Educational Activity Workbook

Red Tail Entertainment Presents

prehistoricaquarium.com

IntroductionIntroduction and About Mary Anning……………………………………………...pg 1 About Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium Adventure ………………………………...pg 2 PaleontologyParacyclotosaurus ………………………………………………………………………….pg 3Anglerfish ……………………………………………………………………………………..pg 4Plesiosaurus ………………………………………………………………………………….pg 5Kronosaurus ………………………………………………………………………………….pg 6Prehistoric Oceans ………………………………………………………………………pg 7-8Fossils by Australian State (+Map!) ………………………………………………...pg 9Opalized Fossils ……………………………………………………………………….pg 10-12 TheaterAbout the Puppets ………………………………………….pg 13Jobs at the Theater …………………………………..pg 14-15 Theater Fun Facts (+Map!) ………………………...pg 16-18Elements of a Good Story ………………………………….pg 19Write Your Own Story ……………………………………...pg 20 Make Your Own Paper Fish Puppet ………………...pg 21-23Make Your Own Paper Jellyfish Puppet ………......pg 24-25Perform Your Own Show…………………………………... pg 26 Test Your Knowledge Quiz …………………………………………………….pg 27 – 28Additional Coloring Pages ………………………....pg 29 - 31 Wrapping UpDinosaur Zoo Live ………………………………….pg 32 References ………………………………………...pg 33 Credits ……………………………………………….pg 34

Table of Contents

This poem is widely believed to be about Mary Anning, a young girl who used to sell fossils from a table outside her home in Dorset in the Early 1800’s. When she was 12, she and her younger brother discovered the first full ichthyosaur skeleton and she went on to discover the first 2 plesiosaur skeletons. She also presented the theory that coprolites were fossilized dinosaur poop, she was right.

She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore.The shells she sells are sea-shells, I’m sure.For if she sells sea-shells on the sea-shoreThen I’m sure she sells sea-shore shells.

- Terry Sullivan

With the spirit of a child the possibilities are endless.

It just goes to show how children can make valuable contributions to science and in turn our lives even though it’s considered the domain of learned adults. Children possess a wisdom that is very old, in crises they are the first to rise above the storm, to pick themselves up when they’ve fallen, they see the world with infinite potential and it is only as adults that we limit ourselves.

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After waiting 65 million years, you will now have a chance to experience prehistoric marine life up close when Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium travels around America.

This unique show allows heaps of interaction whilst you travel with the Erth performers on a journey through prehistoric oceans.

You will see an amazing selection of marine creatures that inhabited oceans, lakes and rivers millions of years ago.

The reptiles, fish and and other creatures on display once filled the oceans millions of years ago. Fossils of many of them have been found in Australia, from tiny single celled organisms to the apex predator –Kronosaurus Queenslandicus.

Over the next few pages read about and color some of these prehistoric marvels! Pg. 2

ERTH's Prehistoric Aquarium Adventure

Paracyclotosaurus davidi is the only species of Paracyclotosaurus to be found in Australia. In 1910 a complete skeleton fossil was found at St Peter’s in the Hawkesbury River region of New South Wales. Paracyclotosaurus are reptiles and an extinct distant relative of today’s Giant Salamander and whilst they spent most of their time in the water they were also able to move about on land. Even though Paracyclotosautas had a big flat head like a crocodile, they only had fairly small teeth. To catch their prey they would lie still and wait for a fish to pass close by and quickly snap their jaws to catch and swallow it. How to Say It: Pa/ra/sigh/clo/toe/saw/rus

Name Means: Round Eared Lizard

Family Group: Capitosauridae

Period: Middle Triassic

Where Found: Australia, India and South Africa 1st

Discovered: Davidi species 1910

Size: up to 2.3 meters in length

Food: fish

Special Features: Extra wide jaw for snapping up prey.

Paracyclotosaurus

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Deep-sea Anglerfish have been found off the coast of Queensland. Anglerfish have survived in the deep, dark depths of the ocean since prehistoric times. They have been found as deep as 1400 meters, where there is no light. The female of the species uses a luminous fishing rod like structure to lure prey towards her mouth. She has a very large mouth which allows her to eat fish up to twice her size!

Anglerfish

How to Say It: Ang/ler/fish

Name Means: named for their method of catching prey. Angler is a synonym of fishing.

Family Group: Lophiiformes

Size: up to 1.2 meters

Period: Paleogene

Where Found: Worldwide

Food: fish and invertebrates

Special Features: bioluminescence

Male anglerfish are very small compared to the female and have a parasitic relationship.When they find a female to mate with they bite her on her side and hold on with their teeth. Over time the wound heals and the two fish are permanently stuck each other.

