2015 Naturally Illinois Expo K-8 Field Guide Questions
Exhibit 1: Prairie Research Institute
1. How many scientific surveys and centers are in the Prairie Research Institute?
a. 1
b. 4
c. 3
d. 5
2. Name three types of scientists who work at the Prairie Research Institute.
Exhibit 2: Paleontology: The Study of Fossils
1. What is a fossil?
2. What is the official State Fossil of Illnois?
a. The Trilobite
b. The Tyrannosaurus Rex
c. The Tully Monster
d. The Crinoid
Exhibit 3: Backyard Biodiversity: Insects of Illinois and Beyond
1. What are the four stages in the life cycle of a butterfly?
a. Egg, tadpole, froglet, adult
b. Egg, caterpillar, chrysalis (pupae), adult
c. Zygote, embryo, fetus, adult
2. Why do female mosquitoes bite?
a. The female mosquito needs extra energy to lay her eggs.
b. The female mosquito does not have enough blood of her own.
c. The female mosquito is mean.
Exhibit 5: Bioinspiration - Insects did it first
1. What organism inspired the invention of Velcro?
a. Plant Burr
b. Porcupine
c. Centipede
2. True or False – Beetles have inspired fresh-water collecting devices that can be used in a desert.
Exhibit 4: Invasive Insect Investigators
1. An _____ species Is a species that is non-native and causes economic or environmental harm or
harm to human health.
a. Alien
b. Acclimated
c. Invasive
2. How can invasive insects be introduced to an area?
a. Firewood
b. Shipping containers from another country
c. Cut flowers
d. RV/Camper
e. All of the above
Exhibit 6: Insect locomotion and engineering design
1. What feature helps cockroaches run so quickly over rocky terrain?
a. Antennae on their head
b. Spines on their legs
c. Armor on their back
d. All of the above
2. Will this feature help them run quickly in all environments everywhere (such as, sand, mud,
grass, etc.)?
Exhibit 7: Lake Michigan: A Great Lake in a Great State
1. Providing food for many fishes and often moved by currents, these tiny animals without
backbones are suspended in Lake Michigan’s water are called:
a. Cormorants
b. Sculpin
c. Zooplankton
d. Lake Sturgeon
2. True or False – Lake Michigan contains salt water.
Exhibit 8: Livers of the Rivers
1. What does a freshwater mussel eat?
a. Algae
b. Plankton
c. Bacteria
d. All of the above
2. How much water can one mussel filter in a day?
a. One pint
b. One cup
c. One gallon
d. One teaspoon
Exhibit 9: Aquatic Invasive Species
1. How does the Sea Lamprey eat its prey/
a. Swallow the prey whole
b. Bite and chew the prey
c. Attach to the side of prey and begin eating
2. How do Zebra Mussels get their name?
a. They have stripes like a zebra
b. They are related to the zebra
c. It was the only name left
Exhibit 12: What can river otters teach us about human health?
1. What is an example of something that both otters and humans eat?
a. Pizza
b. Chicken
c. Fish
d. Potatoes
2. How can we use otter poop to learn about how clean our rivers are?
a. We can study the location of the poop
b. We can test otter poop for pollution
c. We can measure the size of otter poop
d. We can’t. Poop is gross.
Exhibit 13: Prairie Research Institute Library
1. What useful tool can you find in a library that can help you find just about anything?
a. A hammer
b. An encyclopedia
c. A field guide
2. What is a good thing to do if you need help finding information?
a. Visit a library website
b. Ask a librarian
c. All of the above
Exhibit 15: See the Mahomet Aquifer in 3D
1. In Champaign County, approximately how deep is the top of the Mahomet Aquifer?
a. 20 feet
b. 200 feet
c. 2,000 feet
d. 20,000 feet
2. Give an example of information that geologists can show in 3D.
Exhibit 17: The Many Wonders of Carbon Dioxide
1. Plants require water, sunlight, and _____ for photosynthesis.
a. Carbon Dioxide
b. Hydrogen
c. Neon
d. Barium
2. True or False – Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are higher now than they were 100
years ago.
Exhibit 18: Petroleum Comes From Where?
1. What is petroleum?
a. Oil
b. Gas
c. Tar
d. All of the above
2. Petroleum consists mainly of carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) elements. Which element has the
highest percentage in any petroleum?
a. Carbon (C)
b. Hydrogen (H)
Exhibit 20: What’s All the Fuss About Aquifers?
1. What do you call an underground layer of rock from which groundwater can be extracted using
a water well?
a. Bedrock
b. Cave
c. Aquifer
2. Where do people in Champaign-Urbana get their drinking water from?
a. The ocean
b. The faucet
c. The Mahomet Aquifer
Exhibit 21: Water Corrosion and “Boiler” Scale
1. When you look at water, can you see the minerals in the water?
2. Can water dissolve metal pipe?
Exhibit 22: Why Geological Records?
