D4K Top 10 Questions

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Weather (February 2009)

Thanks to Robyn Heffernan, meteorologist, National Weather Service (Boise); and Scott Dorval, meteorologist, KIVI-TV (Boise) for their answers

* Where does the weather come from?  Show answer

Weather takes place in the atmosphere, the layer of air that surrounds Earth. Air is a mixture of gases and tiny suspended particles. The weather is generated by pressure differences across the globe. We have high pressure and low pressure and between the two moving all over the planet, wind is created. The wind moves the air; cold air in certain places and warm air in others. That is how weather begins. (From Mallory in Mrs. Woodall's class at Hayden Meadows in Coeur d'Alene)  Hide

* What kind of clouds are there?  Show answer

Some basic types of clouds include low-level clouds, mid-level clouds, and upper level clouds. Those cumulus puffy clouds, the ones we like to make pictures out of, those are the lower clouds. They're usually out during fair weather. We can look at the clouds and basically get a general forecast of what might be coming. The really low clouds, the dark layered gray clouds, are stratus clouds. And then you start to move up to altostratus (at a higher level than stratus clouds), and the real thin clouds, those are called cirrus clouds and are made out of ice crystals. Sometimes you will see clouds forming over mountains. Air needs to rise to form a cloud. As the air rises it cools and condenses and makes that cloud form. A mountain is what we call an elevated heat source. The sun doesn't warm the air, it warms the ground or solid objects. The sun shines through the air, warms the ground and that warm air that's touching the ground begins to rise. And it will rise up to a certain point where it condenses and makes the cloud. If you have a mountain, you've now got the land sticking way up into the atmosphere, so the sun just starts to heat the top of the mountain. That air doesn't have to rise as far to form a cloud. Many times, especially in the Summer, you'll see clouds forming over mountaintops first before the valley. (From Bradley in Mrs. Woodall's class at Hayden Meadows in Coeur d'Alene)  Hide

* Why does it rain?  Show answer

When air warms it rises. As it rises, it cools and condenses. That's when you reach the dew point temperature. We talk about how much humidity is out there. When air cools enough to reach its dew point temperature, it is going to condense and form clouds. If you've got enough moisture in the air, and enough uplift (enough air that is rising and creating clouds), you're going to get a lot of moisture, and it will fall back down as rainfall. So the same moisture that came from the surface up into the air that created the clouds is the same moisture coming down as rain. (From Rachel in Mrs. Hunt's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* How does a tornado get started?  Show answer

We are still learning and understanding exactly how it works with a tornado. First of all you need a thunderstorm in the area. In a thunderstorm the air is rising. It cools and condenses and makes a cloud. With thunderstorms you have rapidly rising air. And then you also need to have some type of circulation. So if you get what we call wind sheer, wind blowing in a direction at one elevation and wind blowing in another direction at another elevation, that can create a circulation, which can get a tornado started. There's a little more to it than that, but that's generally what is happening. We do get tornadoes in Idaho. The mountains don't really stop the tornadoes from forming. There was once a tornado that went up and down a 10,000-foot mountain in Yellowstone National Park, in fact. The mountains aren't necessarily going to protect you, but one element missing in Idaho is a great deal of moisture that would make the thunderstorms stronger. They're much harder to find in Idaho as opposed to the Midwest, and they're very difficult to predict. (From Elizabeth in Mrs. Rice's class at Mill Creek Elementary in Middleton)  Hide

* Can it rain when it's sunny?  Show answer

You need a cloud for it to rain but certainly you don't need a completely cloud-covered sky to have rain. You can have certain clouds in certain areas creating rain, and it doesn't necessarily have to fall directly under the clouds. With wind and pressure changes, that rain can move a little bit and fall outside of that cloud. You might have pockets of sun right above you and still feel the rain coming down. That rain is coming from a cloud, maybe not directly above you, but it started in a cloud. (From Gabrielle in Mrs. Hunt's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* Does lightning shoot up from the ground, or down from the sky?  Show answer

