Levi learned a lot on his field trip to Viera hospital today. He was a bit apprehensive about going on this trip (worried about seeing blood!), but quickly realized that they weren't going to show him anything gross. We had just a tiny group of 5 kids on this trip, but they split us into groups anyway.
First, we looked at Radiology. A teddy bear demonstrated how one gets an X-ray, and the kids even got to see what an X-ray of a bear looks like (he has some metal bits inside that showed up on the film).
Checking out how the machine works...
They got to see real X-rays of people too, and were able to identify all of the "body parts" shown.
After that, we saw the CT machine, and the bear demonstrated once more.
Next, they went to the ED, and looked at all of the equipment. They were given hospital gowns to try on, tested the moving bed, the call buttons, and even the lights! They also got their blood pressure and heart rate checked.
There was a game of "who can put on the doctor gear the fastest"
Smurf hands!
Lastly was the highlight of the experience, meeting the hospital's service dog Paco. He comforts patients, but also has lots of training - he can pick things up off the floor, open doors and even get a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.
This is his "baseball card"
His handler "released" him so the kids could pet Paco.
And even check his heart beat along with some belly rubs!
The kids went home with a whole bunch of loot as well - a goodie bag, their doctor gear, a coloring book about nursing and even a pedometer! It was a great experience and hopefully made the hospital seem a little less scary. The staff was wonderful with the kids and complimented how smart homeschoolers were. Thanks Viera Hospital!
We had another Brevard Zoo Jaguar Society event today, this time with the kangaroos. We not only got a talk, but got to meet them too!
One of them, named Bindi was very friendly and was incredibly soft. She loves to be scratched under the chin and puts her head wayyyy back for it.
We learned that their back legs are "connected", they move together. They are called magapods (mega = big, pod = foot, which Levi knew from Mr. Science). We saw up close how much they use their tails for sitting, moving and balance.
They have a burlap bag that the kangaroos "kick box" for training - kangaroos must support themselves with their front feet in order to kick, so they kind of grab on.
Here she is in action, though not kick boxing!
This one, J.C. is 4yrs old, but they still give her bottles because it makes it easy for the keepers to examine her while she is busy.
Bindi came up to everyone to sniff (here she is sniffing my mom's ankles)
... and Levi's boots
And his "pouch"
Bindi let Levi follow her around and pet her.
And notice his outfit? I made it last night just for the occasion. Orange, turquoise, some kangaroo touches... perfect! I saw a circle pocket on Project Run and Play, by Max California, and loved the idea. I've had it in my head to use for a long time, but finally was inspired by the kangaroos to use it!
This is made from flannel, which I bought when it was on sale - its soft, cozy, but not TOO warm for our not-so-cold weather (that we think is freezing anyway).
The buttons are cute mushroom shapes that I bought on ebay forever ago, nothing to do with kangaroos but I liked them so I used them!
One of our other recent field trips was to the Florida Solar Energy Center. (this is a good website, there is even curricula on there to use for schools and homeschooling for all different age levels) We started out by watching a couple video clips and having a lecture about what the Energy Center does. They also showed us some models of solar panels and solar ovens.
One thing I found interesting was a simple small invention that helps people figure out if water has boiled or not, when its put in a solar oven/heater to boil out the "bad stuff". Previously the only way to tell was to sit and watch it, which could take a very long time. It was simply a sealed glass oval bubble, with a bit of wax inside and a string on each side. You put it in the water, wax side up. When the water boils, the wax melts and goes to the bottom. So when you check on it, if the wax is at the bottom, it boiled at some point and is safe to drink. If the wax is still at the top, it hasn't boiled. So simple yet very useful.
One of the solar ovens was set up outside, along with 3 jars of water. One with cling film on it went in the oven, and outside sat a cling film jar and one with an open top. Thermometer in each one to monitor the progress.
While they waited, the kids broke into teams and were given motors, solar panels and a meter to measure energy. They had to work together to assemble it to make the fan turn, and then switch the wires to see what it did (the fan spun the other direction). They also measured how much power their panel had.
Next, a "game" was set up. The kids were told that collectivly they were a town, wanting to build a solar movie theater. Their meter had to read 500 to power the theater. Each team had $20 to spend. There was a "shop" with different types of solar panel, as well as foil, mirrors, clear plastic colored paddles, a big lens, wires, and some other stuff. Some items were over $20, but the panel they had was worth $10, but the big lens was $60! They were allowed to buy, sell and trade as much as they wanted.
