Jurassic Poop, an educational and hilarious children's book that shows there's more to poop than meets the nose.
Written by Jacob Berkowitz for ages 9-12, Jurassic Poop (Kids Can Press, ISBN 1-55337-867-9) is the story of an incredible journey starting from the bottom of things and ending as a fossil studied by scientists.
Whoever thought that fossilized poop could be so fascinating? I had my doubts at first, but the title alone was too good to pass up.
In chapter 1, A Message from a Bottom, learn how to tell a rock from a coprolite (fossilizes feces). It’s not as easy as you might think. There are a lot of imposters out there. What’s more, some fossilized dung looks like everyday rocks. Can you imagine finding out you have fossilized poop in your garden wall?
Chapter 2 Frozen, Dried or Lithified, demonstrates how dung can be preserved: frozen in ice, dried in the desert, or turned into stone.
Who Dung It? Chapter 3 goes into determining the age of poop and figuring out who pooped it. Berkowitz shows how scientists use the depth of the fossil and the process of elimination to determine both the age of the fossil and the pooper.
In Chapter 4’s Toilet Tales, learn what poop tells us about people from long ago: what they ate and clues as to what their lives were like (pets, cleanliness, table manners). You’ll also learn about unpooped poop (cololites) or poop that is found inside of mummified bodies.
In the final chapter, Lessons from Leavings, learn about other materials found in poop, such as ancient medicine and intestinal parasites.
Jurassic Poop is an incredible book that keeps kids giggling while also teaching them about what scientists are learning from coprolites. For educators and home schoolers, this is an excellent addition to a dinosaur unit as well as a health unit on the digestive system. Jurassic Poop really lightens up the learning process (just wait until your kids get a chance to make a coprolite from salt dough) and it is one lesson your kids will never forget.
