Teacher note
Enter the teacher password to see the answers and testing tools.
How it runs
- Teams of 3 or 4 share one Chromebook. The game tells them to pass the mouse after every puzzle so everyone gets a turn to drive.
- Plan on 60 to 75 minutes (it can be split over two class periods with progress codes). Students explore 10 places in 3 zones of Dino Park plus the Power Station, help 9 park workers, collect 9 clues (Ranger Juno gives a 10th at the start), find the Power Key that Nibbles the baby raptor hid, then set three gates to lead six baby dinosaurs into their pens.
- The park opens up as they go: Mr. Plush's Jeep Keys open Zone 2, Dr. Helix's Gate Badge opens Zone 3, and Old Moss opens the Power Station.
- Skills: rock layers (deeper is older, and anything that cuts through a layer is younger), sorting with a two-way table (Carroll diagram), volume by counting cube layers, multiples on a feeding chart (every 2, 3 and 4 hours, and when they line up), measuring with a scale grid and "4 times as tall," matching DNA letter pairs (A with T, C with G), acute, right and obtuse angles, feet and inches, a food web (producers, plant-eaters and meat-eaters), elimination from 10 clues (every clue is needed), and sorting with yes or no questions (a decision tree) in the finale.
- Wrong answers lock that puzzle for a short wait (15 seconds, then 30, 45, 60) so teams talk instead of guessing. Mr. Plush's table and Old Moss's food web clear after a wrong check. A wrong search adds 2 minutes to the clock plus a wait that grows each time (1, 2, 3, then 5 minutes). A wrong gate try shows where each baby went, then waits 20, 40, then 60 seconds. Hints: 3 per puzzle (the gates have 3 too), one every 45 seconds.
- Bonus: 11 golden eggs are hidden in the rooms for teams that like to explore. The count prints on the award.
- Progress codes: after every puzzle the team gets a 10 letter code (like
KDHTM-7XQMP), also shown on the side. Have one student write the newest code on paper. If a browser resets or the team switches Chromebooks, they type it on the start screen and get back their crew name, every solved puzzle (in any order), open zones, items, the Power Key, hints and time. Made-up codes do not work, and after 3 wrong tries the box makes them wait 20 seconds. Typing their own code again on the same computer keeps any wait that is still running, so reloading the page cannot skip a wrong answer wait. A code always brings its own crew name, and that name prints on the award. - The "Left this page" counter on the side goes up every time someone switches to another tab or window. It does not stop the game. A high number can mean someone went looking for answers, for example by taking a screenshot to an AI helper, so it is worth a quick check in.
- Everything in this room (the park, the characters and the story) is original, so it is safe to share. The dinosaur and science facts on the clickable spots are real.
Timer
Minutes before the babies wander off: (teams can keep playing in overtime; the award says "Finished in overtime")
Answers
- Fossil Dig, Dr. Dee Digg: oldest to youngest: trilobite (layer 5), ammonite (4), fern (3), dino tooth (2), lava crack (cuts layers 5 to 2, not 1), feather (1), burrow (dug down through layer 1).
- Gift Shop, Mr. Plush: 2 legs with horns, plates, armor or a dome: Pachycephalosaurus. 4 legs with: Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus. 2 legs without: T. rex, Velociraptor, Gallimimus. 4 legs without: Brachiosaurus. Gives the Jeep Keys, which open Zone 2.
- Hatchery, Nana Nell: Triceratops 24 eggs = Crate A (4 by 3 by 2), Stegosaurus 18 = Crate D (3 by 2 by 3), Brachiosaurus 30 = Crate B (5 by 2 by 3). Crates C (27) and E (16) are not used.
- Feeding Station, Keeper Kofi: Triceratops at 8, 10, 12, 2, 4, 6. Stegosaurus at 9, 12, 3, 6. Brachiosaurus at 10, 2, 6. All three eat together again at 6:00 in the evening.
- Track Trail, Tracker Tess: A (30 cm, hip 120) Stegosaurus, B (20 cm, hip 80) Triceratops, C (50 cm, hip 200) Brachiosaurus, D (40 cm, hip 160) Pachycephalosaurus. T. rex (100) did not leave tracks.
- DNA Lab, Dr. Helix: the pairing strand is T A C G G T A C, and it matches Egg 2. Gives the Gate Badge, which opens Zone 3.
- Vet Clinic, Dr. Vera: X-rays 1 acute, 2 right, 3 obtuse, 4 acute, 5 obtuse, 6 right, 7 acute, 8 obtuse.
- Aviary, Keeper Skye: Pip 3 ft 4 in = 40, Flap 2 ft 11 in = 35, Soar 4 ft = 48, Zip 3 ft 9 in = 45. The 34 and 39 inch nests are traps for kids who just write the digits together.
- Lookout Tower, Old Moss: producers: ferns, tall trees, berry bushes. Plant-eaters: Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, beetles. Meat-eaters: lizards, Velociraptor, T. rex. Opens the Power Station.
- The search: the Power Key is in the Green Cooler (Feeding Station, Zone 2). Every one of the 10 clues removes a different hiding spot.
- The gates: Gate 1 Eats plants?, Gate 2 Has horns, plates or a dome?, Gate 3 Has feathers? Pen 1 gets Triceratops, Stegosaurus and Pachycephalosaurus, Pen 2 Brachiosaurus, Pen 3 Velociraptor, Pen 4 T. rex. This is the only setting that works.