The Pteranodon family is super excited to be traveling to the "Classic in the Jurassic," an Olympic-type competition in which different dinosaur teams representing the three Mesozoic time periods will compete in various contests. Today's competition is a race between turtle and theropod teams. When the fast-running theropods all get tangled up at the finish line, the race comes down to the slow-moving turtles. It's an exciting race as the turtles are neck and neck! Who will win this pre-historic match up??Buddy, Tiny and Mrs. Pteranodon are eating lunch at Pteranodon Terrace, and even though they've just eaten a big fish meal, Buddy's tummy is still grumbly-hungry. Mom understands that because Buddy is a carnivore he needs meat, so she takes the kids to the Dining Car on the Dinosaur Train to get him some carrion. While dining, Laura Giganotosaurus tells Buddy that the best meal she ever ate was prepared by her cousin, Chef Carson Carcharodontosaurus. So Buddy, Tiny, Mom and Laura all travel to meet the boisterous and generous Chef C and eat some of his famous carrion dishes. Buddy's tummy is happily full when our family leaves to head home. They even bring back a snack for Mr. Conductor!

Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don are excited that Keira Chirostenotes gets to babysit them for the night while Mr. and Mrs. Pteranodon go out for a dinner on the Dinosaur Night Train. Keira shows the kids how a dead log's decomposition provides food and shelter for many living creatures. Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Pteranodon are gleeful as they enjoy their date, exploring the Dinosaur Train's other compartments. Mom and Dad return home to find their kids filled with more happiness than when they left them and their pillows filled with several little bugs from the decomposing log.The Pteranodon kids are spending the day with Grandma and Grandpa Pteranodon! On the Dinosaur Train trip to their grandparents' place, Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don learn about sycamore trees. Grandma and Grandpa are excited to have a whole day with their grandkids and doubly-excited to do a special project with them. They bring the kids to a field lined with sycamore trees and show them a particularly tall one that was - Can you believe it!? - planted by their Dad when he was a kid! Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don get to plant their own sycamore saplings and vow to visit their trees frequently to track their growth over the years!

After Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don learn that it's Mr. Conductor's birthday, they decide to throw him a surprise party in his favorite place - the Dinosaur Train! The whole family plans the party, secretly riding the Rocket Train to pick up friends from all around the Mesozoic and gather ginkgo leaves for a special birthday cake. The party is a huge success - the Conductor is surprised and moved, and loves his tasty ginkgo leaf birthday cake.As the Pteranodon kids play in their family nest, Buddy stares at a sky full of clouds and asks the group, "What are clouds?" Mr. Pteranodon and his neighbor, Mr. Lambeosaurus, have different opinions. As they all get on the Dinosaur Train, they consider whether clouds are made of water or whether they're just made of fluff. Tiny knows who would have the facts--Mr. Conductor! He explains that clouds are made of billions of tiny drops of water that are so light they float in the air. He also takes the group to Cloudy Point Station where the kids play a cloud-spotting game, identifying the three types of clouds they learned about: cirrus, stratus, and cumulus. In the end, a rainstorm certainly proves that clouds are made of water!

Our Pteranodon family accompanies Mr. Conductor to the Troodon Town Roundhouse to meet up with Thurston Troodon, the Rocket Train's conductor. They all soon learn that Tricia Troodon, a young hotshot conductor, actually invited everyone there to see her new train - the Solar Train! The kids learn that it's powered by the sun! To test the train's performance, the three Conductors, along with the help of Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don, race the Dinosaur Train, Thurston's Rocket Train and Tricia's new Solar Train to the Triassic!Buddy and Tiny give Elliot Enantiornithine, a first timer on the Dinosaur Train, a tour of the Train. When they go through Laura Giganotosaurus' car, she explains to them that today is her bird watching/drawing day, but she hasn't found a single bird to watch. But, there's Elliot. He hams it up for Laura, who watches and draws him. This is so fun that Buddy and Tiny bring Laura to meet another bird friend-- Arlene Archeopteryx. Then Arlene and Elliot introduce the kids and Laura to a new bird named Peng Protopteryx! It's a successful birdwatching/drawing day as all three birds are delighted to show off their unique feathers.

