Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Field Trip!


Today we had a fun trip to a children's science museum in Illinois. The boys have been wanting to go for awhile, but summer tourists streaming by on the highway and the inevitable construction has meant we have stayed away. Last week I promised the boys that once the kids went back to school, we would take a trip down. Today was the day. It was nice and quiet, AND since it was over 20 degrees cooler than yesterday we could play in the outside section too!


We played with electricity, learned all about fingerprints, inserted internal organs into a model, flew a jet, tested our strength, played with levers and pulleys, experimented with magnets, read about and played with gears, created waterways, assembled water bypass systems, learned about batteries and circuit boards, and cranked to create enough power to turn on lights and appliances...and much more. What fun!

Click to view the large image::
1. plasma ball., 2. Testing it., 3. circuit boards, batteries., 4. Water., 5. Generator., 6. drain., 7. Organs., 8. fingerprints., 9. bells., 10. water play., 11. Digging., 12. playing., 13. boats.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

My son would LOVE that place!

Our Home Schooler and Jen said...

I LOVE museums especially hands on ones like this one
and I LOVE field trips :)
Jen

dawn klinge said...

Wow! That's an incredible museum!

Sharon said...

The look on G's face in the bottom right of the mosaic is just priceless!

latisha said...

how wonderful, you must have had the whole place to yourself!

Beth H said...

AWESOME! I used to work there before we moved to FL. I LOVED it too.

Anet said...

This looks so much like our science museum! It's about mile or so from us. We just purchased a family membership and they have homeschool labs once a month there. Noah is really excited about that. We are planning on visiting the museum on rainy, cold days and have to get out of the house days!
Your photos are so great, I love the second one!

Jodi Anderson said...

Despite the fact that it is geared towards younger kids, I think that my daughter would enjoy this museum quite a lot.

I am loving the cooler weather. A lot. I'm sitting here now in booties, long pants, and a hoodie. A few minutes ago, I actually closed the window part way because I was a little chilly. I'll take that over "a little hot" ANY TIME.

Carli said...

We love this museum. We loved it so much we bought a membership so we could go as often as we liked. They always have fantastic programs there as well. Definitely a great field trip.

Carli said...

We love this museum! We actually bought a membership so we could go as often as we are able. They have great programs and demonstrations on a pretty regular basis. What a great field trip.

RunninL8 said...

I'm scared of plasma balls!!!!
We have a great science museaum as well. Although it would be fun if it had an outdoor section to it! They do a great insect demo!!

mandaroo63 said...

what a great place! quite the little scientist you have there. and i love the first photo, excellent color and cool reflections!

Chole White said...

Next time go on Thursday after 1pm when it's free & LET US KNOW for Pete's sake! Discovery Center is one of L's 2 favorite places (all the museums in Chicago being a close #1)

piscesgrrl said...

Hey - you were in MY neck of the woods! Darn that we weren't here. We're old pros at the DC!