Education

 

Teachers and community leaders can schedule both in-person and virtual field trips to Dinosaur National Monument.

NPS / Dan Johnson

Dinosaurs, rocks, plants, animals, history, starry skies! Whatever your passion, Dinosaur National Monument offers a world of adventure for visitors. Park rangers are well-versed in Dinosaur's many resources and are eager to share their knowledge with students and community groups as well. A variety of learning opportunities are offered for both virtual and in-person visitors, from ranger programs, to field trips, to junior ranger books, as well as online educational content.

 

Attend a Public Ranger Program

Rangers at Dinosaur National Monument offer a variety of regularly scheduled informative talks and programs during the summer season (around late May through early September). Public program types may include geology talks, quarry talks, evening campground programs, constellation tours, or stargazing with telescopes. Program dates and times are released periodically throughout the summer, usually every 2 weeks, and posted in visitor centers and at campgrounds. You can learn about the programs currently offered by visiting the Park Calendar. There are generally no participant caps or reservations required to join a public program, however, if you have a group larger than 15 people, advanced notice is appreciated so the ranger is prepared for a larger group. For more information about ranger talks and programs, please contact us.

 

Plan A Field Trip - In Person or Virtual

Teachers and other group leaders can schedule in-person field trips to the Quarry Exhibit Hall. These are most commonly offered in spring and fall. Once there, a ranger can provide a short introductory talk to your group and answer questions. When staffing allows, additional ranger-led activities may be scheduled for inside or outside of the quarry. Virtual Field Trips are broadcast from the Quarry Exhibit Hall in the winter months when in-person visitation is lower. While these are most commonly booked by teachers for grade school students, virtual field trips are also available for public libraries, university groups, care facilities, or other groups that want to connect with fossils through a digital platform. Both in-person and virtual field trips must be scheduled in advance. Click the pictures below to learn more about each program, and schedule your trip.

 

 

Be A Junior Ranger

Depending on the ages and interests of your group, the Junior Ranger program may be an excellent addition to an in-person or virtual field trip, or as a stand alone, self-guided way to learn more about Dinosaur National Monument. This program is open to both kids and kids at heart — anyone can become a Junior Ranger at Dinosaur! You can learn more details about this program and print your own Junior Ranger booklet from the Junior Ranger webpage.

 

Online Learning Resources

Dinosaur National Monument offers a wide array of educational content produced by staff and partners. We strive to make our online content as accessible as possible. Teachers and educators are welcome to make use of these educational resources in their classrooms:

• Multimedia Presentations (presentaciones multimedia en español)
  The videos posted here have closed captions available by clicking the "CC" icon in the video task bar. Audio descriptions are available by clicking the "AD" icon in the video task bar.
• Dinosaur National Monument YouTube channel
  Park staff has written closed captions for most of the videos on our YouTube channel, which appear if you click the "CC" icon in the video task bar. If you find a video without closed captions available, please email us so we can add them.
• Photo Gallery
  Photos credited with "NPS / employee name" or "NPS Photo" are public domain.