It's time for the "Classic in the Jurassic" - the Mesozoic Olympics! Today's "Air, Water and Land" contest is a three-part competition pitting teams consisting of a pterosaur and a crocodile from each Time Period against one another. Mrs. Pteranodon, Tiny and Shiny are recruited to help in one of the three "legs" of the race, while Buddy, Don and Dad watch from the stands. The competition's three "legs" are flying, swimming and a lap around a track. Early on, Team Cretaceous pulls ahead and hold onto its lead, until the wild card of the race is revealed: Team Triassic's croc, Effie Effegia, who shocks the crowd when she runs, and then sprints, on two legs! Effie wins the race, and her bi-pedal ability prompts many questions - and a healthy discussion -- about her features. Tiny is disappointed her team lost, but cheers up when reminded that she was part of `"Classic in the Jurassic" history.While playing "Cold and Hot," a game they made up, the Pteranodon kids learn from Mr. Pteranodon that there might be more variety in the desert than they imagined. Their curiosity piqued, they plead for a trip to investigate the desert scene. Mr. Conductor tells them just how diverse plant and animal life can be in the desert. He happens to know a desert mammal: Fruitafossor. Upon disembarking from the Dinosaur Train, the Pteranodon kids meet Frankie Fruitafossor, a chipmunk-sized mammal. They quickly learn that their assumption that desert life was hot all the time and relatively uninhabited was incorrect. Come dusk, they find the desert hopping and crawling with life, as creatures emerge all over - mostly underground - where they hide from the blazing sun. Frankie gives our family a tour, including a peek at underground burrows he dug. Back on the desert floor, Don and the siblings can't believe how cold the desert has become. Nighttime in the desert is a different world than daytime! The family goes back to the Dinosaur Train to warm up and have a snack.

Dad takes the kids on a special Night Train to Troodon Town, where the Troodons have decorated their Roundhouse into a "haunted house" for a spooky party. The kids end up meeting a strange new nocturnal creature - a mammal named Vlad Volaticotherium, who was hiding in the roundhouse trying to get some sleep.The Pteranodon family learns more about the customs of their neighbors, the Lambeosaurus family, when they are invited for the first time to accompany them to the Big Pond to celebrate "Gourd Day" - a kind of Mesozoic Halloween. The kids see their first pumpkins, and Larry Lambeosaurus even shows our family how to hollow them out and carve faces into them.

The Pteranodon kids are riding the Dinosaur Train with friend and fellow pterosaur, Quincy Queztalcoatlus. When they pass by a waterfall, Buddy comments on how big it is! Quincy's dad mentions a giant waterfall at the edge of the Western Interior Sea. Mr. Conductor gives a lesson about waterfalls and then suggests a unique and amazing way to view the giant falls - from above! They can fly in the experimental Dinosaur Train Zeppelin...if Thurston Troodon will agree to take them all there on the Zeppelin's maiden voyage. Thurston does and our Pteranodon family gets to experience a spectacular Zeppelin ride! The Queztalcoatluses fly alongside, impressing everyone with their flying abilities. After learning more about waterfalls, the Pteranodons catch lots of fish and dine before heading back to the Train via the one-of-a-kind Dinosaur Train Zeppelin!When the Pteranodon family spots Annie and her T. Rex herd migrating to follow the food, the Pteranodon kids wonder if other creatures, even marine mammals, also migrate. The Conductor flies the Pteranodon family over the ocean in the Dinosaur Train Zeppelin to look for Polycotylus, a type of marine reptile that does migrate in the ocean. After spotting a pod of migrating Polycotylus from the sky, the Zeppelin lands in an atoll and our family meets Paulette and Polly Polycotylus, a mother and daughter from what is modern-day Australia. Our Pteranodon kids, Mom, Dad and the Conductor learn all about Polycotylus migration and the reptile features. Then the whole group of new friends enjoys a fishpicnic on the reef of the atoll before the Pteranodon clan heads back home in the Zeppelin.