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The Plesiosaurus was an aquatic reptile with a long neck and a small head.

Plesiosaurs should not to be confused with their cousins Pliosaurs who had short necks and large heads and were very good hunters.Plesiosaurs lived in both fresh water and salt water either in lakes or rivers or in the ocean close to the shore. Whilst the plesiosaurus was very large, it was not very fast. Its long neck was out of proportion to its short rounded body with four protruding flippers and short tail. The Plesiosaurus used its long neck by swinging it from side to side in the water to catch fish. They also ate small stones to help break down the fish in their stomachs. There are some people who believe that Plesiosaurs still exist, in places like Loch Ness in Scotland, although this has never been proven.

Plesiosaurus

How to Say It: Please/zee/o/saw/rus

Name Means: almost lizards

Family Group: Pliosauridae

Period: Cretaceous

Where Found: Worldwide 1st

Discovered: 1821

Size: 4.5 meters

Food: fish

Special Features: Plesiosaurs laid eggs in nests like turtles.Pg. 5

The Kronosaurus was one of the top predators in the ocean. TheKronosaurus is named after Kronos, the king of Titans, who weregiants in Greek mythology. They had short necks and large heads. Their limbs were four paddle-like fins. Kronosaurs were the biggest of the Pliosaurids and able to swim very fast. They had no need for stealth when hunting as they could swim faster than their meals. Kronosaurs used the rounded teeth at the back of their mouth forcrushing the shells of ammonites, cousins to the modern day nautilus. The sharp pointed teeth at the front of its mouth were used to capture its prey. Kronosaurus lived in the cool, high-latitude Eromanga Sea - an inland sea that covered vast areas of inland Australia from 120-90 million years ago. Fossilised Kronosaurs have been found near Hughenden in north-central Queensland.

Kronosaurus

How to Say It: Crow/no/saw/rus

Name Means: Kronos lizard

Family Group: Pliosauridae

Period: Cretaceous

Where Found: Australia and Colombia 1st

Discovered: 1899

Size: 8-10 meters long

Food: large fish, giant squid, ammonites and plesiosaurs

Special Features: Super speed, Kronosaurs used both their forelimbs and hind limbs to propel them.

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Cambrian Period

The evolution of the oceans continued in the Cambrian era, and creatures that could swim, crawl,burrow, hunt, hide and defend themselves began to appear. At this time there was still no life on land.

Prehistoric Oceans

Anomalocaris was the apex predator of the Cambrian era; its name means abnormal shrimp. Fossils of its complex compound eyes have been found at Emu Bay on Kangaroo Islands South Australia.

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Ediacaran Period

Scientists believe the Ediacaran period began after meteors hit the earth around the world, causing a chain reaction. The Earth changed from being a giant snowball, where only single celled creatures lived in the ocean, to a warmer and more fertile place with more complex creatures. The first evidence of this was found in the Ediacara Hills north of Adelaide. Remember in much of the prehistoric era, what is now Australia was the ocean floor.

The Charniodiscus, Dickinsonia rex, Kimberella lived during this era.

Prehistoric OceansTriassic PeriodThe Triassic period was 200 million years after the Cambrian era; this is when the supercontinent Pangaea began to break up into smaller land masses. Europe separated from Africa and the ocean that filled the space began to push against the Americas causing South America to move further away from North America. This created the North and South Atlantic Ocean. The Triassic period is when Paracyclotosaurus lived. Different species of Paracyclotosaurus fossils have been found in Australia, India and South Africa. The new oceans caused barriers that isolated the reptiles from one another. Animals evolved differently to fit in with their different environments. Cretaceous PeriodDuring the Cretaceous Period sea levels were the highest they had ever been. The whole of England was under water. There were no ice caps during this time, and it was very warm. The land masses of North and South America shifted further away from Europe and Africa which caused the Indian Ocean to form. Lepidotes, Plesiosaurs and Kronosaurs were all alive during this period. The Cretaceous period is famous as it ended with the extinction of the dinosaurs that lived on land.

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Evidence of the creatures found in Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium have been found in Australia. Using the map below, pinpoint the locations where these species have been found in Australia: • Paracyclotosaurus – Hawkesbury River, New South Wales

• Anglerfish – Coral Sea, Queensland

• Kronosaurus Queenslandicus – Hughenden, north central Queensland

• Pliosaur - Coober Pedy, South Australia

Australian Fossils

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Coober Pedy is famous for its opals and its opalized fossils. It was here that an entire opalized pliosaur fossil was found and named, “Eric”. These are no ordinary fossils (if there is such a thing), these incredible relics are made of solid opal, sometimes with rainbows of shimmering color.

