Observe and Report

Last Tuesday was a special day for Kindergarten: field trip to the California Science Center. As with the other two field trips this year--pumpkin patch and zoo--I elected to be a volunteer driver. They don't do buses for field trips around here.

It was a wonderful day, if way too short. We got down to the Science Center late, but that was to be expected. Los Angeles freeways at nine in the morning...what are you gonna do? The kids played for awhile in the area in front of the box office while we waited for four classes worth of kindergartners and their teachers, conveyed in various vehicles, to arrive. Then we headed upstairs to check out the new Eco-Systems section of the museum.
We didn't have time to explore much, but it was pretty neat just the same. The little group of kids we were with all went to look at a water/ocean oriented exhibit. They got to touch some starfish and watch the way tidal movement affects sea creatures and plants. Kiernan caught a glimpse of a small shark and a ray moving along the bottom of the tank.

Here's our little group (I will provide names as I get permission from parents):


After lunch outside, the kids all headed over to another building for their lab time. I thought we had missed this, as we had missed our initial morning appointment because of the aforementioned traffic. As it turned out, the teachers had called while in traffic and rescheduled our lab time for the afternoon. Yes...our teachers rock.

Our afternoon time was spent in this interesting indoor/outdoor lab area where the kids were able to observe some creatures in an environment similar to nature. It was pretty neat, although sadly not very challenging. Note to museum tour instructors: if you begin your talk with a group of five/six-year olds by saying, "The three parts of an insect are--" and the kids all call out, in unison, "Head! Thorax! Abdomen!" And they do this before you can even begin to say the words. Don't spend the next twenty minutes doing a spiel on these things. Here's a hint: THEY ALREADY KNOW THAT.

You may have guessed that this was a somewhat frustrating part of the afternoon. Mainly for a few of the parents and the teachers, because the museum instructor was not prepared to adjust to the kids. Oh well. We still had a great time, and Kiernan and his lab team had fun interacting with ladybugs. His favorite insect...and mine.

They also got to see a really cool turtle. She's over there on the right. Okay, I'll be honest with you. If you stick your finger out, she'll probably bite it. This does not mean she doesn't like you. She wants to be your friend. Trust me. She just thought your finger was a worm. Or something.

Overall the trip was a success. We returned to school with all children intact. Even more surprising is the fact that we returned without losing any adults to sharks, or nervous breakdowns. What's best is that I can't wait to go back to the Science Center. There's so much more to see. We were down there last fall to see the Natural History Museum, which is in the same little area. This was during Kiernan's dinosaur phase--I'm still in mourning that the dinosaur phase has passed--and while we stopped by the Science Center for lunch, we didn't really check it out. Now that I've gotten a glimpse of it, I definitely want to take him there again. Much more to explore. And I'm grateful for that.

In the meantime...how about one more picture of my favorite insect. On my favorite boy.