When the Pteranodon kids decide to draw some maps, Don's map of one big land mass for "the whole Mesozoic" triggers a discussion on whether the Mesozoic is "one big place that's all connected" or comprised of a bunch of smaller, interconnected land masses. On the Dinosaur Train, the Conductor explains that millions of years ago there actually was just one big land mass called "Pangaea"! Then, over a long period of time, it started to drift apart and form separate, smaller landmasses, or continents. Our family can't believe it! The Conductor offers to take the Pteranodons up in the Zeppelin and through a Sky Time Tunnel, back to the time of Pangaea. At the Zeppelin Station, they meet up with Tricia Troodon, who helps pilot the Zeppelin on their journey. Once in the sky and through the time tunnel, our family is able to see Pangaea, the one giant landmass, just as it's starting to break apart. Then the family travels forward in time and views the continents separating more as oceans and seas move in between the land. Looking down at how their coastline looks in the Cretaceous Period, Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don all agree that seeing Pangaea breaking apart is one of the coolest things they've ever seen!As the Pteranodon kids are playing outside their nest, a few seedpods fall from a nearby tree, bonking Don on the head. This leads to a discussion about how far away things can fall from...maybe even from space?? Buddy hypothesizes that perhaps if a star came close enough, it could land on Earth! On the Dinosaur Train, the Conductor explains that things actually do fall from space. Big space rocks, called "asteroids," sometimes land on Earth, and when they occasionally do, they make a biiiiig hole, called a crater. Don perks up at this-he'd love to see a crater! So the Conductor takes the Pteranodon Family up in the Zeppelin to see a giant crater from above! On the ground, they explore the crater and find fragments of "space rocks" from the former asteroid. As evening falls and our family flies back home, the Conductor and Mom and Dad surprise the kids with a picnic dinner on the Zeppelin-hurrah!

"Spooky Tree" - Shiny invites Annie Tyrannosaurus to Pteranodon Terrace for a sleepover, but all Annie wants to do is investigate the "spooky tree" that Don says "comes alive at night." All Shiny wants to do is stay as far away from the tree as possible. Can the kids get to the bottom of the mysterious tree, and figure out if it really comes alive at night? Educational Objectives: A wide variety of organisms produce light inside their bodies, and this light can be used for a variety of purposes. Some creatures have a chemical reaction in their bodies called "bio-luminescence," which causes them to glow. This bioluminescence can serve different functions, including camouflage, luring of prey, mimicry of other animals, and warnings for potential predators that the glowing critter is unpalatable."Spinosaurus Super Model" - When Don stumbles across a stick that looks EXACTLY like Old Spinosaurus, he's determined to have the grumpy old dinosaur pose for his sculpture (so he can get the Spinosaurus's features exactly right). But when they arrive at Old Spinosaurus's home, he makes it clear that there's no way he's posing for anything. Can Don convince Old Spinosaurus to pose for his sculpture, or will Don have to come up with another plan? Educational Objectives: Spinosaurus, a gigantic theropod from the Cretaceous period, was the world's largest land carnivore, and the only Mesozoic dinosaur truly built for living in the water versus on land (as opposed to going into the water to cool off, for example).

Dad takes the kids on a special Night Train to Troodon Town, where the Troodons have decorated their Roundhouse into a "haunted house" for a spooky party. The kids end up meeting a strange new nocturnal creature - a mammal named Vlad Volaticotherium, who was hiding in the roundhouse trying to get some sleep.The Pteranodon family learns more about the customs of their neighbors, the Lambeosaurus family, when they are invited for the first time to accompany them to the Big Pond to celebrate "Gourd Day" - a kind of Mesozoic Halloween. The kids see their first pumpkins, and Larry Lambeosaurus even shows our family how to hollow them out and carve faces into them.

