Saturday, 31 January 2009

• An Educational Field Trip for the Whole Family

   by Mama Fox 
  
  Yesterday our homeschool group set up a tour at the Texas Memorial Museum, called Deep Time in Texas. For $3 (admission is free but tour wasn't) we learned about Texas prehistoric creatures and got to touch fossils. While T was being a bit grumpy, H had a great time.
  
  

  

   Looking at prehistoric amphibians... that look quite a bit like alligators. They hunted similarly too. 

  

  

  Here they are looking at the Onion Creek Mosasaur. This 30 ft aquatic dinosaur was dug up just a few miles from our house! A good chunk of Texas used to be under the ocean.
  
  

  

  

  

   Can you find the 4 pointed starfish? (Hint it's in the middle.)
  
  

  

  Our guide Ken talking about fossils.
  
  

  

  H touching the mammoth foot bone. There was also a mammoth tooth and piece of a tusk and a mastodon tooth.
  
  After our tour was done we went to look around some more. One floor is completely dedicated to Texas wild life. We enjoyed looking at all the different animals. We even learned of a few we didn't know were found in Texas.
  
  

  
  
  
  E wanted in that action too.
  
  

  

  Colorful bugs!
  
  There is also a biodiversity floor. It was a bit advanced for the boys but I learned that the hippo is the closest living relative to whales. They discovered this because the closest extinct relative to whales have the same exact type of ankle bones as a hippopotamus.  See, even Mama learns on the kid's homeschool trip.
  
  Beyond that there is also exhibits on Darwin, comparing ape to human including the complete DNA sequence all written out, the HIV virus, about ants and Hawaiian flies and a microscope to look at pond scum. Definitely something we will take advantage of when we get to that point.
  
  It was a great day. We spent 3 hours there (that costs us $10 for parking). The tour was just over in 1 hour then we wandered around. Papa Fox took pictures of every thing so I can compile them and we can use them in our school work. Can't beat $13 for a great family field trip and learning experience. 
  
  Now that we know what the museum has (and the fact that it's free!) we are planning on choosing a section to learn about then make trips to the museum to a more up close look. A museum is an amazing homeschooling tool.

  Have you taken your kids to a museum? Do you ever take educational trips with your children? Where to? 

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