Detective’s Name: _________________________

Dear Detective,

Late last night, one of our T. rex dinosaurs went missing!

We suspect thievery, as the dinosaur has not walked in 65

million years. Unfortunately, the security cameras were

suspiciously turned off all night long, so we have no idea who

stole the fossils or when. However, the thief must have gotten

distracted by all of our interesting exhibits during his/her

heist, because he/she left behind clues throughout the museum.

Please help us follow the thief’s trail in order to find his or

her identity and recover the stolen T. rex!

Sincerely,

The Greensboro Science Center Team

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Lobby and von der Lippe Exhibit Hall

Two astronomers who first thought that the Earth spins on its

axis are A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and C _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

The device that proves that the Earth rotates on its axis once

every 24 hours is a Foucault P _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

It appears as if the pendulum is rotating in a clock-wise

direction when actually the Earth is rotating _ _ _ _ _ t _ it.

The pendulum knocks over one peg every _ _ minutes.

How many pegs have been knocked over today? ________ What time

is it now? ________ What time did the Science Center start the

pendulum this morning? ________ (Don’t believe the sign!)

Show your work here:

There are two Gravity Wells in the museum! You may need to find

them both to answer the following questions:

The first astronomer who found how our planets travel in orbits

was J _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. He thought that the _ _ _ was

the center of the solar system and that all the planets moved in

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ orbits.

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Main Level

Dinosaurs walk and fly among us! Birds are living relatives of

the T _ _ _ _ _ _ _ branch of dinosaurs.

What are two traits birds share with their dinosaur ancestors?

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

The _ r _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ has a long neck that would have

allowed it to graze as high as 30 feet off the ground. It

lived in the Jurassic _ _ _ _ _ _, which is a part of the

Mesozoic _ _ _. (Hint: look on touch table by the volcano AND

the geologic time scale by the T. rex.)

Look Up! A Pteranodon (tuh-RAN-uh-don) is one kind of

pterosaur, or “ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.” Pterosaurs were

_ _ _ dinosaurs, they were flying _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

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Main Level

The wind speed of a category five hurricane can be one

hundred _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ miles per hour. Other types of

extreme storms in this exhibit are _ _ _ z _ _ _ _ _

and _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

_ _ _ _ _ _ are the number one Natural Disaster in the U.S.

The largest hail stone ever recorded is __ inches in

diameter. Pea-sized hail is about __ / __ inch in diameter.

How many inches of snow fell in the record-setting 24-hour

snowstorm? _________ inches.

Measure your height= __________ inches.

How many inches above your head was the snow that fell

during the record-setting 24-hour snow storm? _____________

Show your work here:

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Outside Zoo

Friendly Farm – Who Am I?

We are herd animals and like to stick _ _ _ e _ _ _ _. We can

hum if we are glum or just curious. Our bodies are covered in a

fine fur called fiber. We are called _ _ _ _ c _ _.

We miniature _ _ _ s _ _ on the farm are measured not in inches

but in _ _ _ _ _. A hand is equal to _ inches. If we measure 32

inches, how many hands tall

are we? _______ hands tall.

Gibbons

We don’t run, we swing through the trees with the greatest of

ease! This swinging motion is called b _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. We

have a _ a _ _ - _ _ d - _ o _ _ _ _ joint in our shoulder and a

second one in our _ _ _ _ t.

Fossa

Related to the _ _ _ g _ _ _ _, I am the largest predator in

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. My long tail helps me balance in the trees

as I hunt _ _ _ _ _ _.

Show your work here:

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Cliffs along Mona’s coast. Credit: Tommy Hall/Island Conservation

The _ _ _ _ Rhinoceros Iguana is a reptile found only on Mona

Island near _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. Invasive Australian pine

trees have taken over parts of the island. The resulting thick

layer of needle-like leaves cover the sandy ground. Iguanas

cannot _ _ _ through the leaves to reach the _ _ _ _ to lay

eggs.

Invasive (non-native) animals like _ _ _ _, pigs, goats, and

rodents have been introduced to the island. What are three ways

they are a problem for the iguanas?

1. They compete for limited _ _ s _ _ _ _ _ _,

2. predate on the j _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _,

3. and destroy _ _ _ _ and nesting habitat.

Lower Level in Herpetarium

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Near the Entrance on the Main Level

Water, Water, Everywhere!

Of all the water on Earth, _ i _ e _ _ - s _ _ _ _ percent of it

is salt water. Only _ _ _ percent of the water on Earth is safe

for drinking. 25% of the world’s population is without safe

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ water.

To keep the animals living in the aquarium healthy, the water

goes through m _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, b _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, and

c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ filtration.

Eat Like an Otter!

Asian Small-Clawed otters love to eat! Every day they eat about

25-30% of their body weight! This means that a 60-pound otter

would eat about 15 pounds of food every day. How much would you

eat if you were an otter?

Your body weight=________________ x 0.25

Pounds of food per day= ____________ pounds

Show your math work here:

The Hungry Games – Adaptations - Aquarium

An adaptation is a physical trait or a behavior that helps an

animal survive! All of the animals shown here in the Hungry

Games gallery have adaptations that help them eat or avoid being

eaten.

List an animal and the adaptation it uses to find or eat its

food:

Animal: ______________ Adaptation: _____________________________

How does this adaptation help the animal catch and eat its prey?

A shark is covered in dermal denticles which are tiny

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ structures that provide protection.

Now that you have looked through the whole Science Center and

found all the clues, try and put them together to find the

thief's name, so we can get our T. rex back!

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