'Eric' was a small pliosaur, about the size of a seal, he was 2.5 meters long. Eric had a long neck and a small head, which makes him unique amongst pliosaurs; usually they have short necks and large heads. He also had a keel on his snout and a ridge running along his spine to allow him to be a fast swimmer. He lived during the Cretaceous period in the Eromanga Sea; where Coober Pedy is now.

These fossils are of global scientific interest and are amongst the most beautiful and valuable fossils in the world. Australia is the only place on Earth where opalised animal fossils have been found.

Opalized Fossils

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Opal forms in cavities within rocks. If a cavity has formed because a bone, shell or pinecone was buried in sand or clay that later became rock and the conditions are right for opal formation, then the opal forms a fossil replica of the original object that was buried.

How Do Opalized Fossils Form?

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1. Internal details not preserved. Opal starts as a solution of silica in water. If the silica solution fills an empty space- left by a bone/shell that has rotted away, it may harden to form a cast of the original object. Most opalized shell fossils are this type of fossil – the outside shape is beautifully preserved, but the opal inside doesn’t retain any of the creatures internal structure. 2. Internal details preserved. If the buried organic material has not rotted away and a silica solution soaks into it, when the silica hardens it may form an opal replica of the internal structure of the object. This happens sometimes with wood or bone. Opals are many colors mixed together: pink, blue, purple, yellow, green and turquoise. Color in the fossils to make your own image of an opalized fossil.

There are Two Types of Opalized Fossils

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In Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium some of the creatures are portrayed by puppets. A puppet is a figure whose movements are controlled by someone through strings, rods or hand/body movements. The main style of puppetry used in Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium is a modified style of “Bunraku” (bunrah-koo) puppetry, a form of puppetry that originated in Japan over 400 years ago. In Bunraku, there are usually several puppeteers who manipulate the puppet directly and are visible throughout the play rather than being hidden. Usually 3 puppeteers will operate 1 puppet. In Bunraku, each puppeteer is responsible for moving a different part of the body. Puppetry in Japan is highly regarded. Bunraku is directly related to the “kabuki,” mime theatre tradition and at one time was considered the highest form of theatre in Japan, with the greatest writers and actors of the day creating work exclusively for Bunraku performances. Many plays were written that are similar to Shakespearean dramas, with detailed language and complex plots. Bunraku plays are still performed today in Japan; a master puppeteer spends a lifetime perfecting manipulation of his puppet.

About the Puppets

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Jobs at the TheaterIt takes a lot of people to make a piece of theater: You’ll see: Actor: a person who plays a character and tells a story onstage Puppeteer: a person who operates the puppets and makes all the Prehistoric animals come to life Usher: A person in the theater who helps you find your seat. He or she can answer any questions and make you feel comfortable at the theater.

Cast & Crew

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Jobs at the TheaterYou won’t see: Director: The person who oversees the artistic creation of the show. He or she tells the actors where to stand and coaches them on how to perform their lines. He or she also works with the Lighting Designer, Sound Designer and other designers to create the look and feel of the show. Playwright: The person who writes the show, including all the words you hear the actors say onstage. Sound Designer: This person gathers all the music and sound effects for the show. They weave the sounds together to help tell the story. Lighting Designer: This person enhances what is onstage with light. He or she makes sure you can see everyone’s faces onstage by using light. He or she can also use different colored lights to communicate different emotions. Stagehand: A person who works behind the scenes at the theater. He or she can help move or build things backstage. When you see the tank break and the scenery change a stagehand is helping move the set pieces and the curtains. Tour Manager: A person who manages the touring team. He or she makes sure everyone travels from one theater to another safely and makes sure all the theaters have the information they need to make a great show!

Production Team

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Fun Facts About Theater History● Our modern tradition of theater dates back to ancient

Greece in 535 BC, 2500 years ago

● The first theater in America was built in Virginia in 1716, 60 years before the declaration of independence

Fun Facts About Theater Today● Broadway attendance in the 2018-2019 season was higher

than the top 10 professional New York and New Jersey sports teams combined (Mets, Yankees, Rangers, Islanders, Knicks, Liberty, Giants, Jets, Devils and Nets).

● The U.S. has over 1,855 professional, not-for-profit theaters that operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Collectively, U.S. regional theaters attracted 39 million audience members to 170,000 performances of over 21,000 productions in 2018.

That means there are 57 performances every day.

