Episode 101
Valley of the Stygimolochs
Buddy wonders if he'll grow horns when he gets older, so Mrs. Pteranodon takes him to visit some dinosaurs called Stygimoloch, who have really impressive horns.
Related Activity: A Colorful Hypothesis
Fun Fact
Stygimoloch had amazing horns on their head. By studying modern animals with horns, like the mountain goat, scientists can make a hypothesis about how the Stygimoloch might have used their horns.
Tiny Loves Fish
After Mr. Pteranodon teaches the kids his fishing method, Buddy and Tiny work together as a team to catch fish in the Big Pond.
Fun Fact
Scientists have compared the skeletons of modern day Pelicans and Pteranodons and found striking similarities. This information has lead them to believe that they also fished in the same manner, by diving into the water and scooping up the fish in their mouth.
Episode 102
The Call of the Wild Corythosaurus
The family surprises Mom for her birthday with a trip to a concert given by Cory and her family of Corythosaurus, who play music through the crests on their heads.
Fun Fact
The giant duck-billed hadrosaur known as Corythosaurus had a large head crest that would have been a great visual signal, and yet could also have been used to hoot and toot. A great analogy for the crest of Corythosaurus would be a French horn, where the sound goes through a long rounded tube and is amplified as a result.
Triceratops for Lunch
Our Pteranodon family eats lunch with their friend Tank Triceratops and discovers that he and his family are all plant-eaters, with great leaf-eating teeth and giant appetites!
Related Activity: Hungry Herbivores
Fun Fact
By studying the teeth and jaws of dinosaurs, scientists can tell what kind of food they ate. Triceratops teeth show that they were herbivores.
Episode 103
Beating the Heat
Buddy and Tiny travel to the Jurassic to make a new friend, Morris Stegosaurus, and discover how this huge dinosaur keeps cool in the heat.
Fun Fact
Animals have to be careful not to get too cold or too hot. Scientists believe that the Stegosaurus used its plates to regulate its body temperature. In the morning they would turn their plates toward the sun to warm up and later in the day toward the wind to cool off.
Flowers for Mom
The kids go to the Big Pond to look for flowers to give to Mom on her special Mothers Day. They find many different flowers while following a very busy bee.
Fun Fact
What are flowers for? Rather than simply being pretty, flowers fulfill an important role for plants, helping them reproduce with the help of pollinating insects,and therefore keeping the cycle of life in motion.
Episode 104
I'm a T-Rex!
Buddy travels to Rexville on the Dinosaur Train and meets Delores Tyrannosaurus and her daughter Annie. When he sees that he shares all the same features, Buddy learns that he is a Tyrannosaurus rex!
Related Activity: Even Bigger than a T. rex!
Fun Fact
In this episode we explore the features of the Tyrannosaurus rex, including its small arms, two-fingered hands, large and broad head, huge teeth and its exceptional sense of smell, which would have been useful both for hunting and scavenging.
Ned the Quadruped
Buddy and Tiny tour the Dinosaur Train and earn their Junior Conductor hats while their friend Ned, a four-legged, long-necked Brachiosaurus and regular Train rider, tags along.
Fun Fact
Brachiosaurus were quadrupeds, meaning they walked on all four legs. Some paleontologists think that some sauropods, particularly those with long front limbs like Brachiosaurus, could rear up on their hind legs, perhaps to feed.
Episode 105
One Smart Dinosaur
Buddy and Tiny want to test their memory, so they ride the Dinosaur Train and spend some time with the Conductor, since he's a Troodon with a great memory. The kids get to meet the Conductor's mom, Mrs. Conductor.
Related Activity: Dinosaurs A - Z
Fun Fact
Troodon is considered to possibly be the most intelligent of all dinosaurs. Like a man, the size of its brain was fairly big when compared to the size of the rest of its body.
Petey the Peteinosaurus
Buddy and Tiny ride the Dinosaur Train to meet Petey Peteinosaurus, a "flying lizard," who is fun, funny, and friendly, and has some features similar to both Buddy and Tiny!
Fun Fact
Peteinosaurus was a small flying reptile that lived alongside the dinosaurs. These Pterosaurs were small and lived on a diet of insects.