It is a combination of both. Particles with electricity on the surface start to build up toward the cloud at the same time those same particles come down from the cloud. They meet at the same time; we are getting that lightning strike up from the ground, and down from the clouds at the same time, and meeting in the middle. There is a lot of electricity in the lightning bolt. The average bolt has enough electricity to light a hundred-watt bulb for about two months. Lightning is a buildup of electrical charges at the base of the cloud opposite from what's on the ground. And it's almost like a friction. You're rubbing the atmosphere across the ground and creating this friction. So you have different charges at the top of the cloud and the bottom of the cloud, and the air is a very poor conductor of electricity. The charges will build up from the ground and cloud and finally there's so much, it will then jump from one to the other, as opposed to constantly trying to balance out the electricity. The lightning will form after the charges build up. (From Asia at Mill Creek Elementary in Middleton)  Hide

* How is the weather predicted?  Show answer

There are a couple of ways to predict the weather. One of those ways is by observation. Observing what is happening now can tell us what could be going on in the future. We have what's called upstream weather. Upstream weather, for us in Idaho, would be weather that's happening in Washington and Oregon for example. We look at those observations to see what's going on there to see what might be headed our way in Idaho. That's one way we can predict the weather. The other way is with computer models. We rely heavily on computer models. They take observations like from weather balloon and similar and those are taken across the whole world at the same time. The outcomes are generated from the computer models as to how this weather will progress from the upstream weather, across the world. (From Kira at Vineyard Christian Home School Co-Op in Boise)  Hide

* What is a tsunami and how is it caused?  Show answer

A tsunami is not caused by weather. Many times earthquakes occur under the ocean. The earth opens the water, drops it, and comes back out; creating a ripple effect in the ocean, and then it will send that wave, which is not very tall when it's out in the ocean. It's coming very low, and very, very fast, and all that energy is spread out over a wide area. As it gets close to shallow water, that energy begins to build up and the wave will grow and grow and grow. (From Noah in Mrs. Coe's class at Valley View Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* How accurate are long term weather forecasts?  Show answer

Some months are very difficult to predict. Because we are dealing with an inexact science, there's so much uncertainty involved, we know it's happening right now so we can measure that. But as soon as we start to forecast, the accuracy starts to drop off. A few hours from now, our forecast is really good. The further out we get, however, it starts to drop off. So you have to ask yourself, how far off can we forecast? Can we forecast 25 days out? Well, the forecast isn't going to be extremely accurate 25 days out. In fact, we may get a general idea if we might be above or below average as far as temperature and rain and snow. But the first day is very accurate. Tomorrow and the next day is not bad, it starts to drop off a little bit. It's getting better all the time as we improve our technology. Factors that influence that accuracy are going to be the weather pattern that we are in. Certain weather patterns are more predictable than others. Certain times of the year are more predictable. As we have the transition seasons, like the spring and fall, those are trickier because we're changing from more of a stagnant time, its cold all the time. As summertime comes on we are experiencing more volatile weather. The accuracy will again drop off. Knowing where the jet stream is can be pretty important (and, of course, how it's behaving). Certain times of the year there are computer models that will look at that model of that jet stream and where it's supposed to go. We can look at different models and sometimes they don't agree or none of them agree. When that happens, we call it a low confidence forecast, because nobody is sure. Maybe the weather pattern is undergoing a change. But we want to know where that jet stream is going to be because that's going to bring the storms in our direction. (From Molly, a home school student with Idaho Virtual Academy, in Emmett)  Hide

* Did you go to college to become a meteorologist and what kind of training does it take?  Show answer

You can get certified with a four-year degree, a bachelor's degree in an atmospheric science program. Some of the programs can also be within geography. That schooling consists of mathematics and a lot of science. So if you like science and math and are also interested in the weather, this might be the field for you. The American Meteorological Society is an organization that can also provide certification for certain career fields. (From Levi in Mrs. Rice's class at Mill Creek Elementary in Middleton)  Hide