1. Where does most Oil production occour?
a. Northern Illinois
b. Eastern Illinois
c. Southern Illinois
d. Western Illinois
2. How many wells were permitted in 2014?
a. 12
b. 123
c. 1,235
d. 12,350
Exhibit 23: Measuring the Weather
1. What instrument do you use to measure wind speed?
a. Aneometer
b. Pyranometer
c. Rain Gage
d. Seismograph
2. True or False – A pyranometer is used to measure how much it rained.
Exhibit 25: IDOT: Stewards of the Environment
1. True or False – There are many state and federal laws that require IDOT to investigate the
impact road construction would have on natural and cultural resources.
2. What is an example of another service the Illinois Department of Transportation provides, aside
from road construction and repair?
Exhibit 26: IDOT: Wetland Plant and Soil Adaptations
1. Soils found in wetlands are called _____.
a. Hydric
b. Bedrock
c. Fertile
2.
3. Plants that are adapted to living in wetlands are called_____.
a. Algae
b. Hydrophites
c. Liverwort
Exhibit 27: IDOT: Bryophyte Bonanza!
1. Which is a type of bryophyte/
a. Moss
b. Hornwort
c. Liverwort
d. All of the above
2. Do bryophytes form xylem tissue to conduct water within their structures?
Exhibit 28: IDOT: Wetlands and Hydrology
1. For how long does IDOT actively monitor wetland compensation sites after they have been
developed?
a. 1 year
b. 3 years
c. 5 years
2. True or False – Fens, found in northern Illinois, are associated with Wisconsin glaciation, while
marshes are found throughout the state and associated with headwaters.
Exhibit 29: IDOT: People and the Changing Environment
1. Approximately how old are the oldest spearheads found in the Wetland Bank area?
a. 5,000 years
b. 200 years
c. 3,000 years
d. 9,000 years
2. True or False – During the period of initial American settlement of the Wetland Bank area
(1830s-1850s) people eagerly purchased tracts as homestead locations.
Exhibit 30: IDOT: Claiming Roads for Renewable Energy
1. Why should we not throw away grass mowed along highways?
a. It causes allergies.
b. It can be used as a renewable energy source.
c. It takes too much work.
Exhibit 31: Build Illinois
1. What geologic process completely changed the Illinois landscape in the last 2 million years?
a. The Stone Age
b. The Ice Age
c. The Iron Age
2. What important Fossil Fuel formed from the great delta forests that grew in Illinois 300 million
years age?
a. Oil
b. Coal
c. Natural Gas
Exhibit 33: Big River, Big Fish
1. Name a prehistoric fish that is found in Illinois.
a. Shortnose Gar
b. Spotted Gar
c. Bowfin
d. All of the above
2. True or False – Catfish barbels or “whiskers” will sting you.
Exhibit 34: Fisheries Biology
1. Name a part of the fish that can be used to estimate its age.
a. Spine
b. Otolith (Ear bone)
c. Scale
d. All of the above
2. True or False – Electricity can be used to sample fish.
Exhibit 35: Traveling Science Center
1. Approximately how many species are found in Illinois?
a. 54
b. 540
c. 5,400
d. 54,000
2. What is one way you can help prevent the spread of exotic invasive species?
Exhibit 37: Illinois American Water Company Mobile Education Center
1. Where does the drinking water in Champaign/Urbana come from?
a. The ocean
b. The faucet
c. The Mahomet Aquifer
2. How much water does the average person use every day/
a. 20-40 gallons
b. 40-60 gallons
c. 60-80 gallons
d. 80-100 gallons
Exhibit 38: Flint Knapping
1. What is flintknapping?
a. An ancient method of making tools using stone
b. A way to make baskets out of grass
c. A way to cook corn in an underground oven
d. Traveling along a river in a canoe
2. True or False – Native Americans who lived in Illinois during ancient times got all of their
supplies for hunting, cooking, clothes, playing games, and building houses from nature.
Exhibit 39: Archaeology in Illinois: Rocks, Bones, Pots, and People
1. What kind of artifacts do archaeologists find when they excavate an archaeological site?
a. Animal bones
b. Stone tools
c. Pieces of pottery
d. Glass
e. All of the above
2. What types of archaeological features do we find at a site?
Exhibit 40: Animal Bones of Illinois
1. A variety of animal remains are found at archaeological sites in Illinois. Which of these animals
were used for food, clothing or tools?
a. Deer
b. Chicken
c. Beaver
d. Turtle
e. All of the above
Exhibit 42: After a Storm, Where Does the Water Go?
1. What is a floodplain?
2. What is a detention pond?
Exhibit 43: Stream Erosion
1. What is a watershed?
2. What is a nickpoint?
Exhibit 44: The “Weather” is Up, Up, and Away!
1. Which of the following have been used to measure weather conditions?
a. GPS (global positioning system)
b. Snowy tree crickets
c. Hair
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
2. True or False – The atmospheric conditions high above the Pacific Ocean can help us forecast
the weather in Illinois.
Exhibit 45: Fossil and Mineral Dig
1. What is a fossil?
2. What is the most common mineral that geodes are made of?
a. Granite
b. Quartz
c. Chert
d. Basalt