The "Classic in the Jurassic" games are back, and this time, it's the Ultimate Smackdown. Mr. Conductor explains the "wrestling" matchups from the three Time Periods are: T. Rex vs. Triceratops, Allosaurus vs. Stegosaurus and Zupaysaurus vs. Riojasaurus (dinos new to the Pteranodon clan.) Fears that competitors may get injured are allayed by the explanation of how the "Smackdown" works -- the best choreographed and most entertaining show wins! Morris Stegosaurus beats Alvin Allosaurus. When Ziggy Zupaysaurus goes up against Renaldo Riojasaurus, Mr. Conductor explains that Riojasaurus may be smaller, but he has a powerful tail and speed on his side. Then Boris the T. Rex loses to Trevor Triceratops. Tank and Buddy are thrilled-what a face-off! Once the judges tally the results, Team Cretaceous is declared the winner, and the fans love it!Buddy and Tiny wonder aloud whether the Triassic was the beginning of time, and if there was anything before the Age of Dinosaurs. So, to the Dinosaur Train they go where Mr. Conductor takes them back to the beginning of the Triassic Period to get some answers. In the Triassic, Buddy, Tiny, Mom and Mr. Conductor meet up with Erma Eoraptor who is happy to explore the "before the Triassic" question with them. Our group walks through a Pedestrian Time Tunnel (that's beyond the end of the train tracks) to get to the Permian Period, the time period immediately before the Triassic. There, they meet Deon Dimetrodon, who has never met a dinosaur or pterosaur before. Buddy and Tiny are amazed to learn that there are neither of these in the Permian Period (or earlier)! Deon marvels at our family's features - especially Tiny and Mrs. Pteranodon's wings. Deon shows our group around the hot and humid Permian, and he explains how his sail fin keeps him cool. Then Deon is delighted to experience the Mesozioc Era. He walks through the Pedestrian Time Tunnel with our group, and is blown away by the vegetation and the variety and size of dinosaurs. Another lifelong friendship is forged!

"Spooky Tree" - Shiny invites Annie Tyrannosaurus to Pteranodon Terrace for a sleepover, but all Annie wants to do is investigate the "spooky tree" that Don says "comes alive at night." All Shiny wants to do is stay as far away from the tree as possible. Can the kids get to the bottom of the mysterious tree, and figure out if it really comes alive at night? Educational Objectives: A wide variety of organisms produce light inside their bodies, and this light can be used for a variety of purposes. Some creatures have a chemical reaction in their bodies called "bio-luminescence," which causes them to glow. This bioluminescence can serve different functions, including camouflage, luring of prey, mimicry of other animals, and warnings for potential predators that the glowing critter is unpalatable."Spinosaurus Super Model" - When Don stumbles across a stick that looks EXACTLY like Old Spinosaurus, he's determined to have the grumpy old dinosaur pose for his sculpture (so he can get the Spinosaurus's features exactly right). But when they arrive at Old Spinosaurus's home, he makes it clear that there's no way he's posing for anything. Can Don convince Old Spinosaurus to pose for his sculpture, or will Don have to come up with another plan? Educational Objectives: Spinosaurus, a gigantic theropod from the Cretaceous period, was the world's largest land carnivore, and the only Mesozoic dinosaur truly built for living in the water versus on land (as opposed to going into the water to cool off, for example).

The Theropod Club - Buddy's Theropod Club meets with other dinosaurs that walk on two legs, eat meat, and have three toed feet. But Tiny feels left out until the Club invites her to join too!Surprise Party - Shiny, Tiny and Don throw a surprise party for Buddy on the Dinosaur Train and invite a whole caboose full of his friends!

The Old Bird - Buddy, Tiny and Mom make a play date with Petey Peteinosaurus to ride the Dinosaur Train to meet Arlene Archeopteryx, a bird from the family of the oldest birds ever! The kids are excited to learn that Arlene is a bird and a dinosaur.Home With Shiny & Don - Shiny and Don stay at home and we get to see that just because they don't always ride with Buddy and Tiny on the Dinosaur Train doesn't mean that they are not having fun. An adventure into a local caves leads to a marvelous and brilliant discovery.

One Small Dinosaur - Mrs. Pteranodon takes Buddy and Tiny to visit a Mikey Microraptor, one of the smallest of dinosaurs ever. Tiny is annoyed that Mikey is even smaller than she is, but Mikey looks up to Tiny as a role model.T. rex Migration - Buddy and Tiny go to visit their friend Annie Tyrannosaurus and discover she isn't home, so they follow clues and find her on a migration with her family.

Derek the Deinonychus - Buddy, Tiny and Mom visit a family of Deinonychus, dinosaurs with large, sharp toe-claws. They meet a kid named Derek who uses his toe-claws to not only hunt with but to carve great art!Don's Dragonfly - Don makes a new friend with red feet, a dragonfly named Howard.