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Five Senses (January 2009)

Thanks to Dr. David Bettis, Pediatric Neurologist and Dr. David Agler, family medicine, St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, Boise; and Dr. Charles Davis, family medicine, St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, for their answers

* Are the lines on your fingers able to tell you if things are rough or soft? (Michael); and, What is it in your skin that helps you feel? (Stewart)  Show answer

It's not so much the lines themselves as it is the sensors, which are very small. They are under the skin and in the skin. It's those sensors that actually transmit the information from the skin itself up to the brain. There are tiny, different receptors for different kinds of touch. There's one for temperature, cold and hot, one for pain, one for soft touch, and a different one for vibration. (From Michael in Mrs. Woodall's class at Hayden Meadows Elementary and Stuart in Mrs. Miller's class at Caldwell Adventist Elementary School)  Hide

* Is your taste connected to your smell when you eat?  Show answer

Taste and smell are separate senses; they do work in harmony, but they are two separate senses entirely. Those two are probably the most interrelated. If you get a bad cold and your nose is stuffed up you can't taste food, for instance. So it's a waste to have a turkey dinner when you can't taste anything. In this scenario, taste is partly dependent on smell and you use both in that case. (From Samantha in Mrs. Anderson's class at Hillcrest Elementary in American Falls)  Hide

* What is the most important sense out of the five?  Show answer

It's hard to say one is any more important than the others. Obviously if you have all of the senses, it makes for a better experience, but you can survive without one or more of your senses. It's very hard to think about how one is more important but if you lose one completely it can cause problems. Losing touch would be important, for instance, since you don't know if you're going to get burned and it could be dangerous. (From Schyler in Mrs. Schweitzer's class at Riverside Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* Can you feel the taste buds on your tongue?  Show answer

You can feel the taste buds on your tongue if you put your finger on your tongue. There are little bumps and the taste buds are fairly small. They are too small to feel the individual ones but you can feel the papillae (the bumps) that contain the taste buds. One interesting thing to add is the cilia on the taste buds. There are medical conditions where it can grow quite long and actually cause conditions called hairy tongue. They grow so long it almost looks like hair on your tongue. (From Sam who attends home school in Coeur d'Alene)  Hide

* Why are animal senses better than human senses?  Show answer

It most likely has to do with the anatomy of the animal's ears or eyes, or nose. Some animals have worse senses than humans. It would be based on the anatomy and how we have developed, either humans or animals. Different animals have different survival values. So an eagle with "eagle eyes" needs to see things from far away because they're flying up high. Cats have very good vision at a distance but up close they feel with their nose and sense of smell. So it would depend on what sense makes the most survival sense and value for that animal. (From Kyle in Mrs. Amburn's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* Can they make a robot that has all of our human senses?  Show answer

They haven't quite gotten all of our human senses engineered yet with the robot. But if you think about it, theoretically, could you have a robot that would have the same kind of senses we have? It would respond as long as it has a robot-type brain that would be able to intercept those senses. A robot wouldn't care if its arm got cut, which is a response to our sense; touch protects us from injury. If something were sharp or sticky we would pull our arm away from it whereas a metal robot arm doesn't care if it bumps into things. The sense of touch wouldn't mean as much to a robot as other things like seeing or hearing. (From Gabrielle in Mrs. Hunt's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise)  Hide

* Where on the tongue is the location of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, and why are they in separate places?  Show answer

There are separate receptors for different senses of taste, but they're actually all mixed together and the tongue all over has a sense of taste. One thing that is really essential to taste is saliva. Try wiping your tongue dry with a towel or piece of paper and then putting a little salt or sugar on your tongue, and you'll see it's harder to taste it without the saliva to dissolve the chemical. We also swish things around our tongue, so if there's decreased taste on one side, we mix it up. (From Andrew who attends home school in Twin Falls)  Hide