Could you go to 57 performances in one day?

Theater Fun Facts

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Fun Facts about Erth the Creator of Prehistoric Aquarium● “Erth” stands for Environmentally Recycled Theater and all of

our puppets are built with recycled materials.

● Erth’s studio, where puppets and shows are developed, is located in Sydney, Australia

● Erth has been creating visually stunning artistic experiences for 30 years

● Erth is internationally renowned and has appeared in ○ Ireland○ The United Kingdom○ Thailand○ China○ South Korea○ Japan○ The United States of America ○ Australia

ERTH Fun Facts

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Can you find all the countries where Erth has toured on the map below?

Color in the Map

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All stories, whether written in a book or performed on a stage, need certain elements. Here are 5 elements that every good story needs.

Setting: The location and time of a story. This is the “when” and “where” of a story.

Character: Usually the people or animals that move the story plot forward. They have actions and dialogue. This is the “who” of the story.

Plot: These are the events that happen in the story. A plot usually starts with a problem and ends with its resolution. This is the “what” of the story.

Conflict: A problem or conflict drives the story. Without a conflict a story would be boring. This is the “why” of the story.

Theme: This is what the writer is trying to express or their reason for the story. It could be a moral lesson or insight. This is the “message” of the story.

Elements of a Good Story

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Write Your Own Story

On a seperate piece of paper write a story using the 5 elements of a good story. Use the prehistoric animals that we have learned about as your characters.

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Audience Arrives Audience enters the theater and sits down

Host is on stage (via decompression chamber) - Single celled organisms Host does introduction (including snowball

Earth/plankton production of O2)Host #1 and Host #2 conflict (marketing/biologist)

Ediacaran Period. (Dikensonia, Kimberella)

Host goes into Aquarium with volunteer (via decompression chamber)

Host set volunteer in the middle behind the glass, creatures crawl all over them

Volunteer is retrieved when anomolocaris is in the tank with them Cambrian Period - Lepidotes,

paracyclotosaurus

Cretacious Period - Plesiosaurus are the catalyst that sends 6 kids into the tank with Host

Camera view of everyone inside decompression chamber High pressure at the bottom of the ocean

causes the tank to break Black outWe see the 6 kids and Host with helmets on.

Angler Fish Light... Kids investigate.We see the biolumenesence/which could potentially be handled by the kids and puppeteers.

We see them travel? Going up to shallower water, bubbles? (video) Sun/getting lighter

Met by the Plesiosaurus.

Kronosaurus - a child is eaten.Children solve the problem..Is it the mother? Is it climbing into its mouth? Victory. Almost the end. The Great Barrier Reef - Spawning of

coral. (coral, balloons, and bubbles).

You’ll Need:• 2 pieces of paper or construction paper• Glue stick• Markers, crayons or colored pencils

Paper Fish Puppet

How To:1. Make your piece of paper into a square

2a. Crease the piece of paper in the middle by folding in half like a triangle and 2b.opening it back to its square

3a. Make 2 more creases by folding 2 opposite corners into the center like you are making a paper airplane and 3a. Opening it back into a square

4. Fold in half like a triangle along the original crease

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5. Using scissors, on the folded edge make 8-10 straight cuts. Only cut up to the other crease. The other crease is there as a guideline (See dotted lines below).

6a. Unfold so that it is a square again. Using scissors, 6b. cut the back corner of the square so that it is rounded.

7. Using your glue stick, apply glue to one of the small triangle sections (see gray coloring below)

8. Round your paper together, so that your glued small triangle lines up with your other small triangle. Press together.

9. You should now have a 3-dimensional object that resembles a cone.

Paper Fish Puppet

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Paper Fish Puppet10.Cut a semi-circle out of another piece of paper and glue it to the bottom, inside part of the cone.

11.Draw eyes on your fish puppet.

12.You can cut more circles and glue them on your fish to make fin.

Follow the Link Below for More Help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmZgsnY8fMQPg. 23

You’ll Need:● 1 piece paper or construction paper● popsicle sticks● googly eyes (optional)● pipe cleaners (could use crepe paper as well)● Glue

Paper Jellyfish Puppet

1. Using construction paper in the color of your choice, cut out two semi-ovals to be the base of your jellyfish puppet. Make sure they’re the same size! 2. One by one, wrap 4 pipe cleaners around a pen or pencil to make the tentacles for your jellyfish. 3. Remove the pipe cleaners, and glue them to the bottom of one construction paper piece you cut out in Step 1.Glue the second piece of construction paper on top of the first piece, covering up where the pipe cleaners are glued on.

