Pelle (6) eats a peanut butter sandwich while holding his elbows to his sides. That’s not going so well, he concludes. Why does a T. rex what about those short arms? That’s not useful at all, is it? Pelle participates in the first episode of Meerkatsa science podcast for children from 6 to 12 years. Children ask questions, podcast maker and former scientist Wendy Bos is looking for answers.
Why questions are the hardest questions in science. And therefore the best, according to paleontologist Anne Schulp of Naturalis. Information about scientific questions is presented here in a playful way. The answer to Pelle’s question lies in evolution. Over time, the head of Tyrannosaurus Rex getting bigger, with more powerful jaw muscles, paleontologists deduce that from fossils. He apparently used his head more than his arms. And to stay in balance, not to tumble over, the arms became smaller
That not all why questions can be answered so clearly is apparent when it comes to the crest in the neck of the Triceratops. Many people thought it was some kind of armor to protect him from the T. rex. Schulp thinks that’s not right, a T. rex will bite it. He thinks it’s to stand out. But he certainly won’t. Meanwhile, Pelle acts out a dinosaur fight. T. rex wins.
In episode 2, David wonders how old dinosaurs can get. And how do you actually find that out? Well, Anne Schulp knows, by placing a very thin slice of a dinobot under the microscope. Then you can count annual rings, like in a tree. They know that a T. rex in a Chicago museum lived to be 30 years old.
It’s not just the answers that matter in this podcast, it’s also about showing how you get that knowledge, how you do science. If you can’t ask a dinosaur, how can you find an answer?
Three episodes of the first four-episode dinosaur series are now online. Episode four comes next week and then it’s a while to wait for a new series. Unfortunately.