Crown Family Playlab

Scientists’ Lab

Explore the world just like a Field Museum scientist by looking carefully at objects, measuring and comparing them, and recording information using a special set of tools.

From insects to birds, from flowers to fossils, the natural world is fascinating. So is learning about the people who live within it. In the Scientists’ Lab, you can explore real artifacts and specimens with your hands as well as eyes. Examine animal skulls, cool fossils, shiny minerals, tiny beetle heads, and interesting items made by people from around the world—just like Museum scientists do every day!

What can you do?
	Play scientist at four lab tables—one each for plants, animals, rocks and fossils, and people and cultures.
	Use scientist’s tools, like a ruler and magnifying glass, and record your observations.
	Peek into lab drawers to find out what wonders are inside.
	Sort shells, rocks, shark’s teeth, beads, and other things like a scientist.
	Put insects, tiny animal bones, fossils and textiles under a magnifier and see the items larger than life on a screen.

What can you discover?
	Scientists can tell a lot from the shape of an animal’s teeth. Sharp, pointy teeth are for eating meat and flatter teeth are for eating plants.
	When scientists study plants, they use a tool called a "herbarium sheet"—a collection of dried plants on a sheet with a label saying where and when it was found.
	Rocks are made out of minerals. Minerals are substances formed by physical forces within the earth, like crushing and grinding.
	People from different cultures may have different ways to create familiar things.
	Magnification is one of a scientist’s most important tools. Magnifying lenses show details that can’t be seen by the eye alone.

Want to see more at The Field Museum?
See Field Museum scientists at work in two labs on the Museum’s second floor. The McDonald’s Fossil Preparation Laboratory is right outside the entrance to the Evolving Planet exhibition. In the Regenstein Laboratory, in the Traveling the Pacific exhibition, conservators work on anthropology artifacts.

Have more fun at home
After you leave the Museum, you can still be a scientist. When you walk outside of your house, look for specimens like rocks, shells, plants, and leaves. Be sure to sort them, measure them, and record what you see.

Continue to Dino Field Station. >>