or even a piece of paper. Instead, it uses a pattern of short and long beeps called
dots
and
dashes
. Each letter is assigned its own pattern of dots and dashes. For instance, the letter K is composed of a dash, a dot, and a dash. It is written as follows: –.–, and it sounds like “beeeep, beep, beeeep.” A trained listener would know that he or she was hearing the letter K.
When Nell sent Drake a secret message, she wrote it in Morse code. You, too, can write messages in Morse code. Use / to indicate the end of a letter, // for the end of a word, and /// for the end of a sentence. Practice your detective skills by decoding the following:
If you have access to the Internet, you can actually
hear
what Morse code sounds like. Go to
http://morsecode.scphillips.com/translator.html
, and type a message in the “input text” box. Click “Play Sound,” and then click “Submit.” Pretty nifty, eh? Another Web site that allows you to hear Morse code is
http://www.battleshipnc.com/kids/games/morse/translator.php.
You can also practice your skills using the online Morse code machine at
www.boyslife.org/games/online-games/575/morse-code-machine.
(Answer: "Hams are cool”)
SHH … DETECTIVES AT WORK!
In a tight spot? Need to signal your detective partner, but your archenemy is listening in? No worries! Using Morse code, you and your friends can silently signal one another with flashlights. Simply cover and uncover the light in a series of long and short exposures. You’ll outsmart any Frisco out there who might be spying!
HAM IT UP!
Ham radio (also known as
amateur radio
) began as a hobby in the early 1900s. Anyone who had the right equipment could transmit and receive radio communications. The catch? Ham radio operators (known as
hams
) could communicate only using Morse code. They filled the airwaves with Morse code chatter!
Nowadays, though, hams not only get to twirl knobs and press buttons, but they get to talk to people all over the world, and say stuff like, “CQ CQ CQ, this is KA7, blah blah blah, over!” (“CQ CQ CQ” is a very cool way of saying, “Hello! Can anyone hear me?”) It’s the perfect hobby for amateur science detective geniuses! There is no minimum age requirement to be a ham. Just pass the test, and you’re good to go. (And since almost all hams know Morse code, you can even practice your spy skills!) Interested? Here are some websites to get you started:
•
www.belmont.k12.ma.us/class_pages/laroche/ham_radio/acquainted/index.htm
•
www.south.mccsc.edu/~nrapp/ham/index.htm
DID YOU KNOW?
When disaster strikes, often cell phones, landlines, and computers won’t operate. Communication becomes difficult, if not impossible. Enter ham radios. Come hurricane or ice storm, hams can communicate even when other lines of communication are broken. Over the decades, hams have saved countless lives during emergencies, calling for help when no one else could, sometimes even using Morse code! Hams were put to the test again when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005. These ham heroes communicated with the Red Cross and other emergency organizations, helping to coordinate rescue efforts. Way to go, hams! (See
www.ares.org
for more.)