Tracking Dinosaurs

By Clayton ChurchOctober 11, 2012

Tracking dinosaurs
A Dawson Middle School student from the Carroll Independent School District is observed by Texas Christian University Associate Professor Dr. Arthur Busbey making plaster molds of dinosaur tracks along the shoreline of Grapevine Lake, Texas, on Sept.... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

GRAPEVINE, Texas - Seventy, 7th and 8th graders from Dawson Middle School, Carroll Independent School District descended onto Murrell Park on Grapevine Lake Sept. 28 in an attempt to uncover and record a set of dinosaur footprints covered in 2006 for their protection.

Last year, Sheryl Sides, a science teacher with Carroll ISD, approached the Corps about the possibility of uncovering the trackway to use as an educational resource for local students. After several exploratory meetings, Sides secured a grant from the Carroll Education Foundation and the Corps entered into a Challenge Partnership Agreement with Carroll ISD, Our Lands and Water Foundation, and Texas Christian University.

Students arrived in the morning and spent the entire day rotating through interpretive stations presented by TCU, Halff Associates, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and the Arlington Archosaur Site. They learned about dinosaurs in the area, removed sand from the trackway, and help prepare plaster molds of the tracks.

Halff Associates used LIDAR scanners to create a 3-D image of the trackway, which can be used to make replicas, and will be provided to the event partners. OLWF will have the opportunity to use the molds in their marketing campaign to raise funds for a potential dinosaur education center located within Murrell Park.

"While the rain caused the event to end earlier than expected, the mission was successful and everyone had a great time prior to the tracks once again being covered," said Jason Owen, Grapevine Lake manager. "The event would not have been possible without the partnerships created during this process."