Saturday, April 5, 2008

C.A.L.M.

Friday I hopped on the bus with the First Grader's from Nathan's school and spent the day at C.A.L.M., California Living Museum. I was assigned to the "green group" which was Nathan, Victoria, Jocelyn (not my daughter) and Cynthia. It was quite a change from nursery. These kids actually listen when you talk and follow directions:
We began the day by meeting some of our "neighbors" who came to be at the museum because they are dependent on humans and can't be in the wild (around Kern County) by themselves anymore. We met Desert Tortoise, a snake and Red Tailed Hawk up close and personal:
After the introduction, we went out to explore the exhibits, passing the "stinky duck pond" which was being cleaned by 5 or 6 men in rubber boots: We saw lots of cool animals, including this really pretty barn owl. He had beautiful feathers with spots and a white face: Here, Nathan is practicing his paleontology skills at an indoor exhibit. He said his favorite thing was the crystals he saw in the geology area. I liked the brown bears and the hawks. I can't remember what this little animal is called, but I have never seen one before. He looks and feels like a rock in order to be camouflaged and can puff himself up in crevasses.
The kids really liked the Birds of Prey Exhibit which had different kinds of owls, hawks, crows and eagles.
Between each exhibit we found a nice place to sit so the kids could write about what they saw and draw pictures in their journals. The whole class sat in the eagle's nest with Mr. Lopez. In the background is the window for viewing the eagles. Mr. Lopez is a sub, since Nathan's regular teacher is currently out on maternity leave.
On the way out we passed the "stinky duck pond" again. It was being refilled with fresh water, which the ducks had returned to enjoy.It was a great day, but everyone was tired and happy to return to the bus. They all loved riding on the bus together.

1 comment:

Monica said...

I love the 1st grade CALM field trip!! All of you looked like you had a great time. You are such a wonderful mom and Grandma!!