Mark Daniel, owner of Traveling Dinos, showed Fairplains Elementary students a spinosaurus tooth Thursday. Students got to have a museum experience in the school’s gym with displays of T-Rex teeth, stegosaurus spine fossils, pterosaurs arm bones, and part of a triceratops’ skull. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

PARKERSBURG — Fairplains Elementary School students got a visit from some long extinct animals Thursday as Traveling Dinos, a traveling museum, made a stop at the school.

“It’s a wonderful collection of real dinosaur fossils, dinosaur models, dinosaur paintings and art,” said Mark Daniel, owner and operator of Traveling Dinos. “A big part that I’m passionate about are the books, tons of great dinosaur books.”

Daniel said the books help to bridge the gap between these animals that once walked the Earth millions of years ago and the students looking at them today.

“You just never know when that could spark the imagination of a future author, or illustrator, or scientist, or paleontologist and beyond,” Daniel said. “It’s really exciting because those things do happen.”

The collection is set up in displays that are made up of Daniel’s personal collection he spent 30 years gathering.

Mark Daniel, owner of Traveling Dinos, showed Fairplains Elementary kindergarteners a pop-up book of dinosaurs Thursday as the traveling museum set up in the school’s gym. The experience included displays of T-Rex teeth, stegosaurus spine fossils, pterosaurs arm bones, and part of a triceratops’ skull. There were also megalodon teeth, a 3D printed replica of a velociraptor skeleton and fossilized footprints. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

The collection consists of real triceratops fossils, a duckbill hadrosaur bone, a cast of dinosaur skin, some spinosaurus, megalodon and T-Rex teeth, tracks left by a coelophysis, a small, slenderly-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore that could grow up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) long, in the late Jurassic period, and much more.

Students rotated to the different stations while Daniel, and wife Tami, gave insight and information into the different fossils and replicas on display. These consisted of a spinal plate from a stegosaurus, the arm bone of a pterosaur, and coprolites, the fossilized feces of animals that lived millions of years ago. Which earned a collective “Eww” from students, and one shouting out, “You’re holding it!”

After a guided tour of the different stations, students were given a magnifying glass and allowed to explore on their own. They could get a closer look at the bone of a duckbill dinosaur who had a run-in with a T-Rex and left their teeth marks on it, the fossilized footprints of the coelophysis, or revisit the full sized replica of an allosaurus skull and footprint.

Daniel says he’s always had a passion for dinosaurs and enjoys bringing his collection to schools.

“There’s so much to learn, it’s so interesting,” Daniel said. “And learning to do the research, which is inspired by the books, is something that I hope to share with the younger generations.”

Fairplains Elementary students used a magnifying glass to get a closer look at fossils as Traveling Dinos, a traveling museum experience, visited the school Thursday. The experience included displays of T-Rex teeth, stegosaurus spine fossils, pterosaurs arm bones, and part of a triceratops’ skull. There were also megalodon teeth, a 3D printed replica of a velociraptor skeleton, and fossilized footprints. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

Daniel said his favorite part of the visits is seeing the spark in the students when learning about dinosaurs, and to learn himself that the students tend to know more about dinosaurs than he does.

“I love it,” Daniel said. “I love the fact that they’re interested, and fascinated, just like I was when I was their age, and continue to be. And my thanks to all the fine folks here at Fairplains for making today happen. It’s been really wonderful.”

To learn more about Traveling Dinos and Daniel, people can visit his website at travelingdinos.com or magicalstoryteller.com.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com

Fairplains Elementary students used a magnifying glass to get a closer look at fossils as Traveling Dinos, a traveling museum experience, visited the school Thursday. The experience included displays of T-Rex teeth, stegosaurus spine fossils, pterosaurs arm bones, and part of a triceratops’ skull. There were also megalodon teeth, a 3D printed replica of a velociraptor skeleton, and fossilized footprints. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

Dinosaur tracks from a coelophysis, a small, slenderly-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore that could grow up to 3 m (9.8 ft) long, was on display for Fairplains Elementary students to study Thursday. Traveling Dinos, a traveling museum experience, visited the school with experiences that included displays of T-Rex teeth, stegosaurus spine fossils, pterosaurs arm bones, and part of a triceratops’ skull. There were also megalodon teeth, a 3D printed replica of a velociraptor skeleton and fossilized footprints. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)

Dinosaur tracks lead into the gym at Fairplains Elementary as Traveling Dinos, a traveling museum experience, visited the school Thursday. The experience included displays of T-Rex teeth, stegosaurus spine fossils, pterosaurs arm bones, a replica of an allosaurus skull and part of a real triceratops’ skull. There were also megalodon teeth, a 3D printed replica of a velociraptor skeleton, and fossilized footprints for students to look at. (Photo by Douglass Huxley)