Dinosaurs Unearthed

Immerse your students among ancient environments and cutting-edge discoveries.

Dinosaurs Unearthed: Explore Prehistoric Queensland uses the latest technologies to tell some of our oldest stories. Explore evidence of our past and the processes behind this real-life scientific inquiry.

Find out what Queensland’s own fossil record has revealed (so far). Ecosystems, from millions to thousands of years ago are de-coded in ancient sediments - from the Age of Dinosaurs to Megafauna and other recognisable ancestors of today's unique Australian animals and plants.

Dynamic, visual and interactive experiences the bring prehistoric landscape to life, showcasing Queensland Museum’s collections and research.

Schools and groups of all ages will enjoy engaging with this free exhibition. With multiple ways to explore, it offers a rich combination of objects with imagery, captivating bite-sized information and multimedia experiences to support all learners.

Bookings are essential for all school and children’s group visits.

To ensure your group and other visitors have optimum access and movement, please move through this exhibition in small, supervised groups.

Learning outcomes and curriculum

Dinosaurs Unearthed: Explore Prehistoric Queensland links to the Australian Curriculum (v 8.4 and v 9.0), supporting learnings in Science with reference to Cross-curriculum priority, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures.

The exhibition is directly linked to Biological Sciences and Earth and Space Sciences. The exhibition also connects to the Technologies curriculum and Media Arts curriculum.

Visiting the exhibition also provides students with opportunities to develop general capabilities in Critical and Creative Thinking, ICT Capability/Digital Literacy and Literacy.

Students can

• Recognise how Queensland Museum palaeontologists gather evidence to understand Earth’s ancient past. Gain insight into technologies that influence today’s research and access real scientific datasets.
• See how research using new medical and 3D scanning technologies informs the production of detailed graphic animations and digital palaeo-art.
• Feel a sense of awe and wonder, standing among life-sized recreations or zooming in on microfossil findings. 
• Discover our most celebrated prehistoric Queenslanders and celebrate the significance of Queensland's own fossil record and scientific endeavors.
• Understand how the movement of continental plates has changed Earth's surface over time. Identify changing landmass, coastlines and climate of a place we today call "Queensland". Consider how change has influenced ecosystems and the distribution of species.
• Investigate reconstructions, fossils and digital media to identify adaptations for survival. Identify and classify long surviving lineages of species and consider how their descendants have survived today.

Support your learning experience

Support your Dinosaurs Unearthed: Explore Prehistoric Queensland learning with pre or post experiences and resources that investigate ancient Queensland since its Gondwana origins.

Resources listed below are designed to support teachers when planning a museum visit.

• Dinosaurs Unearthed  exhibition floor map (includes Sensory Friendly advice)

These additional resources will enable students to understand we live in a changing world, with Queensland revealing an incredible fossil record, which allows us to reconstruct our past.

School of Rocks: Teacher Resource
These downloadable resources contain teacher notes, student activities and curriculum links.

The history of Earth's surface ban be revealed by its geology. Rocks and minerals have also been used by humans and our ancestors for millennia.

Use Museum collections, experiments and models to understand the formation of fossils, minerals, rocks and landforms or the manufacture of stone tools and geological exploration. 

Learn more

QM Loans

Borrow relevant and curriculum aligned kits of museum specimens from QM Loans to engage learners in your classroom, before or after your visit.

View QM Loans

Virtual tour

Come face to face with Queensland’s own ‘velociraptor’ Australovenator, see the world's largest lizard Megalania and explore supersized megafauna from anywhere in the world with our virtual tour.