* Is the ear connected to your nose on the inside?  Show answer

There is a type of connection there. From your middle ear you have a tube that drains down to the back of your sinuses and helps to equalize the pressure between your middle ear and the outside atmosphere. So there is a connection there between your ear and the nose through that tube. (From Greg in Mrs. Anderson's class at Hillcrest Elementary in American Falls)  Hide

* What advice do you have for someone taking care of their five senses?  Show answer

It's important to protect your eyes and wear protective eyewear when you're doing certain activities such as mowing the lawn, doing carpentry work, pounding nails, or using a power tool. More importantly it's very, very important to use sunglasses because bright light from the sun, if it's overexposed to your eyes, can be very harmful. And of course we never, ever look directly into the sun. One important way to protect your hearing is to avoid prolonged exposure to loud noise. One problem that we see nowadays with the iPod generation is early hearing loss because of the volumes on the iPods with the earphones in. Not exposing your ears to loud noise is important. And please don't stick q-tips in your ears; that eardrum is very sensitive and can rupture easily. It's harder to protect your sense of smell, taste, or touch; these are all things that can be damaged. And if you touch something really super hot you can actually damage the actual nerve on the hand. Stay away from anything that could physically damage your skin or physically damage your tongue, for instance. It's also key to avoid alcohol and drugs. The human body is marvelous and we have our special senses that allow to us to watch beautiful sunsets and listen to our favorite music and enjoy our favorite foods, so why would we want to alter that with drugs or alcohol? Life is good just the way it is, and the human body is truly a miracle. (From Brittney in Mrs. Everett's class at Mountain Home High School)  Hide

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Planets (December 2008)

Thanks to Jason Barnes, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Idaho; and Dr. Gary L. Bennett, retired scientist and program manager for NASA for their answers

* Why is Pluto not a planet anymore?  Show answer

When we first discovered Pluto in 1930 we thought it was a planet because it was the brightest thing we found in that orbit. It turns out that in 1993 we started finding other, what seemed to be planets, about the same size as Pluto in similar orbits to Pluto. Instead of Pluto being the only planet in its part of the solar system, it turns out there are hundreds of icy planets in a big swarm. So like the asteroid belt, when the first asteroid was found, it was called a planet as well. As we found more and more planets that were in the same or similar orbits, we realized it wasn't a full planet itself, only a member of a swarm of minor planets. We find the same thing is true for Pluto; it's only the largest and brightest element of a larger swarm of what we call corporate belt objects. (From Jesse at Wapello Elementary School in Blackfoot.)  Hide

* There are other galaxies, so are there other planets that sustain life?  Show answer

What we do know right now is that there are at least 300 planets outside of our own solar system. Astronomers have detected these by various mechanisms, primarily looking at the wobble of the parent sun. Most of these planets are what have been described as super jupiters. They're much larger than our own planet Jupiter, and many of them are in weird positions, very close to their parent star. We're still looking for earth-type planets, and with the dust clouds that have been seen around some stars plus these planets that have been found, the odds are pretty good that we're going to find planets that are like the earth. As to other galaxies, those are a bit too far away for us to really tell anything, but there are at least 300 extra solar planets that have been discovered. (From Jennings in Mrs. McCamish Cameron's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise.)  Hide

* What color are the planets?  Show answer

Mercury looks a lot like the moon, based on the images that have been taken by the two spacecraft that have visited mercury. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. Venus, at least in some of the images that came back from spacecraft, actually has a yellowish cast; that could be the result of how they processed the images because other images show it not quite looking like that. Perhaps it is because they wanted to show that it has sulfuric acid in the atmosphere. Our own planet is a beautiful blue and white. Mars has an orangish red color. Jupiter and Saturn have got bands, very colorful bands, and they're different colors. Saturn tends to be more yellow while Jupiter looks gray with a giant red spot. Uranus and Neptune are in the bluish range. Neptune is a beautiful blue, Uranus is a greenish-blue, and Pluto - we'll find out when the New Horizon spacecraft gets there (it may just be covered with ice). (From Andrew in Twin Falls, who is at home school.)  Hide

