Upon leaving the Field Site, it’s time to head to the Lab with the raw data you collected and the questions you have begun to formulate. Using computer programs and powerful microscopes as well as fossil, bone, and teeth collections, you will be able to make sense of the information and unearth the scientist inside of you.

   The Lab is the place where you learn to decipher the clues you got in the field and arrive at conclusions in a scientific fashion. Using actual tools of paleontology, you can extract fossils from hard rock and prepare dinosaur bones for study. Your scientific exploration goes beyond identifying the species of dinosaur. You can determine a dinosaur's mass and speed by performing a careful analysis of the bones. To decipher what the dinosaur’s physical environment was like,examine the sedimentary rocks and their patterns. Then study marine fossils and volcanic ash to figure out the age of the field site.