We invite teachers, early years educators and group supervisors to preview the museum prior to your visit to plan and prepare for your group’s learning experiences. As some exhibitions are ticketed, entry fees apply for family members and accompanying guests. Book online now to arrange your free entry.
Dinosaurs Unearthed
Recommended for all ages
About the exhibition
Get ready to unleash your inner palaeontologist and embark on a roaring adventure with our new permanent gallery Dinosaurs Unearthed: Explore Prehistoric Queensland now open at the museum.
Discover Queensland’s own dinosaurs, giant marine reptiles, and supersized megafauna. Come face to face with Queensland’s own ‘velociraptor’ Australovenator and measure up against mighty Megalania, the world’s largest lizard.
Explore Queensland’s prehistoric wonders through geological treasures, cutting-edge palaeo technology and ground-breaking research from our very own museum scientists.
Uncover 250 million years of life in ancient Queensland in this must see permanent gallery for all ages.
Share your experience online with #DinosUnearthedQM
Visit as a school
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.
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.
Ancient Animals school program
Foster your student’s passion for science by delving into Queensland’s ancient megafauna, dinosaurs, and sea monsters by booking our new Ancient Animals of Queensland school program when you visit.
Students learn what Queensland habitats were once like and how they supported these unique, ancient creatures.
This hands-on learning experience supports curriculum content within Science Understanding (Biological Sciences) and Science Inquiry Skills strands, with different experiences for Prep-1, Year 3-4 and Year 5-6.
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.
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.
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.
Behind the scenes of Dinosaurs Unearthed
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Plan your visit
Plan your visit to Queensland Museum, centrally located at the Queensland Cultural Centre, South Bank.
How to get here & parking
Queensland Museum is easily accessible by foot, on public transport or by car.
Accessibility
Find out accessibility information including wheelchair access, quieter times, sensory resources and more.
What's on
What's on
View our calendar of exhibitions, events, activities and school programs.
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