"What's at the Center of the Earth? Troglobites!" - The Drill Engine Train burrows into an underground limestone cave, where the Pteranodon Family meets some strange creatures without eyes called "troglobites." In a contest to see who would make the best troglobite, Buddy, Tiny, Shiny, and Don participate in a treasure hunt - with their eyes closed! The kids have to rely on their other senses (with some guidance from the actual troglobites) to navigate the cave and find the prize. Story A Educational Objectives: A speleologist is someone who studies caves. Also, there are creatures called troglobites whose bodies are specially adapted for living in deep caves without any light. "What's at the Center of the Earth? Minerals!" - While digging even further underground, the drill bit on the Drill Engine Train breaks. The Pteranodon Family find themselves in the Cave of Giant Crystals, where they learn all about rocks and crystals (what they are, how they're different, how they form). In order to get back home, the Pteranodon Family has to fix the drill bit by finding a mineral harder than the mineral that broke the bit in the first place. Story B Educational Objectives: Minerals form naturally in the Earth and are made of the same thing all the way through, while rocks are made up of a bunch of different kinds of minerals. Minerals come in thousands of different types (more than 4000 to be more exact), many of which form large and beautiful crystals, some of which are harder than others.
