Authors: Nancy Krulik

No Bones About It (6 page)

BOOK: No Bones About It

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“The change?” Kevin asked.

“Yes.” Dr. Muffinstoffer pointed to the dinosaur’s tail. “This dinosaur was always thought to walk with its tail upright. Recently, we figured out that the tail stuck straight out, just like you have it here. The tail helped it balance.” He turned to Mr. Weir. “But that information hasn’t even been published yet. How did you know about it?”

“Well . . . I . . . I mean . . . er . . .” Mr. Weir stammered. He didn’t know what to say.

“Mr. Weir knows all the up-to-date information. He rebuilt the tail himself,” Katie butted in. “Some of the kids in our class helped.”

“What an interesting project,” Dr. Muffinstoffer said with a smile.

“There’s no better way to learn about dinosaurs than to help build one, is there Mr. Weir?” Katie said.

“I, um . . . er . . . sure. I guess,” Mr. Weir said. He was staring at the tail on the model dinosaur.

Jeremy pulled out his camera. “I want to get a picture of you guys with the dinosaur,” he said to Mandy, Miriam, Kevin, Suzanne, and George. He turned to Dr. Muffinstoffer and Mr. Weir. “Would you be in it, too?”

“Now why would I want to . . .” Mr. Weir began angrily.

“It would be my absolute pleasure,” Dr. Muffinstoffer interrupted.

“Exactly what I was going to say,” Mr. Weir quickly added.

Katie choked back a laugh. That wasn’t at all what Mr. Weir was going to say. He was just trying to impress Dr. Muffinstoffer.

Suzanne, George, Kevin, Mandy, and Miriam all gathered for their picture. Mr. Weir fluffed the tuft of hair on the top of his head and fixed the collar of his sweaty shirt. He wanted to be sure he looked good.

“You must really like children,” Dr. Muffinstoffer said as he stood next to Mr. Weir.

“Oh, I love them,” Mr. Weir said. “Ask anyone.”

George was about to open his mouth to disagree, but he shut it quickly. He’d caused enough trouble for one day.

“Okay, everyone,” Jeremy said. “Say dinosaur.”

“Dinosaur!”

Chapter 11

“Wow! You guys were so lucky to be in Mr. Weir’s group,” Jeremy told George and Suzanne as he got onto the school bus behind them. “You got to
build
a dinosaur. We had to listen to Mrs. Derkman talk about them.”

“We did have a lot of fun,” Suzanne admitted. “Even if we were with Mr. Weird. It was a nice way to spend our last third-grade field trip.”

“Yeah,” Mandy chimed in. “It’s hard to believe that this school year is almost over. Summer’s almost here.”

“My big brother Ian says fourth grade is very different than third,” Kevin said nervously. “It’s a lot harder.”

“Different’s okay,” George said. “We’ll have new teachers.” He didn’t sound upset about that at all.

“But we won’t be together,” Becky Stern told the others. “There are two fourth-grade classes. Some of us will be in one class, and some will be in the other.” She looked at Jeremy and sighed. She didn’t want to be in a different class than him.

Jeremy rolled his eyes.
He
wouldn’t mind it if he and Becky were in a different class next year.

“We can all play together at recess and after school,” Katie said, trying to be cheerful. “We’ll still be friends.”

“Yeah, but it won’t be the same,” Mandy told her.

“I guess we’re in for a lot of changes,” Suzanne shrugged.

Just then, Katie felt a cool breeze blowing on the back of her neck. She gasped. Was it possible that the magic wind had come to change her into someone else?

The magic wind wouldn’t do that in front of other people. Or would it? Katie didn’t know for sure. It was hard to say what the magic wind would or wouldn’t do. She closed her eyes and got ready for the tornado to start swirling around her.

“George, close that window!” Suzanne shouted out suddenly. “The wind is ruining my hair.”

Katie breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t the magic wind, after all. It was just the breeze from an open window. “Don’t worry, George, I’ll close it,” Katie replied.

“Ow!” Suzanne groaned. “George, stop pulling on my ponytail!”

“It wasn’t me,” George said. “I think it was Jeremy.”

“Not me.” Jeremy shook his head. “Maybe it was Manny.”

Suzanne frowned and folded her arms across her chest. “I hate boys,” she sighed.

Katie laughed. Some things never changed.

Class 3 A’s Dino Fun Facts

Class 3A learned a lot about dinosaurs at the museum. (Most of all, they learned never to climb on top of one!) Here are some of the fun facts they gathered on their field trip:

Dinosaurs lived everywhere! Their bones have been found all over the Earth—even in the Arctic Circle and near the South Pole.

The biggest known dinosaurs were the plant-eating Argentinosaurus huinculensis. They grew to be 115-130 feet long. They had long necks that allowed them to reach the leaves in tall trees. They also had huge tails that helped them keep their balance.

It is harder to find small dinosaur fossils than large ones. So far, the smallest known dinosaur is the Microraptor. It was only about sixteen inches long, which makes it no bigger than a crow. It was discovered in China.

The Diplodocus was the dinosaur with the longest tail. Its tail could grow to about forty-three feet long!

The deadliest dinosaurs were fast, bird-like meat-eaters. These Megaraptor, Utahraptor, and Deinonychus dinosaurs all had huge claws, sharp teeth, and wing-like arms that helped them move quickly during a chase.