TRENTON — Over 60 second-graders at Anderson Elementary School spent part of Thursday doing what children their age love to do most; digging in the dirt.

The best part was that it was all part of their teachers’ lesson plans.

As a grand finale to their month-long study of dinosaurs and fossils, the children spent the afternoon as paleontologists. They participated in a simulated archaeological dig and unearthed 70 dinosaur pieces, the various pieces containing over 200 bones.

They were maiasaura bones; an herbivore that scientists believe walked on four legs and ran on two.

John Ribbing of the Dinosaur Recovery Bureau in Rochester brought the exhibit to the school.

"It’s a way for them to learn about dinosaurs and fossils," Dawn Kemp, second-grade teacher, said. "It’s also a way for them to get to see what a real-life paleontologist does.

"They get to see a real-sized model of a dinosaur and see how big it was."

Sherri Winn was one of the 13 parent volunteers who helped bury the bones for the children to find. She said her son, Joshua, was really interested in dinosaurs and couldn’t wait to participate.

Joshua and his classmate, Allen Rogal, talked about their favorites among the extinct group as they dug into the dirt.

"I like the T-Rex," Joshua said, as he brushed of what he thought might be a rib bone with a paintbrush.

"I like the pachycephalosauras, " Allen said, as he shoveled out a fistful of dirt. "And my favorite other kind of dinosaur is a brachiosaurus."

Ribbing collected the bones from the children and began to assemble them on a metal frame.

The children looked on as an ancient lizard, larger than any they had ever seen, began to take shape before their eyes.

"I just think it’s great because it’s a hands-on experience," Megan Mrowca, the second-grade teacher who helped Kemp organize the event, said. "How often do the kids get a chance to dig up dinosaur bones and see them put together?

"They’re definitely at the stage where they learn by doing."

The teachers plan to have the DRB return for another presentation at the end of next school year.