* How is a planet formed?  Show answer

Planets are thought to have been formed at the same time that stars are formed. Our sun was formed 4.5 billion years ago from the collapse of a giant cloud of gas and dust. As the gas and dust collapsed under its own gravity the planets formed out of a disk, a flat part of the formation process that's orbiting the sun and is very thin, and composed of dust and rocks. Slowly the dust and rocks grew on to bigger and bigger objects that became rocky planets like the earth and mars. (From Karl in Mrs. McCamish Cameron's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise.)  Hide

* How hot is the sun?  Show answer

It is believed that it is 6,000 degrees on the surface but at the center it's on the order of 15, perhaps 20, million degrees on the metric scale. Very hot, but at those temperatures it allows the nuclear fusion to occur, which gives us the light and the warmth that we need. (From James in Mrs. Rice's class at Millcreek Elementary School in Middleton.)  Hide

* What is a meteor?  Show answer

A meteor is an asteroid and as asteroids are flying around the inner solar system, they're on crazy, random orbits. Sometimes a asteroid crashes into earth and as it's flying through the atmosphere it burns up on the way through. When you look up and see a big flash of light, that's this little asteroid burning up in the earth's atmosphere and that's a meteor. (From Timmer in Mrs. Schweitzer's class at Riverside Elementary School in Boise.)  Hide

* Is Planet "X" a planet or a moon?  Show answer

We don't know much about Planet "X." in fact, at one point it was thought that perhaps there was another additional planet beyond Neptune. This was about 100 years ago. people looked for that planet and actually found Pluto. There is an idea that maybe there are additional planets further out in our solar system, but by looking at the orbits of the planets we do know about, if there were one out there, we'd be able to see it because the motion of the other planets would change just slightly. The planet Neptune was found and as predicted, people saw the orbit of Uranus change; they knew Neptune was there before they even saw it. Planet "X" was an idea we thought might be there, but we no longer feel that is true. (From Callan at the Northwest Children's Home Education Center in Lewiston.)  Hide

* What is the coldest planet?  Show answer

The coldest planet would be Uranus or Neptune; they are about the same temperature. They are so far out they only receive a small amount of the light we get on earth. (From Rachel in Mrs. Hunt's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary in Boise.)  Hide

* Why does Saturn have rings around it?  Show answer

We found rings around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. There's even speculation that earth may have a ring early in its history. The rings appear to be a combination of things such as debris which the planets have collected and in many cases it may simply be the result of very small satellites that were in orbit around the planet, such as Saturn. They may have collided and broken apart and then the dust just got spread out and formed rings around the planet. Saturn has 19 rings around. We have a spacecraft there right now which is looking at the rings amongst other things. (From Audrey in Mrs. Woodall's class at Hayden Meadows Elementary in Hayden.)  Hide

* How far away is the sun and the moon from Earth?  Show answer

The moon is about 250,000 miles from the earth; if you were to walk around the earth that would be about 25,000 miles. So if you have to walk around the earth 10 times, the sun is farther away still. The sun is 93 million miles away. It's almost 400 times farther away than the moon is. (From Audrey at the Northwest Children's Home Education Center in Lewiston.)  Hide

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Habitat (October 2008)

Thanks to Sara Focht, Wildlife Educator with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game; and Jon Rachael, Regional Wildlife Manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game for their answers

* Is there an animal with more than one habitat?  Show answer

There are several animals with more than one habitat. A good example would be a bird that migrates. Idaho has birds that migrate here in the summer and then in the winter they migrate to the Southern United States, or even South America; and they have a very different habitat down there. That would be a good example of an animal that has two very different habitats and they need them both. (From Andrew in Mrs. Schweitzer's class at Riverside Elementary School in Boise)  Hide

