Dinosaurs: China's Ancient Giants
Feb. 2 - Sept. 1, 2008
Cost: Included in museum admission
View specimens from paleontology sites from across China and Mongolia, including the Gobi desert, the Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces in southern China, and the more recent spectacular finds in Liaoning Province in northeastern China. Get reacquainted with old friends such as Velociraptor, and meet new ones such as the gigantic, 58-foot long Mamenchisaurus. Explore what it's like to be a paleontologist as you search for bones in a dig pit. Feel the immense power of size as you walk among real dinosaur skeletons from across China. These exotic Asian species have inspired millennia of legends, and now gathered in this extraordinary exhibit, they further the fascination.

A visit to the Life Science Hall is a terrific way to enhance your biology curriculum. Here students can learn about the human reproductive system, the structure and function of the human body, and the impact of advancing technology on health care and choices. They can explore how we age in Amazing Feats of Aging, discover how to protect their hearing in Dangerous Decibels, and learn about the dangers of underage drinking in Under the Influence (which also links to social studies). The Life Science Lab offers a close up look at biology with live animals and a focus on their adaptations and habitat. Demonstrations in the lab may include exploring through microscopes or participating in dissections.

The Earth Science Hall is a great place to enhance your units on geology and tectonics, weather and climate. Students can learn about nuclear waste disposal in Hanford at the Half-Life, and explore the warming oceans and satellite technology in the El Niño exhibit. The wave tank offers a look at ocean currents, and students can step inside a 5.5 earthquake simulation in the Earthquake Room (located in Turbine Hall). They can even try their hand at presenting a weather forecast! Students can get an up-close look at the tools of the paleontologist and million-year-old fossils in the Paleontology Lab and explore the life cycle of salmon and local environmental issues or experiment with the stream table in the Watershed Lab.

Experiment with technology and the physical sciences in OMSI's Turbine Hall. Technology surrounds us every day, and in Innovation Station students will learn more than just "how things work." Here they can become a designer, engineer, or inventor for a day, and discover how technology helps connect us to others and changes our future. Students can step inside the Inventors Ball Room and build their own inventions to launch brightly colored balls across the room. They can compare their own movements those of two giant robotic arms, and try their skill at building an aqueduct to bring water to a model town. Hands on activities and experiments provide opportunities for students to explore questions and think like a physical scientist in the Vernier Technology lab, the Physics lab, or the Chemistry lab.