King Cryolophosaurus - Buddy, Tiny, Don and Mom meet a reclusive, singing dinosaur named King who has a big swooping crest on his head and a voice that sounds an awful lot like Elvis Presley.Buddy the Tracker - Buddy and Don are "footprint detectives" as they track and find creatures they know at the Big Pond. The plot thickens when they discover fossilized tracks that are millions of years old!

The Old Spinosaurus & the Sea - Dad takes the kids on the Dinosaur Train to fish in a new place, where they meet a huge, grumpy old dinosaur, called a Spinosaurus, that doesn't want the kids in his Sea. Eventually the kids befriend him, and they teach each other their own unique way to catch fish.A Spiky Tail Tale - Buddy and Tiny help settle an argument between Morris Stegosaurus and Alvin Allosaurus, two very big dinosaurs - one with a very spiky tail, the other with a mouthful of sharp teeth.

Night Train - Dad, Buddy and Tiny take a special ride on the Dinosaur Train at night, learning about animals that are active after dark, culminating at the Big Pond for a nature walk under the full moon.Fossil Fred - Buddy, Tiny and Don play "detective" and search around the Big Pond for fossils. The kids end up finding an entire skeleton of a Jurassic dinosaur.

Dinosaurs in the Snow - Buddy and his Pteranodon family ride the Dinosaur Train to the North Pole - where it's cooler out and the skies are dark all winter long! The kids get to play in the snow and slide on a frozen pond for the first time.Cretaceous Conifers - The whole Pteranodon family have fun celebrating Mom's favorite holiday, Winter Solstice. They learn about large conifer (evergreen) trees and help decorate them at a holiday party.

Hootin' Hadrosaurs! - Buddy, Tiny, Shiny and Don meet Perry Parasaurolophus, a dinosaur with a crest on his head who teaches them a new way to hoot some hip music.Hatching Party - Buddy, Tiny and Mrs. Pteranodon attend an egg hatching party and meet their friend Cory Corythosaurus's new brothers and sisters.

When the Pteranodon family travels back to the North Pole, Don declares that it's his "winter wish" to see snow fall again. When a big blizzard comes, and even the Dinosaur Train gets snowed in, Don worries that his wish brought the blizzard. He's especially worried for his new friend, Soren Sauronitholestes, who is sitting on a nest of her eggs, out in the blizzard. But everything turns out all right: Dad explains that wishing for something doesn't make it happen, and the well-adapted, warm-blooded, feather-covered Soren successfully hatches her babies.While visiting the North Pole, the Conductor suggests that the family stop off at Aurora Borealis Station on an enormous frozen lake to see the Aurora Borealis, where the Northern Troodons celebrate a "Festival of Lights." While the kids wait for night to fall and view the Aurora Borealis, they work up an ice-skating show to entertain Mom and Dad. Everyone joins in to sing "Solstice Time is Here" and skate under the lights!

Shiny gets over her fear of snakes when Tiny challenges the Nature Trackers to meet the ultimate snake: the Sanajeh, a huge Cretaceous snake from what is now India. Dad takes the kids on the Dinosaur Train to find Sana Sanajeh, who may be huge, but turns out to be quite friendly. Once Shiny and Sana become friends, Shiny returns home with the knowledge that snakes aren't scary - they're just another part of nature!Tiny is horrified when her favorite buttercups all wilt, so Mom takes her and the family to the Big Pond, where she remembers seeing a whole lot of buttercups in bloom. On the way there, the Conductor gives the kids a visual lesson in "Nature's Life Cycle," explaining how a flower grows, blossoms, then wilts, and returns its seeds to the ground, to start the cycle all over again. Tiny finds her flowers at the Big Pond, both blooming and wilting, and can see nature's life cycle in action.

When Mr. Pteranodon and Larry go out to the Big Pond to find some red platanoids for the Winter Solstice Celebration, they accidentally miss the last train home. Will Larry and Mr. Pteranodon stop bickering long enough to figure out a way home, or will they get stranded in the middle of nowhere and miss the family Winter Solstice Celebration? Educational Objective: The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year.

