Where does a chipmunk sleep? What does an eagle feed its young? How do mother bats find their babies in a cave? Learn the answers to these and many other questions as you explore the hidden habitats and secret lives of forest animals when Animal Secrets opens at SciWorks!

The Animal Secrets exhibition is open May 28 -September 11, 2016 at SciWorks.

Using imaginative role-play and hands-on activities, you’ll discover nature from an animal’s point of view in naturalistic environments, including a stream, meadow, woodland, cave, and naturalists’ tent.

PLAY with animals in a realistic habitat at the Stream. OBSERVE the sights and sounds of the Meadow. PRETEND to be an eagle, chipmunk and raccoon in the Woods. EXPLORE the unfamiliar environment of the Cave. INVESTIGATE specimens from the natural world in the Naturalists’ Tent.

 Animal Secrets is specially designed for children ages 3-8 (preschool to 3rd grade school groups) and has English and Spanish text panels. The exhibition areas are:

  • The Stream: A highly interactive stream table and its surrounding environment immerse visitors in the dry streambed area. Dramatize interactions between animals and take care of their ecological needs,such as finding food and shelter, and nurturing young ones.
  • The Woods: Explore a woodland clearing, investigate a tree’s roots, play in a chipmunk’s den, hide in a raccoon’s log, and curl up in an eagle’s nest.
  • The Meadow: Beautifully illustrated murals, including images of wildflowers, blue heron, butterflies, and rabbits, transport you to a grassy meadow. Follow four winding sets of animal tracks to discover which animal made them. Listen for specific animal sounds and try to locate the animals thatare making them. Create your own butterfly wing patterns using multicolored mosaic tiles.
  • The Cave: Delight in the excitement and challenge of exploring the unfamiliar environment of a dark woodland cave. Use tethered lights to search outcroppings and niches for cave dwellers and cave visitors. Assemble a three-dimensional, larger-than-life ant. Solve an animal whodunit.
  • The Naturalists’ Tent: Role-play working as a naturalist in a canvas tent outfitted with real field equipment and environmental elements. Examine, compare, and contrast the characteristics of five different animal skulls. Inspect and sort a variety of natural artifacts in order to curate and display an impressive museum collection. Match animal tracks to the animal that made them using paw-like puzzle pieces.

Animal Secrets is a traveling exhibition of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. It is sponsored locally by Animal Ark Veterinary Hospital and Oldtown Veterinary Hospital.