Friends from the country were down, so to Scitech we did go. The kids' play area was again the big winner, with the big ball machine the clear favourite. Alice spent rather a great amount of time dressed as a snail, gorgeous (got pics, yay!). As a matter of fact, she seemed to have a go on everything in the kids' area, I spotted her playing the thong-a-phone and having a go in the construction area that utilises ramps, pulleys, wheels and cogs.
Three activities that she went into.
1) Puppet show about adaptations. Sally the Seal is lost in the Aussie Outback, but she is not adapted for the conditions. She meets various animals that are adapted, discusses similarities and differences between her and other species, explains why she is suited to the marine environment and is lucky enough to have a ranger come to transport her home. Alice and Josh both listened attentively, and Alice was able to contribute to the initial discussion about adaptation of giraffes by telling the presenter that baby giraffes have longer tongues than their mummies, although she had to look to me for a more in-depth explanation.
2) Hi-Voltage Show. ELECTRICITY. Balloons becoming negatively charged by taking the electrons from hair, static electricity, A Van der Graf generator, Nikola Tesla, a tesla coil, Faraday cage for protection from electricity, electricity safety! Fantastic show, Alice is terrified of electricity after getting her shock from the small tesla coil at the Tesla Exhibit the other day. I can remember Nikola Tesla's birthday! 10 July, though I don't know the year. Early 1800s, I shall just check it out - 1856-1943, I was out by half a century!
3) Journey to the Stars at the Planetarium. Mike took her into that, Josh is too young. But she enjoyed it, and commented to Mike how interesting Space is. I'll see if Mike feels up to adding some info about it later.
Plus, we started Blend Phonics today, starting with /a/ and /i/. I had originally not intended on starting phonics until the beginning of next year, but Alice is ready to read now, and she's trying to guess words as she doesn't have the tools necessary to sound them out. So, daily phonics, making sure every element is well absorbed before we move on to the next stage.
Successful day, great day, happy day!
Plus, Alice decided this evening to get everything for her and Josh's breakfast ready in advance. She got Mike to measure out the oats and she poured two cups of milk and put them in the fridge. The purpose? So Mummy and Daddy can have a sleep-in. Bless her heart, she's thoughtful.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Trip into town and SCITECH!
Yesterday saw us back into town and back out again to Scitech. We spent a good four hours there, and had a wonderful time. We saw the Super Cool show, all about liquid nitrogen, which gave Alice a start on understanding how molecules behave when they are cooled or heated (balloons shrink in liquid nitrogen, and expand again as they warm!). We spent a great deal of time in the play room, and Alice's favourite activity was the ball transporter, which uses augers, baskets and cranks to move balls around.
Scitech is great for a day out, and science concepts - Alice enjoys the computer programs that allow you to manipulate them to make music. We saw the hatched chicks. There is a very cool robot that takes a photo, converts it to simple lines and then draws that picture, very cool. We all enjoyed jumping up and down on cushions to operate the pneumatic message tubes.
We saw the stained glass windows on the second level of Forest Place again, a simple beauty that amazes me every time I see them. They are so beautiful, and most people have no idea they are there. Had another good look at Haul Pack - unfortunately it has had to be fenced off as it was getting damaged by people climbing on it. We spent quite a bit of time at the model shop trying to decide what to do for Joshua - he's a train kid, and I don't see that changing, so we are going to get him a starter train set for his next birthday. It's a big expense, but seeing as we've always planned on starting a model railway sooner or later it's not such a big deal!
Scitech is great for a day out, and science concepts - Alice enjoys the computer programs that allow you to manipulate them to make music. We saw the hatched chicks. There is a very cool robot that takes a photo, converts it to simple lines and then draws that picture, very cool. We all enjoyed jumping up and down on cushions to operate the pneumatic message tubes.
We saw the stained glass windows on the second level of Forest Place again, a simple beauty that amazes me every time I see them. They are so beautiful, and most people have no idea they are there. Had another good look at Haul Pack - unfortunately it has had to be fenced off as it was getting damaged by people climbing on it. We spent quite a bit of time at the model shop trying to decide what to do for Joshua - he's a train kid, and I don't see that changing, so we are going to get him a starter train set for his next birthday. It's a big expense, but seeing as we've always planned on starting a model railway sooner or later it's not such a big deal!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Museum of Western Australia
We had a fantastic excursion to the Museum yesterday. Started with the meteorites, which was an excellent follow on from Alice seeing a "shooting star" while we were up at Ningaloo. We first saw the huge ones that are outside the museum, and discussed terminology again, as well as the make up of those meteorites being iron. We then went through the space display, seeing more meteorites and a great example of different results of meteors falling, whether are big enough to make a crater, small, a shower or burn up in the atmosphere. Alice enjoyed that, and the display that showed cut edges of meteorites that had been polished, making it very obvious that they were made of metal.
