computer science

Microsoft Dinosaurs

Microsoft Dinosaurs is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Microsoft Dinosaurs rather than just read about it. In short: Microsoft Dinosaurs is an educational interactive CD-ROM developed by Microsoft, themed around dinosaurs. Production Microsoft invested in access to the entire library of writing and images of reference publishing house Dorling Kindersley.

Key takeaways

Microsoft Dinosaurs belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Microsoft Dinosaurs to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Microsoft Dinosaurs from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Microsoft Dinosaurs is an educational interactive CD-ROM developed by Microsoft, themed around dinosaurs.

Production Microsoft invested in access to the entire library of writing and images of reference publishing house Dorling Kindersley. They used it to create content for the Microsoft Home software line, including Microsoft Dinosaurs.

Gameplay The game contains 400MB of dinosaur-related information, including full-motion video, audio, and a gallery of scanned artwork. The main program features 1000 illustrations, 200 hypertext articles, and 800 pop-up windows. Players can explore the content in four different ways: Atlas, Timeline, Families, and Index. There is also a guided tour, hosted by "Dino" Don Lessem. The game contains sequences featuring dinosaurs feeding, fighting and breeding, which had previously been broadcast in an American television series put out by the Public Broadcasting Service, and the Phil Tippett short Prehistoric Beast.

Animals Featured

Dinosaurs Albertosaurus Allosaurus Anchisaurus Ankylosaurus Apatosaurus Archaeopteryx Bactrosaurus Bagaceratops (off-screen) Bambiraptor (off-screen) Barapasaurus (off-screen) Barosaurus Baryonyx Brachiosaurus Camarasaurus Camptosaurus (off-screen) Carcharodontosaurus (off-screen) Carnotaurus (off-screen) Centrosaurus Ceratosaurus Cetiosaurus (off-screen) Chasmosaurus Chindesaurus (off-screen) Chirostenotes (off-screen) Coelophysis Coelurus (off-screen) Compsognathus Corythosaurus Dacentrurus (off-screen) Daspletosaurus (off-screen) Deinocheirus (off-screen) Deinonychus Dilophosaurus Diplodocus Dravidosaurus Dromaeosaurus (off-screen) Dromiceiomimus Dryosaurus Dryptosaurus (off-screen) Echinodon (off-screen) Edmontonia (off-screen) Edmontosaurus Einiosaurus (off-screen) Elaphrosaurus (off-screen) Eoraptor (off-screen) Euhelopus (off-screen) Euoplocephalus Euskelosaurus (off-screen) Eustreptospondylus (off-screen) Fabrosaurus (off-screen) Gallimimus Garudimimus (off-screen) Gasosaurus (off-screen) Gastonia (off-screen) Giganotosaurus (off-screen) Gojirasaurus (off-screen) Gorgosaurus (off-screen) Gryposaurus (off-screen) Hadrosaurus (off-screen) Haplocanthosaurus (off-screen) Herrerasaurus Heterodontosaurus Homalocephale (off-screen) Huayangosaurus (off-screen) Hylaeosaurus (off-screen) Hypacrosaurus (off-screen) Hypsilophodon Iguanodon Kentrosaurus Kritosaurus (off-screen) Lambeosaurus (off-screen) Leaellynasaura Leptoceratops (off-screen) Lesothosaurus Lexovisaurus (off-screen) Liliensternus (off-screen) Lufengosaurus (off-screen) Maiasaura Mamenchisaurus Marshosaurus (off-screen) Massospondylus Megalosaurus Melanorosaurus (off-screen) Micropachycephalosaurus (off-screen) Microraptor (off-screen) Minmi Monoclonius (off-screen) Monolophosaurus (off-screen) Mononykus (off-screen) Montanoceratops (off-screen) Mussaurus Muttaburrasaurus Mymoorapelta (off-screen) Nodosaurus Omeisaurus (off-screen) Opisthocoelicaudia (off-screen) Ornitholestes Ornithomimus (off-screen) Ouranosaurus (off-screen) Oviraptor Pachycephalosaurus Parasaurolophus Parksosaurus (off-screen) Patagosaurus (off-screen) Pelecanimimus (off-screen) Pentaceratops (off-screen) Piatnitzkysaurus Pinacosaurus Plateosaurus Polacanthus Prenocephale (off-screen) Probactrosaurus (off-screen) Proceratosaurus (off-screen) Procompsognathus (off-screen) Protoceratops Psittacosaurus Rapetosaurus (off-screen) Rhabdodon (off-screen) Rhoetosaurus Riojasaurus (off-screen) Saltasaurus Saltopus Saurolophus Scelidosaurus Seismosaurus (off-screen) Shantungosaurus Shunosaurus (off-screen) Silvisaurus (off-screen) Spinosaurus Staurikosaurus Stegoceras (off-screen) Stegosaurus Struthiomimus Styracosaurus Supersaurus (off-screen) Talarurus (off-screen) Tarbosaurus Tenontosaurus (off-screen) Thecodontosaurus (off-screen) Therizinosaurus (off-screen) Thescelosaurus (off-screen) Titanosaurus (off-screen) Torosaurus (off-screen) Torvosaurus (off-screen) Triceratops Troodon Tsintaosaurus Tuojiangosaurus Tyrannosaurus rex Ultrasaurus (off-screen) Velociraptor Vulcanodon (off-screen)

