What do you discover at OMSI? Do you like to solve brain teaser puzzles in the Turbine Hall? See fossils get cleaned in the Paleontology Lab? Observe a chemical reaction in the Chemistry Lab?
We invited kids in the Science Playground to ask their biggest science questions—sparked by their visit to the museum or their explorations out in the world—for OMSI science educators and volunteers to answer. From unicorns to neighborhood flowers to crab facts, young learners asked and scientists answered!
From Betsy, OMSI volunteer: Crabs have 10 legs and are referred to as decapods. Like spiders, crabs also have legs that bend at the joints. Male crabs usually have blue colored claws while females have red colored claws! A crab’s eyes are made of hundreds of little lenses. Crabs work together in family units to protect each other. Different crabs have different food habits mostly because of their environment. For example, salt water crabs will eat turtles! There are 500 different varieties of hermit crabs!
From Denisse, OMSI educator: Hi Stevie, I saw you left a note wanting to know more about decoration. Did you know that science has shown that by adding nature and beauty to all the places that surround us, it can make people feel calmer and happier? Also, animals like the decorator crab uses plants and rocks from where it lives on the top of its shell so that it can hide or camouflage into its environment.
From Scientist Jane: Hello Inti! Thank you for asking if humans will transform into lions! Humans are part of the Primates order, and Lions are part of the Carnivora order—different branches of the mammal family tree. Since humans and lions are different branches, they can’t become one another biologically.
From Scientist Ariana: Leafy sea dragons are fantastic creatures that live off the coast in South Australia! They use their long mouths like a straw to slurp up shrimp. When they are ready to have babies, a female will give her male up to 300 eggs, and he will be the one to give birth, not her!
From OMSI Scientist: Hi Emily! Love your question about how octopuses can move without bones! Octopuses have what is called a “hydrostatic skeleton,” a dense but fluid filled muscular system. Each arm acts on its own but in coordination with each other through contractions! These muscles are very flexible and can help them squeeze into tight spaces! Check out how they use jet propulsion to move, too!
From Scientist Jen: Dear Charlie, Here is a picture of a blue columbine. This is a flower native to the area where you life. You might see them in your neighborhood during spring. Butterflies and humming birds love them! Stay curious!
From Scientist Jen: Dear Reese, Unfortunately there is no scientific proof that unicorns existed. However there was a prehistorical animal called the Siberian unicorn that lived alongside humans. It looked more like a rhinoceros than a horse, had a shaggy coat, and a horn on its head. There is also an animal that lives in the sea called a narwhal. it has a very long canine tooth that looks like a horn causing people to nickname it “the unicorn of the sea.” Say curious!
From Scientist Jain-Clair: Hello Jasper! Some dinosaur families did have little arms that were too small to be useful. The tyrannosauridae family evolved tiny arms and big heads and would use their BIG heads, BIG mouths, and BIG teeth to bend down for their BIG bites—much like some modern birds do when pecking the ground!