The Pteranodon family rides a special 'Night Train" to another part The Pteranodon family rides a special 'Night Train" to another part of the Cretaceous Time Period, where they meet a Troodontid "cousin" of the Cretaceous Time Period, where they meet a Troodontid "cousin" of the Conductor's, Sidney Sinovenator, who knows more about the of the Conductor's, Sidney Sinovenator, who knows more about the stars than anyone. Sidney takes the family up to his favorite stars than anyone. Sidney takes the family up to his favorite stargazing spot, "Starry Hill," and teaches the kids why the stars stargazing spot, "Starry Hill," and teaches the kids why the stars seem to move across the night sky. seem to move across the night sky.When the kids build their own version of a nest on the beach, below When the kids build their own version of a nest on the beach, below their actual family nest up on the cliff, they get the idea to turn their actual family nest up on the cliff, they get the idea to turn their beach nest into a clubhouse. Shiny thinks that a clubhouse their beach nest into a clubhouse. Shiny thinks that a clubhouse needs a club, and "the Nature Trackers" club is born! The kids decide needs a club, and "the Nature Trackers" club is born! The kids decide to make their club about getting outside, getting into nature, and to make their club about getting outside, getting into nature, and making new discoveries. The only problem is: which kid is in charge making new discoveries. The only problem is: which kid is in charge of the club? of the club?

Dinosaurs in the Snow - Buddy and his Pteranodon family ride the Dinosaur Train to the North Pole - where it's cooler out and the skies are dark all winter long! The kids get to play in the snow and slide on a frozen pond for the first time.Cretaceous Conifers - The whole Pteranodon family have fun celebrating Mom's favorite holiday, Winter Solstice. They learn about large conifer (evergreen) trees and help decorate them at a holiday party.

When the Pteranodon family travels back to the North Pole, Don declares that it's his "winter wish" to see snow fall again. When a big blizzard comes, and even the Dinosaur Train gets snowed in, Don worries that his wish brought the blizzard. He's especially worried for his new friend, Soren Sauronitholestes, who is sitting on a nest of her eggs, out in the blizzard. But everything turns out all right: Dad explains that wishing for something doesn't make it happen, and the well-adapted, warm-blooded, feather-covered Soren successfully hatches her babies.While visiting the North Pole, the Conductor suggests that the family stop off at Aurora Borealis Station on an enormous frozen lake to see the Aurora Borealis, where the Northern Troodons celebrate a "Festival of Lights." While the kids wait for night to fall and view the Aurora Borealis, they work up an ice-skating show to entertain Mom and Dad. Everyone joins in to sing "Solstice Time is Here" and skate under the lights!

Dinosaur Big City Part I - Buddy and the Pteranodon family begin Dinosaur Big City Part I - Buddy and the Pteranodon family begin their journey on the Dinosaur Train, gathering all their Theropod their journey on the Dinosaur Train, gathering all their Theropod friends together to travel to a really big Theropod Club Convention friends together to travel to a really big Theropod Club Convention which is being held in Laramidia, the "Dinosaur Big City"! which is being held in Laramidia, the "Dinosaur Big City"!Dinosaur Big City Part II - The Pteranodon family continues their Dinosaur Big City Part II - The Pteranodon family continues their journey to the Theropod Convention in Laramidia, the Dinosaur Big journey to the Theropod Convention in Laramidia, the Dinosaur Big City! Among the Theropod dinosaurs that ride the Train with them is City! Among the Theropod dinosaurs that ride the Train with them is King Cryolophosaurus, who sings his songs "Big Ol' Whistle-Stop King Cryolophosaurus, who sings his songs "Big Ol' Whistle-Stop Rock-n-Roll Dinosaur Tour" and "Whole Lotta Theropods"! Rock-n-Roll Dinosaur Tour" and "Whole Lotta Theropods"!

Dinosaur Big City Part III - The Dinosaur Train arrives in Laramidia, the Dinosaur Big City, and Buddy and the Pteranodon family explore the crowded "dinosaur metropolis." At the Theropod Convention, our kids reunite with Annie Tyrannosaurus and her parents Dolores and Boris, and they all meet the multi-horned mayor, Mayor Kosmoceratops!Dinosaur Big City Part IV - Buddy and Tiny help King Cryolophosaurus overcome his fear of performing in front of his biggest audience ever, and he wows a large dinosaur audience when he sings his new song, "Whole Lotta Theropods" at the Theropod Convention in Laramidia, the Dinosaur Big City.