December14,2015Time:10:15PM

Mylifeisabouttochangeforever.Iamabouttogobackintime,to
seereal,livedinosaurs.Wehavejustinventedatimemachinetotakeus
backintime,totheTriassicPeriod,whendinosaursreallybeganto
becomedominantonEarth.I,alongwithtwootherpaleontologists,have
beenselectedtogo,andcollectrocksamplessowecandatethem,and
comparethemtotodaysrocksandlandforms.(Radiometricdatingis
findingouthowoldarockisbycomparingasampleofdaughter
materialtoparentmaterial.)Weareleavingtomorrow,andtheypicked
metokeepajournalofeverythingthathappens.Weallknowthatthis
willbedangerous,butwehaveallagreedanyway.Wewillbereturning
infourdaystime.
~A.Giroux

December14,2015Time:10:30PMTIMENOTES

Earthwascreatedabout4.6billionyearsago,fromofacloudofgas.
Then,foraverylargeportionoftime,about88%,wasthePrecambrian,
whichstartedwiththeoriginoftheEarth,andincludedthefirstsingle
cellorganisms.Neartheendofthat,thefirstmulticelledorganisms
appeared.Next,camethePaleozoicera,whichcontainedtheCambrian
period,theOrdovicianperiod,theSilurianperiod,theDevonianperiod,the
Carboniferous:Mississippianperiod,theCarboniferous:Pennsylvanian
period,andthenthePermianperiod.Afterthat,wastheMesozoicera,
whichhadtheTriassicperiod,theJurassicperiod,andtheCretaceous
period.Then,theCenozoicera,whichincludedtheTertiaryperiod,andthe
Quaternaryperiod,whenwe,humans,startedtoappear.

December15,2015Time:6:30PM

Hereweare.TheotherselectedpaleontologistsandIaregettingready
toboardthetimemachine.Wearegoingveryfarback,tothedinosaurs,
duringtheTriassicPeriod.Thisiswhendinosaursreallybecame
dominantonEarth.Wearegoingtocomparelandformsfromtoday,to
landformsfromthen.Wehavebeentoldthatwhenwearrive,wewillbe
inthesameplaceonEarthaswhenweleft.So,forallweknow,we
couldendupinatree.
~A.Giroux

December15,2015Time:7:00PM

Wehavejustboardedthemachine.Allthreeofusaresitting,cramped
inthesmallspaceofthemachine.Weareallsilent,exceptforthe
soundsofnervousbreathing,andthequietwhineofthemachinehard
atwork.Then,itstops.Igetup,andIpushthebuttonthatsaysOPENin
bigredletters.Thebigdoorslidesopen,andthereisnothinginfrontof
us,butopenspace.Astheothersbegintostandupandinvestigate,the
machinetilts,andweallfallover.Then,itfalls.Weallcrashtothe
ground,almostkillingus,ifitwerentforthepaddedwalls.Somehow,the
machinedoesntcompletelyfallapart.Apartfromafewscrapesand
bruises,nooneisseriouslyhurt.Weallstumbleoutofthenow
sidewaystimemachine,butthenhurriedlymakeourwaybackin,asthe
sunhasalreadygonedown,andweallagreethatweprobablyshouldn't
beoutatnight,becauseanythingcouldhappen.Iclosethedoors,which
somehowstillworkfine,andfallasleep.
~A.Giroux

December16,YearUnknownTime:Unknown

WhenIwakeup,Iseetheothertwo,stillsleepingontheground.Iget
up,andopenthedoors,andbrightlightstartstoseepinfromoutside.I
turnbackaround,toseetheothers,nowawakefromthesoundoflarge
doorsopening,staringatthelandaroundus.Itlooksnothinglikewhen
weleft.Theairiswarmandhumid,andtherearetreeseverywhere.
Therearerocks,bushes,andmuchmoreplantlife.But,itsalsoquiet.
Veryquiet.Wecautiouslystepouttogether,andjuststandforacouple
minutes,takingitallin.then,toourright,thereisarustlingnoise,ina
nearbybush.BiancaandIbothlookatEric,asheisthestrongestoutof
allofus,andhesighs,andslowlywalksovertothebush.Hestops,and
rightashestartstoreachforward,asmallreptile-lookingcreature
jumpedout,followedbytwomore,knockingEricover.Thentheyrun
away,hoppingawaywithsurprisingheight.Wehadseenourfirst
dinosaurs.Alittleshakenup,wewalkovertosomenearbyrocks,taking
smallsamples,tryingnottodisturbthebeautifulscenery.
~A.Giroux

December15,YearUnknownTime:Unknown

Weareheadingbackintothemachine,afteralongdayofcollecting
differentrocksamples.Wecollectedabout20differenttypesofrocks,
fiveofeach.Weputtheminseparateboxes,andarepackingtheminto
thesmallstoragespaceintheback,tobringthembackhomewithus.
~A.Giroux

December17,YearUnknownTime:Unknown

Today,onoursecondandlastfulldayhere,aswearecollectingrock
samples,Ericgoesoffbyhimselftogotothebathroom.Whenhe
returns,heisfollowedbyasmallpackofdinosaurs,eachaboutthesize
ofmyhand.Helooksatuslikewithapleadinglook,togetridofthem,
butwejustshakeourheadsandlaugh.Then,hestartslaughing,and
eventhelittledinosaursstartmakingnoisesthatsoundsortoflike
laughing.Soon,wearealllaughing,sohardthatwehavetostopworking
tocalmourselvesdown.


December17,YearUnknownTime;Unknown

Justbeforewegotosleep,wecountthroughallofourrocksamples,
makingsurewehavethemall.Wehave42differenttypesofrock,five
ofeach.Weclosethestoragecompartment,andgotosleep,satisfied
withwhatwehaveaccomplishedonourshorttripbackintime.Readyto
gobackhome,wefallasleep,forgettingtoclosethedoors.
~A.Giroux

December18,YearUnknownTime:Unknown

WewakeuptothesamesmalldinosaursthatwerefollowingEric,in
ourtimemachine.Westarttopanic,tryingtogetthemout.Ericfinally
stepsoutside,andallofthedinosaursfollowhim.Weshutthedoors,
andEricstepsinjustintime,sononeofthedinosaurscangetintoo.
Justthen,themachinestartstomove,andweknowweareonourway
home.Goodbye,dinosaurs.
~A.Giroux

December19,2015Time:7:00PM

WhenwouldIhaveratherlived?

IwouldstaylivingrightwhereIamnow,because,firstofall,I
wouldwantotherhumanstotalkto.Itwouldgetreallylonely
duringthetimeofdinosaurs.Secondly,humanshaveadvancedso
much,withthingslikeelectricityandarchitecture,Iwouldntwantto
leaveitallbehind.But,ifIweretolivehere,duringthistime,Iwould
needagoodshelter.Onethatissafeandwellhidden,forprotection
fromdangerousdinosaurs.Iwouldhuntforfood,andeatwild
berries.Iwoulddrinkfromthenearbyriver.Thescenerywouldbe
great,andthelowvolumewouldbeniceforawhile,butaftera
littlewhile,itwouldgetboring,andextremelylonely.

Works Cited

Geological Time Scale. Hyperphysics. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

<http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geophys/geotime.html>.

Geologic Time. ScienceFlix. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

<http://scienceflix.digital.scholastic.com/ri/01002266_10771291>.

Inside the Restless Earth. N.p.: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, n.d. Print.