WARRENSBURG - Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School students were wide-eyed with fascination over how their gym had become reminiscent of Jurassic Park.

Tyrannosaurus rex, giganotosaurus, plant-eating pachycephalosaurus and iguanodon, and others that roamed the earth millions of years ago were brought to life through an education and science program called "Dino Discovery" that visited the school Thursday.

Dan Stone calls his dinosaur exhibit a traveling museum and in-school field trip.

"We realize that the kids don't get to go to museums, so my wife and I decided to create a natural science program that includes the dinosaur exhibit," said Stone, who lives in Taylor, Mo. He has taken his exhibit to schools across the country for the past 12 years.

Stone told the children about a 10,000-pound beast known as the mastodon. His brother-in-law Sherman Byers was expanding the lake on his golf course property in Ohio in 1989, when the bones of the 11-foot-tall, 15-foot-long mastodon were discovered.

After a scientific team did the excavation, Stone said, "It was the most complete mastodon ever found in the world, and in its belly, live organisms were found."

This prompted Stone to include a replica of the head of the mastodon as the centerpiece of his exhibit, calling it the "Burning Tree Mastodon."

Dillon Massie was in awe of the dinosaurs. He was chosen by Stone to hold the large tooth of a megadon shark.

"Dinosaurs are cool, and they used to be very important," said Dillon, 7.

Principal Teresa Taylor said the school's Parent-Teacher Organization had a fundraiser last fall to bring the dinosaur exhibit to the school.

"I think since Jurassic Park, kids have been fascinated with dinosaurs," she said.

Parent Jill Wynn said, "It's different and exciting, because the only museums are the Science Center in St. Louis or the Field Museum in Chicago that has a large dinosaur exhibit."

Parents and relatives could return to the school in the evening to see the exhibit; the students were the curators, talking about what they learned about dinosaurs.

"T-Rex is the best and has a lot of teeth," said a beaming Jaycie Edwards, 6, who was going to bring back her mother and grandmother to see the exhibit.

More information is at www.dinodiscovery.com.

Sheila Smith can be reached at sheilas@herald-review.com or 421-7963.