Science Museum Trip

In response to Michelle's comment posted at the end of my last blog entry, I'd like to state that your children's involvement in the snow shovelling for the Rink the Third project was largely voluntary. Rumors that at one point in the afternoon I shouted, "Hey kids, writers' workshop might be all well and good but we have a rink to make! So stop complaining about the cold and get out there and put your back into it!" are entirely unfounded. Ah, all this gives me an idea - 23 high schoolers are spending the day with us tomorrow. Big, strong high schoolers who will respect the need for a rink and can handily wield a snow shovel and sprinkler! What an opportunity!
Anyway, the field trip. You just can't beat the Science Museum and I was shocked to think that it's been a few years since I've taken a class up there. It's interesting because a lot of the children are so familiar with the place from family outings. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see the Pompeii exhibit. A lot of the children told me they've already seen it and it's fantastic. It could be a good day out over the holidays. What we did see was a quite breathtaking Omnitheater presentation. Ring of Fire focused mostly, as the title suggests, on volcanoes and there was some dramatic footage of eruptions and the way volcanic action is constantly altering our planet's crust. Having recently visited San Franscisco, I was particularly gripped by the pictures of the damage wrought by the 1989 earthquake. I'm sure you natives are much more familiar with the event than I am. I wasn't aware, for example, that the quake occured during the World Series. Little wonder that disaster is so firmly embedded in the nation's psyche. It would be an interesting conversation to ask your child about which part of the film had the most powerful effect on them.
We spent the rest of our time in the various hands on exhibit areas. We did guide the children as much as possible towards exhibits that link to our earth study theme. Even so, it was good to have time to visit old favorites like the dinosaur display. It's truely a wonderful thing to have a museum of this quality on our doorstep.
We expect that some of the learning from today will seep its way into the megazine project with the high schoolers tomorrow. The 180 will have an earth studies theme to it this time.
Best wishes to the band kids in their concert at Sibley early tomorrow and we look forward to hearing them play for us here at Prairie Creek next week.
ST