An Ichthyosaur was a prehistoric marine reptile. I had never heard of it before we moved to Nevada. The official state fossil of Nevada is the Ichthyosaur and we have lived here for three years, so I felt that it was well past time to visit the Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park.
After traveling to Austin, Texas and exploring, I was feeling creative and inspired so I decided to put together a DIY unit study on Ichthyosaurs. I started with a Google search and found a printable Junior Ranger Workbook. Then I searched my library card catalogue, and checked out everything available. Our favorite was “Fossil Hunter” (pictured below).
Here’s a post that I wrote about How to Create a Unit Study About Any Topic – 12 Easy Steps in case you’re interested.
Keep in mind that most children’s books about prehistoric animals teach evolution, so if you are a Biblical creationist, you can just skip those parts or talk about creation instead when those parts come up.
Mary Anning found the first complete fossilized ichthyosaur skeleton in Lyme Regis, England when she was only 12-years-old. We read this fabulous biography. and learned that she was essentially – and for all intents and purposes – homeschooled!
Here’s a quote from the book (pictured above): “In Mary’s day, schools charged a fee for pupils to attend. Mary’s parents could not afford to pay the fee, so the beach became her school and her father, her teacher.” page 11
I took my tween/teens on a day trip to visit Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park. There were complaints from my younger two on this adventure through and through. I felt like I’d bitten off more than I could chew and it took extra energy for me to try and steer the whole ship with positivity when half the crew wasn’t having it. In retrospect, it was too far for us to do as a day trip. Even though we have friends who’ve done it and recommended it. I’m reminded of the saying, “Just because you can, doesn’t means you should”.
The pictures look great though…
After arriving, we went to check out the fossil house. Honestly, if they hadn’t told me this was fossilized Ichthyosaur skeletons, and I was just hiking around and saw this on the ground, I’d just walk right over it. My tween/teen said they could totally see the fossils – I don’t know. I mean I could see them once they were pointed out, but it was a little underwhelming. Having visited Dinosaur 🦕 National Monument – Jensen, Utah, I guess I’m kind of spoiled!
We then completed hike #8 for 2026 around the ghost town of Berlin. We hiked 1.3 miles on a well-marked, packed sand/dirt path littered with rusty nails, broken glass and rusted metal.
The Ghost Town of Berlin reminded us of the movie, “The Apple Dumpling Gang”. Berlin was a mining town back in the very early 1900s. It was pretty cool to see the old mine carts, the mill, the cemetery, and the assay office.
After this experience, I won’t be going on any more day trip trips of that length anytime soon! Whew! Everyone arrived home cranky and exhausted. I had completely run out of the virtues: Patience and Grace. But, you can’t win them all. Better luck next time!
heavens to betty 