* What different types of habitats are there in Idaho?  Show answer

Idaho has a variety of habitats. Sagebrush habitat, that's a big one in Southern Idaho. It's really important for a lot of different species; over 200 species depend on sagebrush. We have conifer forests that are an important habitat for owls and large game, as they like to hide there. Riparian habitats are any sort of water habitat (riparian is a strange word, but it's just another word to say "water"). That could be any kind of water; it could be a stream, a lake, a pond, and those habitats are very important because we know that all animals need food, water, shelter, and space. (From Isabelle in Mrs. Amburn's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary School in Boise)  Hide

* Is there an animal that exists in all habitats?  Show answer

There may not be an animal that we can think of but instead a group and that's insects. Insects are in almost every habitat. It would be different insects per habitat. Cockroaches seem to be able to survive just about anywhere. Individual animals have particular needs that need to be met for the way they're designed and the way they live. For instance, you wouldn't have a mammal that could live under water extensively like a fish and you wouldn't have a fish that would do very well on land for very long. So the most diverse group would definitely be insects. (From Cheyenne in Mrs. Rice's class at Mill Creek Elementary School in Middleton)  Hide

* Can a change of habitat result in extinction?  Show answer

A change of habitat, if it's great enough, or a loss of habitat, could certainly cause extinction. Loss of habitat is the number one factor in why animals go extinct. (From Caleb in Mrs. McCoy's class at Donnelly Elementary School in Donnelly)  Hide

* What is the smallest habitat?  Show answer

Spiders have a pretty small habitat but there are most likely even smaller insects than that. For instance, a dog might have mites inside his ears, and that's a habitat - that's a pretty small space. You can even get down to a habitat as small as what an amoeba lives in. (From Gabby in Mrs. Hunt's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary School in Boise)  Hide

* What happens to animals when their habitat is burned?  Show answer

When the habitat is burned it's pretty much gone for those animals. They have to move someplace else and the original habitat needs to grow back again. It will grow in again but it will take time. Sometimes a fire can create a better habitat for different animals. For instance, if you have a forest, a deep, dark, dense forest, it wouldn't be so great for elk, but after a fire the grasses grow and then the elk love it. Again, the habitat will replenish, it just takes time. (From Mrs. Fogg's class at Horizon Elementary School in Jerome)  Hide

* Can exhaust or air pollution destroy habitat?  Show answer

If there is enough exhaust it could hurt some of the elements in a habitat. On a global scale, some people believe the exhaust or pollution contributes to global warming, and global warming certainly can change habitats, maybe at a faster rate of change than they would normally. In addition to that global warming is also a contributor to acid rain, which changes the pH balance of the environment and also impacts habitat. (From Kameron from Mrs. Dransfield's class at Mary McPherson Elementary School in Meridian)  Hide

* Are elk losing their habitat?  Show answer

Habitat for elk and other species face a variety of threats. Sometimes elk are impacted when we have fires go through, particularly on winter range where elk need to spend the winter in smaller spaces. If that habitat gets burned they are definitely at a higher risk of dying of starvation in the winter. There are other threats including development of houses for people where the elk live. We also have threats of weed species that take over the natural foods that elk seek out. (From Cameron in Mrs. Fryer's class at Clearwater Elementary School in Kooskia)  Hide

* Why do animals travel so far out of one particular area?  Show answer

Some animals travel a long way because the habitat they are in loses a component. For instance, in the winter birds lose their food source, like insects. So they have to go somewhere else to find a new habitat. (From Isaiah from Mrs. Fryer's class at Clearwater Elementary School in Kooskia)  Hide

* Are there habitats that are affected by oil drilling?  Show answer

There are some habitats that could be fragmented by oil rigs, where they put the drill down deep into the earth. A habitat could be large and solid so the animal could move about underground in that habitat, but after the drill goes down it might leave the ground in pieces so the animals wouldn't be able to move from place to place freely. (From Josie in Mrs. Willis's class at Jefferson Middle School in Caldwell)  Hide

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Dinosaurs (September 2008)

Thanks to David Varricchio, Assistant Professor of Paleontology, Earth Sciences Department at Montana State University for their answers