Episode 106
Fast Friends
Buddy, Tiny, and Mom ride the Dinosaur Train to meet Oren and Ollie Ornithomimus, some of the fastest dinosaurs ever! The kids love meeting the fast-moving and fast-talking twins.
Fun Fact
Ornithomimus was a bipedal dinosaur that resembled an ostrich. It is thought they could run up to 40 miles per hour, faster than humans, as fast as an ostrich! They are thought to be one of the fastest dinosaurs.
T-Rex Teeth
When Buddy loses a tooth, Mom takes him to Rexville to ask his Tyrannosaurus friends all about T-Rex teeth. They explain that he'll grow new teeth to replace the old ones.
Fun Fact
T-Rex's teeth were the size and shape of big bananas! By carefully observing the shape of a dinosaur's teeth, you can make predictions about what that dinosaur probably ate, which in this case is meat.
Episode 107
Now with Feathers!
Dad gives Tiny and Buddy a mystery feather and the kids become "detectives," riding the Dinosaur Train to meet Valerie Velociraptor, who shows the kids what it's like to be covered with beautiful feathers.
Related Activity: Dinosaurs of a Feather
Fun Fact
Our knowledge about dinosaurs sometimes changes based on new evidence. In the case of Velociraptor, we see that they were, in fact, covered in feathers. Although these dinosaurs could not fly, their feathers did keep them warm.
A Frill a Minute
The kids help Tank Triceratops overcome his awkwardness with having a huge head by showing him how cool and amazing his features are, especially his frill.
Fun Fact
Triceratops had a huge, bony frill on the back of its head, giving it the largest skull of any land animal. The frill was used to identify the species to other species (and other Triceratops) and also to show off and look bigger, scarier, and more puffed up.
Episode 108
One Big Dinosaur
Tiny and Buddy visit a dinosaur family called Argentinosaurus, some of the biggest land creatures ever! The kids find out there are great things about being really big, and that it's also great being their own size.
Related Activity: Even Bigger than a T. rex!
Fun Fact
There has been considerable debate over which sauropod was the biggest of them all, and thus the biggest of dinosaurs and land-living animals. Argentinosaurus is a gigantic herbivorous dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Argentina that inhabited an environment dominated by arid plains.
Play Date with Annie
Buddy is excited that his friend Annie Tyrannosaurus is coming to the Pteranodon nest to visit and play. After Tiny feels left out, Buddy and Annie show her that they can all be friends!
Fun Fact
Buddy and Annie Tyrannosaurus further compare their similar T-Rex features. A lesson about including a third friend is learned, and the dynamics of equal play are tested.
Episode 109
Armored Like an Ankylosaurus
The kids travel on the Dinosaur Train with Mr. Pteranodon to see his hero, Hank Ankylosaurus, play a game of Dinoball. Afterwards, they even get to play with Hank and learn what it's like to be a dinosaur that is covered with armored plates and has a mighty club for a tail.
Related Activity: Playing Dino Ball YOUR Way
Fun Fact
Animals use a variety of methods to not become a meal. Ankylosaurus was covered with bony plates that formed armor and featured hard spikes for protection. In addition, it had a club tail that when swung was a powerful weapon.
Campout!
Our Pteranodon family goes to the Big Pond for their first overnight camp out and meets a small frog with a big voice!
Fun Fact
The family learns about nocturnal life at their area Big Pond and discovers the features and way of life of early pre-historic frogs (whose attributes are very similar to present day frogs). An objective is to show how young kids adapt to sleeping outside in a new environment.
Episode 110
Laura the Giganotosaurus
Buddy spends time with Laura Giganotosaurus, a large dinosaur who always rides the Dinosaur Train and, like Buddy, is a three-toed theropod! Buddy also discovers that Laura is an avid bird-watcher.
Related Activity: Drawing Birds
Fun Fact
There is a lot of diversity amongst Therapods. Giganotosaurus is a large therapod that shares many features with Tyrranosaurus rex and even birds. They all have 3-toed feet!
Dinosaur Poop!
Buddy and Tiny learn that all creatures poop, even really big dinosaurs.
Related Activity: Have a Brachiosaurus Picnic
Fun Fact
Dinosaur poop can gives us clues as to whether the dinosaur that produced it was a plant-eater, meat-eater, or omnivore.
