Exploring the Academy of Sciences
We made a trip to the Academy of Sciences where we spent an entire morning and most of the afternoon. It was amazing to see everything they had to offer! The Academy is like a natural science museum, aquarium, and planetarium in one. They had something for everyone, children and adult alike. We hardly got to see everything they had to offer.
When you enter the Academy of Sciences, you’re amazed by all the sights, smells, and sounds around you. There’s an area for the fish, coral, mangroves, a giant dome that contains the rainforest, another dome-like structure for the planetarium, a gift shop, the nature center, a playground for youngsters, a craft area for older kids, and so much more. Our favorite exhibits were the Color of Life and Earthquake: Life on a Dynamic Planet. The Color of Life exhibit featured facts about colors found all over the world, on animals, in plants, and so much more. There was an interactive piece to the exhibit where there were a series of strings you could pluck that would generate sounds and disperse colors. It was fun for the kids as they plucked away on the strings. I enjoyed the sounds of birds and nature as they played the sounds.
The Earthquake exhibit was made of (what I call) modules. There was an area where you could learn about the layers of the Earth, an interactive area where you could simulate the different types of earthquakes with examples of tectonic plate movement, and lastly, a house that simulated some of the famous earthquakes of the San Francisco Bay area. The earthquake simulation was the most fun! When you went in, there was a narration of one of the famous Bay Area earthquakes and you were told to hold onto the railings nearest to you. The house would start shaking as floorboards creaked, dishes clattered, books moved, and water in fish bowls sloshed. After the first earthquake, another narration followed about another famous San Francisco earthquake. This time the intensity of the earthquake and movement of the house was stronger. It was fun and the kids enjoyed it. I may have enjoyed it more than the kids have! The last module of the exhibit was about how to prepare and survive an earthquake.
As new homeschoolers, we wanted to find a few places we could explore and learn on days that the kids wanted a change of pace or if it was raining. We could spend all day here, doing nature studies, observing the animals, sketching, reading, and just enjoying our surroundings. The Academy of Sciences is truly a place you could immerse yourself. I loved seeing how excited the girls were and how much they were looking forward to exploring more of California.