MOSI

Yesterday was our first field trip of our year. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa. It was a fantastic way to spend the day. It was homeschool day at the museum and we decided to go. Hubby even took the day off so he could join us. We left a little later than we had planned, but we still got there by 9:30.


The first thing we did was Disasterville. It's set up to look like a town that has been through a natural disaster. You can go through simulations of an earthquake, tornado, hurricane, and wild fire. A couple are a little cheesy, but overall they were pretty fun. The earthquake was probably the most scary because it moved. You can't simulate an earthquake if the ground doesn't move. That was he first one we went to and it scared the baby a little. She was apprehensive about the rest of them, but she did it anyway.


Around the corner from that exhibit was a "televison studio". It was where the meteorologists track storms. You could even get in front of a green screen and read a script. They had monitors so you could see yourself. That was cool. The boy had the best time watching himself on screen. The baby even did it a couple of times. She's a little more shy than the other two. She will attempt things if her brother tries. Yeah, I need that headache. Around teh corner from that was another exhibit on natural disasters. You could watch tornadoes and hurricanes form, demonstrate hail falling, step into a wind tunnel, pilot a plane through a hurricane, adn a few other things. It was very hands on and that was what I liked. I liked it even better when we applied lots of antibacterial hand cleaner. There were many, many people there just waiting to spread all kinds of germs.


There was also a display about the human body. Part of it was a little too intense for us. They had a display of babies in various stages of development in the womb. The babies were real. The kids thought they were dolls until the big girl read a sign. Her eyes welled up like she was going to burst into tears. I explained that the babies had died before they were born and they were given to science for things like that exhibit. It still threw a little somberness over us for a while. The rest of the exhibit was good. The kids got to put together a Mr. Potato Head at an exhibit about DNA.


Kids in Charge! is an exhibit they have that is like a play place for kids, big and small alike. It's basically science experiments in toy and game form. The baby girl was fascinated by tubes that blew air and you balance balls on the streams of air. They had that set up as a game. You can adjust and move the tubes back and forth. You start at one end and pass the ball from air stream to air stream til the end. At the end you shoot the ball into a basket. I did it once. The boy saw an experiment using building blocks to build a pyramid. He of course chose the biggest pattern and did it. He loves to build. The big girl liked a puzzle table. It was set up with different wooden puzzles and she stayed there for a while. She is very good at those.



My favorite was the planetarium. When we registered at the museum, they gave us passes for a show. Loved it! The baby fell asleep almost as soon as the lights went out. I wasn't far behind, because they showed some movie that I was not the least interested in. But the demonstration when they turn all the stars on just impresses me to no end. Space is a very hot topic in our home. We have done astronomy, specifically the solar system, twice as our science and could do it again and be perfectly happy. The kids even said a couple of answers that were right. We all thought the planetarium was way cool.


There was so much there and we are so glad that we made the trip. It was well worth our time. We packed a lunch and there were plenty of picnic tables and areas to choose from. We sat in the garden in the shade. It was quiet and the company was wonderful. If you get a chance to go, I would suggest it. We had thought about getting a family pass, but it is an hour and a half away from us. We wouldn't just hop down one day, so we decided against it. We will, however, be there for the next homeschool day. You can't beat free.


Have a great day!