Viewfinder: Dino Day at South Elementary School

Armed with paintbrushes, second-graders eagerly brushed through sand to find hidden "dinosaur fossils" during the annual Dino Day, Wednesday, at .

Teams of students huddled around sandboxes during their exploration, setting their respective finds in piles. Paleontologist Roberta Straka — who led the day's presentation and discussions with her husband, Mike — went around to each group and helped them identify the "found" bones. The children gasped with delight when they were told they would each take home a real dinosaur fossil.

After the dig, students headed into a next-door classroom to look at photos and displays of minerals, fossils and digs in a makeshift "museum."

The Strakas remarked on how they enjoyed sharing the knowledge with children.

"We could have taught at the college level, but this is so much more exciting," Roberta said. "It's easy to teach something they already like. They like to learn; they're enthusiastic to learn."

"I started this with the hope that kids would take up science," Mike said.

He added that he reads journals to stay current with what's happening in the field, but sometimes the Internet-savvy students will know about the latest, breaking news before he does.

According to a Perkiomen Valley School District press release, during the remainder of the day, students participated in dino stations, which include a fossil dig for real fossils, creating dinosaur crafts and putting together a dinosaur fossil.