Triceratops & Stegosaurus: Plant-Eating Dinosaurs

Nova: Buckle up, Explorers.

Cosmo: Brains in!

Nova: Wheels up!

Nova & Cosmo: Brain Bus, let's GO!

Nova: You're on The Brain Bus.

Nova: I'm Nova - your driver today.

Nova: And we are going somewhere amazing.

Nova: Are you ready?

Nova: Some dinosaurs were as big as a school bus.

Nova: And they only ate... salad!

Nova: Big, giant, enormous dinosaurs.

Nova: Just munching on plants all day.

Nova: Today we're going to meet them.

Nova: The plant eaters!

Nova: Let's go back.

Nova: Way, way, way back.

Nova: Millions and millions of years ago.

Nova: There were no people.

Nova: No cars.

Nova: No roads.

Nova: Just big tall trees and giant ferns.

Nova: And walking through those trees...

Nova: Big plant-eating dinosaurs.

Nova: Let's meet them.

Nova: First - Triceratops.

Nova: Can you say that with me?

Nova: Try-CERA-tops.

Nova: Try-CERA-tops!

Nova: Good job, Explorers.

Nova: Triceratops was HUGE.

Nova: As long as a school bus.

Nova: And look at that face!

Nova: Three big horns.

Nova: One, two, THREE!

Nova: Two long horns above its eyes.

Nova: And one shorter horn on its nose.

Nova: Can you hold up three fingers?

Nova: One, two, three!

Nova: That's Triceratops!

Nova: Triceratops also had a big frill.

Nova: A wide, bony shield all around its neck.

Nova: Like a great big collar.

Nova: And at the front of its mouth?

Nova: A beak.

Nova: Like a parrot.

Nova: Like a turtle.

Nova: Perfect for snipping leaves.

Nova: Snip, snip, snip.

Nova: Now let's meet our second dinosaur.

Nova: Stegosaurus.

Nova: Can you say that one?

Nova: STE-GOSORUS.

Nova: STE-GOSORUS.!

Nova: Wonderful!

Nova: Stegosaurus was about as long as a car.

Nova: And running all along its back...

Nova: Big bony plates.

Nova: Standing up tall.

Nova: Like a row of leaves on its spine.

Nova: Can you show me with your hands?

Nova: Put your hands up straight above your head.

Nova: Those are the plates!

Nova: And at the end of Stegosaurus's tail?

Nova: Spikes.

Nova: Four big spikes.

Nova: Scientists have a wonderful name for them.

Nova: The thagomizer.

Nova: Can you say it?

Nova: THAG-oh-my-zer.

Nova: The thagomizer!

Nova: Stegosaurus could swing that tail to say...

Nova: "Back off!"

Nova: What a clever dinosaur.

Nova: Now - here is something amazing.

Nova: Triceratops and Stegosaurus never ever met.

Nova: Stegosaurus lived SO long ago.

Nova: By the time Triceratops came along...

Nova: Stegosaurus had been gone for millions and millions of years.

Nova: Millions!

Nova: They just missed each other.

Nova: Both of them ate plants all day long.

Nova: Big mouthfuls of ferns and leaves.

Nova: Chomp, chomp, chomp.

Nova: They had to eat SO much.

Nova: All day, every day.

Nova: Because their bodies were so, so big.

Nova: And sometimes they walked together.

Nova: In big groups, like cows do today.

Nova: Lots of plant-eating dinosaurs together.

Nova: Keeping each other company.

Nova: Quiz time, Explorers!

Nova: I'm going to ask you three questions.

Nova: Shout out your answers!

Nova: Ready?

Nova: Question one.

Nova: How many horns did Triceratops have on its face?

Nova: Was it one horn, two horns, or three horns?

Nova: Three!

Nova: Three horns!

Nova: One above each eye, and one on its nose.

Nova: Well done for thinking about that!

Nova: Question two.

Nova: True or false.

Nova: Stegosaurus had spikes on its tail.

Nova: True or false?

Nova: True!

Nova: Yes, it did!

Nova: Four big spikes on its tail.

Nova: The thagomizer - remember that wonderful word?

Nova: Question three.

Nova: True or false.

Nova: Triceratops liked to eat other dinosaurs for lunch.

Nova: False!

Nova: Triceratops only ate plants.

Nova: It had a beak for snipping leaves.

Nova: No meat for Triceratops - just salad!

Nova: You did such a wonderful job thinking today, Explorers.

Nova: Every single one of you.

Nova: Here come some wow facts.

Nova: Are you ready?

Nova: Wow fact one.

Nova: Some plant-eating dinosaurs swallowed rocks.

Nova: Rocks!

Nova: The rocks helped mash up the plants inside their tummies.

Nova: Wow fact two.

Nova: Some plant-eating dinosaurs had hundreds of teeth.

Nova: Hundreds!

Nova: And when one tooth wore out, a new one grew in.

Nova: Just like magic.

Nova: Wow fact three.

Nova: A Triceratops skull - just its head - could be as tall as a grown-up.

Nova: Most of that big head was the frill.

Nova: That giant bony shield.

Nova: What a head!

Nova: Time for a road challenge, Explorers.

Nova: Let's all be a Triceratops!

Nova: Put your two pointer fingers up above your eyebrows.

Nova: Those are your two big horns.

Nova: Now wiggle your nose.

Nova: That's your third horn!

Nova: Now open your mouth wide.

Nova: And pretend to munch a big leafy plant.

Nova: Chomp, chomp, chomp!

Nova: What sound does a Triceratops make when it eats?

Nova: Make the sound with me.

Nova: Chomp, chomp, chomp!

Nova: Now tell your grown-up.

Nova: If YOU were a plant-eating dinosaur...

Nova: What plant would be your favorite snack?

Nova: Hmm.

Nova: I wonder what YOU would choose.

Nova: Hey.

Nova: Let's just be still for a moment.

Nova: Those big, gentle dinosaurs.

Nova: Walking slowly through the trees.

Nova: Eating plants all day long.

Nova: And carrying all those wonderful things to keep them safe.

Nova: Horns.

Nova: Spikes.

Nova: Big bony armor.

Nova: Big plant-eating dinosaurs ate plants all day.

Nova: And they had horns and spikes and armor to keep them safe.

Nova: Triceratops and Stegosaurus were here on this Earth for millions of years.

Nova: Millions.

Nova: Long before there were any people at all.

Nova: And we still know their names.

Nova: We still know the shape of their bones.

Nova: We still know the sound of the word - thagomizer.

Nova: That's something worth holding on to.

Nova: Our journey is almost done for today.

Nova: But next time on The Brain Bus...

Nova: We're going to meet a creature so extraordinary...

Nova: That it does something while it sleeps that you will not believe.

Nova: What could it be?

Nova: I wonder.

Nova: Stay curious, stay clever, and keep that brain working!

Nova: Until the next stop, Explorers...

Cosmo: ...keep wondering.