The other catch was that they needed to use as little $ as possible because the town also wanted to build a pool (for $100 or something).
Various teams figured out how to make their meters read 500, but it wasn't until the end that the kids all figured out that they only needed ONE team to make the meter read 500 (there was only one theater for the town) and that they should combine the rest of their money to build the swimming pool. So there was a little extra lesson in their besides working with solar power (work together too!)
Great concept for a game, get them all thinking and working together.
In the midst of all of this, they checked on the water, and it had boiled! It didn't take long at all for the solar oven to warm up the water to a boil. I'd like to do a unit on solar power with Levi - the Solar Center will loan out supplies as well as help with ideas, and they also sell supplies too, so we have a good resource to do it! I've seen solar ovens built in many different ways, Levi and I once had rosemary potatoes baked in one, yum!
Afterwards, we stopped at Rockledge Gardens to eat our picnic lunch. They have a little playground, and they had sunflower seeds the kids could plant, so they all did that. (and for some reason they all wore yellow!)
They also have a butterfly garden in a screened in room. The kids spent forever in here, I had to drag them out because I was getting too hot, a little too much solar energy for me! Its a lot of fun to look at all of the butterflies.
I took Levi to the Orlando Science Center for the first time. We really enjoyed ourselves!
There were several of these giant amethyst geodes - Levi loves purple so he tried to sit in all of them
Sea turtle nest, not quite as cool as the one we saw for real on our sea turtle walk.
Gators and turtles. When I asked Levi what his favorite things were, he said he liked watching the alligators get fed, and seeing all the snakes.
After watching the feeding, they had a tiny baby to pet.
I heard this orange grove was a big hit, I thought it looked like
something more for younger kids, but this was a favorite for Levi too.
Pick some oranges....
Load them up...
Pedal...
Watch them go up and over...
Gather them again
And ship them off...
Levi was so excited because I let him see 2 movies, the first was a giant dome movie of the Galapagos Islands, where our neighbors just went on vacation (while we dog sat for them). They brought Levi a book about it, so he already had some ideas. And we are learning about volcanoes, which they showed in the movie as well including how they formed and information on hot spots. If it weren't for the 200 kids in the theater who could not stop talking (camps or something) it would have been really good.
Levi and I both tried the flexibility test. He got 22, and I got 20. For his age/gender, he was supposed to get 6 and I was supposed to get 6.5. So apparently were are pretty flexible (yay gymnastics and P90X)
These things are always fun, and of course impossible to photograph properly.
We saw a science demo all about air pressure. She had an air cannon that fascinated Levi. After the show he asked to examine it so he can try and make one. I suppose we could try this but I'm guessing he'd rather do this. Or I could just buy one here. She also did the "card on a glass of water" trick, and several other experiments. She even filled the air cannon with fog. It blows rings!
Levi helps out
TP shooting
Snake type thing I guess? With a seat on it. No point at all to this thing, other than for taking pictures on.
There was a room full of various vehicles. Levi spent a good deal of time on this plane, talking to his hand - I'm guessing he was being a pilot making announcements about how to buckle a seatbelt or something.
The other movies we saw were 3D, there were 2 short ones in a row - Penguins and "Unseen World" which was full of time lapse photography. Both were very good. (And only one part of the Penguin one scared him, when a bird was going to eat the baby)
I tried to get a picture of us in the triangle mirror.
We went up to see the dinosaurs last. I don't think Levi has ever seen full size bones like this. He found a museum guy who was just putting things away in the box under T-rex, and started chatting. Levi ended up talking to him for a good 45min, asking questions, leading him over to displays to ask more questions. He kept saying "whoa thats a good question" and telling me how smart Levi is. Finally I was able to drag him away, but not before he was given two real fossils to take home.
On our way home, we stopped at the brand new Trader Joe's! 6min from the science center, but a whole 1.5hours from our house. Too far to go regularly, but we will stop by whenever we are out that way. We got a cartload of stuff, and Levi found the Peacock (I think?) and earned an organic lollypop (All Trader Joe's hide some sort of animal in their stores that they move around often, if kids find it, they get a lolly). Levi also made friends with the "sample guys" and kept running off to chat with them about the science center and who knows what else. They said he was more entertaining than Key Lime Pie.