From space we went to ancient life - Josh had spurred the trip because he wanted to see the dinosaur bones again. Given that on our last trip to the museum Josh was terrified of the dinosaurs to the point that I had to carry him out, I was happy that this time he was excited! Alice particularly liked the fossilised eggs from the sauropod, and the thylacine fossil. She seems to be mostly over her dinosaur excitement, so I'm thinking we will save the activities I have for that for when it next flares again, whether it is Alice, or in a couple of years Josh, that shows the interest. She was quite interested in the development of humans, from homonids and australopithecines through to Homo Erectus. The skeleton display was very effective!
Next came the Mammals exhibit, with a quick detour through the birds. Alice's interest in the birds was limited, Josh very interested to know the difference between magpies and crows. The mammal exhibit was Alice's big favourite. She had a think about why an elephant skeleton has no trunk, compared a human skeleton to a gorilla's and generally had a great time reading the display cards.
From the mammals to under the sea! It's a bright, airy display that is topical given our recent trip to Ningaloo. Alice enjoyed looking at the different examples of marine environments. Then she got distracted by the the butterflies, and who could blame her?
Finally, the Discovery centre. Musical instruments, frogs and insects abounded. Alice seemed to be more interested in people by this stage of the proceedings. I did pick up some information sheets about some of the things we had looked at, so we can review our learning later in the week.
I've just asked Alice about the best part of the trip to the museum yesterday. Her answer: "Dinosaur bones because they are fossilised and stuff. Because they are rocks now." Asked what else she enjoyed the reply was "butterflies! Because they are so colourful." I asked Alice what she wanted to look at next time: "butterflies! Because they are colourful."
I must add that we spent a great deal of time at the wetlands next to the art gallery, talking about the habitat. We found a TWENTY-FOUR spotted ladybird, and Alice was able to state that that showed the environment was getting healthier. Mike and Alice spent a great deal of time identifying different plants in the wetlands, and what animals do (and may, in the future) live there. We talked about the amazing benches that have the various names (botanical, common and indigenous) carved into them. Did a walk-through of the kitchen garden in Cultural Square, identifying the various plants (and as always effervescing enthusiasm for the concept in general). Spoke at some length with the artist of a piece of urban art in Hay St called Haul Pack (a front end loader made of clip together foam, absolutely amazing!). Mike took Alice to see the elephant art exhibit at enx100 (Eleart).
From space we went to ancient life - Josh had spurred the trip because he wanted to see the dinosaur bones again. Given that on our last trip to the museum Josh was terrified of the dinosaurs to the point that I had to carry him out, I was happy that this time he was excited! Alice particularly liked the fossilised eggs from the sauropod, and the thylacine fossil. She seems to be mostly over her dinosaur excitement, so I'm thinking we will save the activities I have for that for when it next flares again, whether it is Alice, or in a couple of years Josh, that shows the interest. She was quite interested in the development of humans, from homonids and australopithecines through to Homo Erectus. The skeleton display was very effective!
Next came the Mammals exhibit, with a quick detour through the birds. Alice's interest in the birds was limited, Josh very interested to know the difference between magpies and crows. The mammal exhibit was Alice's big favourite. She had a think about why an elephant skeleton has no trunk, compared a human skeleton to a gorilla's and generally had a great time reading the display cards.
From the mammals to under the sea! It's a bright, airy display that is topical given our recent trip to Ningaloo. Alice enjoyed looking at the different examples of marine environments. Then she got distracted by the the butterflies, and who could blame her?
Finally, the Discovery centre. Musical instruments, frogs and insects abounded. Alice seemed to be more interested in people by this stage of the proceedings. I did pick up some information sheets about some of the things we had looked at, so we can review our learning later in the week.
I've just asked Alice about the best part of the trip to the museum yesterday. Her answer: "Dinosaur bones because they are fossilised and stuff. Because they are rocks now." Asked what else she enjoyed the reply was "butterflies! Because they are so colourful." I asked Alice what she wanted to look at next time: "butterflies! Because they are colourful."
I must add that we spent a great deal of time at the wetlands next to the art gallery, talking about the habitat. We found a TWENTY-FOUR spotted ladybird, and Alice was able to state that that showed the environment was getting healthier. Mike and Alice spent a great deal of time identifying different plants in the wetlands, and what animals do (and may, in the future) live there. We talked about the amazing benches that have the various names (botanical, common and indigenous) carved into them. Did a walk-through of the kitchen garden in Cultural Square, identifying the various plants (and as always effervescing enthusiasm for the concept in general). Spoke at some length with the artist of a piece of urban art in Hay St called Haul Pack (a front end loader made of clip together foam, absolutely amazing!). Mike took Alice to see the elephant art exhibit at enx100 (Eleart).
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