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4. Decorate your jellyfish! Glue on googly eyes or make your own eyes with construction paper. Add glitter if you want. Most importantly, be creative! 5. Glue a popsicle stick to the back of your completed jellyfish and use that as a rod to control your new puppet.

Remember when you’re puppeteering, you also need to move like the creature, that way your puppet will too!

Paper Jellyfish Puppet

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Gather the people in your household, then use the story you wrote and the puppets you made to perform your own show.

Some ideas for your show:

● Take tickets and show attendees to their seats● Use music for dramatic effect or use ocean noises as

underscoring● Create a puppet theater by hiding behind the back of

your couch and creating scenes

The show must go on!

Perform Your Own Show!

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1. The paracyclotosaurus is a distant relative of what animal that is still alive today?

a. Giant Salamander b. Crocodile c. Frog d. Platypus

2. How does the female angler fish hunt its prey? a. She is very fast and chases her prey b. They work in groups to surround their prey c. She uses her luminous fishing rod to lure preyd. She is venomous and stings her prey to immobilize them

3. Where did plesiosaurs live?a. In freshwater lakes b. In saltwater oceans c. In estuaries where freshwater rivers meet saltwater oceans d. All of the above

4. Kronosaurus, was one of the apex predators of the Cretaceous period. It is named after which Greek mythological god?

a. The God of the Sea – Poseidon b. The Queen of the Gods – Hera c. The King of the Titans – Kronos d. The God of the Sun – Apollo

5. In which prehistoric period did Pangea begin to separate into different continents?

a. Ediacaran Period b. Cambrian Period c. Triassic Period d. Cretaceous Period

6. What kind of prehistoric animal was the opalized fossil named Eric? a. Pliosaur b. Plesiosaur c. Kronosaurus d. Anomalocaris

Quiz Time!

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7. What are the 2 types of opalized fossils? a. Mold fossils & cast fossils b. Internal details preserved fossils & internal details not preserved fossils c. Trace fossils & true form fossils d. Coprolite fossils & imprint fossils

8. What kind of puppetry does Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium use? a. Marionette puppetry that uses puppets that hang from strings b. Shadow puppetry that uses light to cast shadows and shapes c. Cantastoria puppetry from Italy that uses rhythm and song d. Bunraku puppetry from Japan

9. Which of these people works behind-the-scenes at a theater and you will NOT see them on your trip to the theater?

a. Actor b. Director c. Puppeteerd. Usher

10. What country does our modern tradition of theater come from? a. Australia b. Egypt c. Rome d. Greece

Extra Credit: Can you name the 5 elements of a good story?

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Quiz Time!

Have your parent grade you. What score did you get? ____/ 10 Multiple Choice + ____/5 Extra Credit = ____/ 100 Overall

Answer Key: 1.A / 2.C / 3.D / 4.C / 5.B / 6.A / 7.B / 8.D / 9.B / 10.D / EC: setting, character, plot, conflict, theme Each multiple choice question = 10 points. Each of the 5 elements of a story = 1 point

Check out Prehistoric Aquarium’s sister show

ERTH’s Dinosaur Zoo LiveComing to a city near you Fall 2020 – Spring 2021Go to DinosaurZooLive.us/ for more information!

Love What You See Here?

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http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/prehistoricworld/prehistoric-time-line/

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/fish/anglerfish/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracyclotosaurus

https://archive.org/stream/cbarchive_39571_anewlabyrinthodontparacyclotos1956/anewlabyrinthodontparacyclotos1956#page/n3/mode/2up

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/shining-new-light-onbizarre-Creatures-of-the-deep-20100715-10cct.html

http://home.alphalink.com.au/~dannj/kronos.htm

http://australianmuseum.net.au/kronosaurus-queenslandicus

http://www.abc.net.au/science/ozfossil/ageofreptiles/eromanga/plesiosaurs.htm

http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com

https://www.britannica.com

https://www.broadwayleague.com/research/statistics-broadway-nyc/

https://www.erth.com.au

https://www.literacyideas.com/teaching-story-elements

References

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Brought to you by:

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Special Thanks to Gabrielle Paananen, Madison Armstrong, Alex Poole, and

Danielle Morache

For more information about this production and our other productions contact us at

redtailentertainment.com/productionsWe are committed to the responsible stewardship of our planet and encourage all of our audiences to do their part. Everyone, including children can help battle the effects of climate change:

1. Celebrate with bubbles instead of balloons at your next birthday party.2. Use reusable whenever possible instead of single use plastic.3. Go on a hike and appreciate the beauty of nature.