Why don't the bones break on the way home?

Old fossil bones can be cracked and crumbly. So the team leaves some rock around each one, then wraps it in cloth and wet plaster, just like a cast on a broken arm. When the plaster sets hard, the bone can travel safely to the museum.

Do palaeontologists only study dinosaurs?

Fossils come from all sorts of living things: corals, shellfish, fish, mammals and ancient plants. Palaeontologists study every one of them. Piece by piece, those clues show how animals lived long ago, and what the whole Earth was like back then.

Who digs up dinosaur bones?

Tiny answers for ages 4–11, then goes 2 steps deeper each time a child asks why.

Tiny says

Some rocks are just the right age to hold dinosaur bones. Wind and rain wear the rock away, bit by bit, until the tip of a bone pokes out. Then fossil hunters called palaeontologists dig around it, very gently, with brushes and little tools.

For ages 4–7

Checked against How to find dinosaur fossils (Natural History Museum)
Why don't the bones break on the way home?

Old fossil bones can be cracked and crumbly. So the team leaves some rock around each one, then wraps it in cloth and wet plaster, just like a cast on a broken arm. When the plaster sets hard, the bone can travel safely to the museum.

For ages 6–9

Checked against How to find dinosaur fossils (Natural History Museum)
Do palaeontologists only study dinosaurs?

Fossils come from all sorts of living things: corals, shellfish, fish, mammals and ancient plants. Palaeontologists study every one of them. Piece by piece, those clues show how animals lived long ago, and what the whole Earth was like back then.

For ages 8–11

Checked against How to become a palaeontologist (Natural History Museum)