Non-Dinosaurs Angustinaripterus (off-screen) Anurognathus (off-screen) Archelon Cearadactylus Ceresiosaurus (off-screen) Clidastes (off-screen) Cryptoclidus (off-screen) Cynognathus Deinosuchus Dimetrodon Dimorphodon Dsungaripterus (off-screen) Elasmosaurus Eryops Eudimorphodon Eurhinosaurus (off-screen) Excalibosaurus (off-screen) Futabasaurus (off-screen) Globidens (off-screen) Henodus (off-screen) Himalayasaurus (off-screen) Ichthyosaurus Kronosaurus Lariosaurus (off-screen) Leptonectes (off-screen) Liopleurodon (off-screen) Macroplata Metriorhynchus (off-screen) Mixosaurus (off-screen) Mosasaurus Moschops Muraenosaurus Nothosaurus (off-screen) Ophthalmosaurus (off-screen) Ornithocheirus (off-screen) Peloneustes Pistosaurus (off-screen) Platecarpus (off-screen) Plesiosaurus Pliosaurus (off-screen) Plotosaurus (off-screen) Postosuchus (off-screen) Protosuchus (off-screen) Pteranodon Pterodactylus Pterodaustro (off-screen) Quetzalcoatlus Rhamphorhynchus Rhomaleosaurus (off-screen) Santanadactylus (off-screen) Shonisaurus Sordes Tanystropheus (off-screen) Tapejara (off-screen) Temnodontosaurus (off-screen) Tylosaurus (off-screen)

Critical reception The Obscuritory felt the title "demonstrates how thoughtfully crafted reference material can bring value to information", adding that guided learning experiences such as this have value even in the age of Wikipedia. Compute! magazine thought the title was "highly entertaining and educational". PC Magazine deemed it instantly usable and a "visual delight", with "beautifully rendered illustrations and lots of text". PCWorld.pl felt the title was aesthetically perfect and extremely rich in substance. The Seattle Times thought its chief asset is its consistently challenging, informative content. An article at the Journal of Accountancy recalled a four-year-old child who, a few months after using the program, correctly identified the species of a dinosaur toy and pulled up the information in the game. The game's sound effects won a multimedia industry award.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Microsoft Dinosaurs

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Microsoft Dinosaurs claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Microsoft Dinosaurs before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Microsoft Dinosaurs ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Microsoft Dinosaurs

In research: Microsoft Dinosaurs appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Microsoft Dinosaurs in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Microsoft Dinosaurs is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1993 software, 1993 video games, Children's educational video games, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Microsoft Dinosaurs outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Microsoft Dinosaurs in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Microsoft Dinosaurs means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Microsoft Dinosaurs out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Microsoft Dinosaurs in simple terms?

Microsoft Dinosaurs is an educational interactive CD-ROM developed by Microsoft, themed around dinosaurs. Production Microsoft invested in access to the entire library of writing and images of reference publishing house Dorling Kindersley.

Why does Microsoft Dinosaurs matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Microsoft Dinosaurs?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Microsoft Dinosaurs.