Isabel

Stegosaurus -It was made official on **//April 28th, 1982.//** Its brain is about the size of a walnut and only weighed around 2 1/2 ounces. A full grown stegosaurus would be about 30 feet long. There was four bony spikes at the end of its tail probably used for defense. The bony plates that came up from the spine may have been used as armor. Stegosaurus's teeth were tiny so it could only eat leaves and vegetation, and could not eat meat. A group of students from //**McElwain Elementary School**// in //**Thornton**// suggested that the stegosaurus should be our state fossil. The stegosaurus lived in Colorado //150 million years ago.// It is now in the museum of The Denver Museum Of Natural History. and in some other museums. It was a dinosaur. The stegosaurus's nickname is called Stego. Stegosaurus is not alive anymore, but our scientists have found bones of it. They are found in museums. (museum names are the ninth fact.) The stego is Colorado's state fossil. Aquamarine -It was adopted on as our state gemstone **//April 30, 1971.//** It is usually blue, blue-green, or green. The blue variety is the most valuable. The aquamarine is related to the emerald, but the emerald is much more valuable. //**Mount Antero** and// //**White Mountain**// the best places for looking for an aquamarine. The granite on top of the peaks contain a lot of aquamarine. The aquamarine is very small 6cm in length is big for the gemstone. Citation:House Bill 1104, 1971; Colorado Revised Statute 24-80-912 The aquamarine is used in a lot of jewelry. Its the birth stone of March. The aquamarine is now Colorado's state gemstone.

Three Sea Creatures Who wants to see all the amazing things that are underwater? Well, I can tell you three sea creatures that live in there. First of all, the Calico Blenny finds holes in the coral, and moves into an old hole. The Calico Blenny will spend the rest of its life stretching up in search of food, and then bobbing back down again away from its enemies. The Calico Blenny is like a lizard, but with no legs, or arms. It is small, and it is white with a yellowish underbelly. The Calico Blenny has a dark green stripe across both sides of the border of its back. It also has big eyes, and the Calico is very cute. The rest of him in between the dark green stripes is white. But wait, that’s only sea creature one. Second of all, here’s the second creature, it’s called the Crown of Thorns. This is a starfish. Unlike other starfish, which can grow up to five arms, the Crown of Thorns can grow up to twenty-three arms. It waits until nightfall to eat. The Crown of Thorns feeds on coral called table coral. Table coral is huge. The Crown of Thorns attaches itself to the table coral, and then starts sucking polyps, which coral are made of. The Crown of Thorns is a great danger to coral. People are trying to rid of it, but if the Crown of Thorns gets chopped into pieces, the whole starfish will grow back! Oh, and then there’s the last sea creature. This creature is called the Tiny shell-less Hermit Crab. It looks like a little red, stuffed animal crab! Now, it is impressive! It spends its entire life eating among the coral. When the large Crown of Thorns comes to eat, the crab attacks. Using the coral as cover, the crab grabs a thorn from the starfish. It’s a long fight, but the little crab wins the battle. Now, aren’t these creatures just amazing? Yes, they are, and there are so many more out there! Just go scuba diving or read more paragraphs to find out more.

By: Isabel