* Why do dinosaurs have such complicated names?  Show answer

Historically we have tried to standardize the name of each dinosaur by using "Latinized" names so that any one around the world can understand them. So if you speak Chinese or French or German, for instance, we can all settle on or agree upon one single name. Because of the Latin names, however, the words can become mouthfuls. (From Stuart in Mrs. McCamish-Cameron's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary School in Boise)  Hide

* Were there cavemen when dinosaurs lived?  Show answer

It is thought that cavemen didn't evolve until long after the dinosaurs went instinct. Evidence shows that dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago and the first humanlike people show up about three - or maybe five - million years ago. (From Ethan in Mrs. McCamish-Cameron's class at Cynthia Mann Elementary School in Boise)  Hide

* What is the most recent dinosaur found?  Show answer

We don't know the exact answer to that. There have been a number of dinosaurs described this year alone; there's a new carnivorous dinosaur that has been named basically because it was unique in having a variety of air sacks within the bones of the skeleton. It is thought that 600 different types of dinosaurs or more have been found or described. (From Paige in Mrs. Boehne's class at McDonald Elementary School in Moscow)  Hide

* What kind of dinosaurs lived on each continent?  Show answer

When dinosaurs first evolved all the continents were thought to have been connected together. As you go through the history of dinosaurs they evolve differently in their groups as those continents break up. Early in the history of dinosaurs, the dinosaurs you could find in North America you could also find in Africa. But by the end of the dinosaur period (about 70 million years ago), there are unique dinosaurs to each continent. So we would find a unique set of dinosaurs in Idaho or Montana than we would in South America. (From Hanna in Mrs. Chris's class at Northwest Children's Home in Lewiston)  Hide

* Are dinosaurs related to birds or reptiles?  Show answer

Crocodiles among reptiles are closely related to dinosaurs. They're sort of the cousins of dinosaurs. Birds have evolved from the carnivorous group of dinosaurs; scientists think of them as actually belonging to the dinosaur group. (From Ben in Mrs. Fryer's class at Clearwater Valley Elementary School in Kooskia)  Hide

* What was the average weight of a Tyrannosaurus, or "T-Rex"?  Show answer

They were somewhere in the neighborhood of three to maybe six tons, similar to a large elephant. (From Isabella in Mrs. McCoy's class at Donnelly Elementary School in Donnelly)  Hide

* Have any of the giant meat eaters ever been found to have feathers?  Show answer

We have evidence now for a wide variety of meat-eating dinosaurs as having feathers. They were much smaller than T-Rex. We have skin impressions of T-Rex and its close relatives, so the big animals in that group had kind of scaly reptile-like skin. But they had the capability of producing feathers. (From Ben in Mrs. Gris's class at Horizon Elementary School in Boise)  Hide

* What was the largest bone ever found?  Show answer

There are some ribs of big sauropod dinosaurs that are 9 or 10 feet long and I would say the most massive bone is the thigh bone, the femur, and those are maybe seven or eight feet tall. (From Jack in Mrs. Rice's class at Mill Creek Elementary School in Middleton)  Hide

* What was the biggest ocean-dwelling dinosaur?  Show answer

Scientists separate dinosaurs from some of the big reptiles of the same time that lived in the ocean. So for dinosaurs in a very sort of specific sense or scientific sense, dinosaurs pretty much only lived on land, and that's kind of important to how we define dinosaurs. When they were alive though there were big reptiles, marine reptiles, and some of those got quite large, reaching almost 100 feet in length. You can think of them as comparable to some of the whales today. (From Bailey in Mrs. Schweitzer's class at Riverside Elementary School in Boise)  Hide

* What's the biggest dinosaur, what's the smallest?  Show answer

The smallest is the microraptor. Dinosaurs ranged from the size of a chicken to animals that were 100 feet long, maybe even longer, maybe 120 feet, and many tons in size. Some people even say 10, 20, or 40 tons in weight! Some of the biggest dinosaurs were the sizemasaurus, which means earth-shaking reptile, or the argentinasaurus, a really large one as well. (From several questioners around the state)  Hide