California Academy of Sciences (guest blogger)

[science_spot]

Before I begin, I want to say thank you science_spot for this opportunity to post on her journal as a guest writer!

The mission of the California Academy of Sciences, in their own words, is "to explore, explain and protect the natural world."  My kids and I had the chance to visit their newly renovated museum facility in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park this week, and it was an amazing experience. 

In my opinion, the word "museum" is a serious misnomer which brings to mind images of lifeless, static exhibits depicting historical events.  In contrast, the Academy is filled with living plants and animals.  The newly opened facility was engineered to maximize energy efficiency and provide an opportunity for people to explore the world of science in four main areas:  The Morrison Planetarium, the Kimball Natural History Museum, the Steinhart Aquarium, and the Rainforest exhibit, all under one Living Roof. 

After spending most of the day there with my two kids and my parents, I still didn't get to see some of the exhibits, including the Rainforest, due to the crowds.   But I'll give you a brief overview of each area and discuss some of the really cool things we learned. 

The Morrison Planetarium

The show "Fragile Planet" inside the Planetarium, the largest all-digital planetarium in the world, was truly the high point of my day.  This "movie" was presented on a huge domed screen that gave you the feeling of being surrounded by outer space.  Its focus was on the exploration of space for other stars in our solar system which have orbiting planets, particularly those that may have climate conditions similar to Earth.   Our Earth orbits in what's called the "habitable zone," just the right distance from the sun to maintain temperatures that make it possible for life to thrive.  The theory is that other planets which are in their solar system's habitable zone might have temperatures that could allow for liquid water, and would therefore be potential candidates for sustaining life, particularly microbes.  The film explained a little bit, in layman's terms, about how scientists discover such planets, called "exoplanets."  Roughly 250 exoplanets have been discovered since 1995, and more are being discovered as we speak.  I guess science has made a few advances since I took my college astronomy class!  Here is a good web site with more detail about the search for exoplanets if you're interested. 

For those of you who are fellow astronomy fans, I couldn't help sharing a few fascinating facts: 

·         A light year is loosely defined as the distance that light travels in a year.  The distance is estimated at approximately six million miles. 

·         It's estimated that it takes 100,000 light years to travel from one end of our own galaxy, the Milky Way, to the other!

·         Therefore, by applying logic to the equation, let's say you are looking at a star that is 10,000 light years away.  You are actually seeing that star the way it looked 10,000 years ago and not as it is today.  It's like looking into a time machine.   

The show concluded with a live discussion about discoveries that have been made since the film was completed.  After seeing the perspective of our great planet as a small speck orbiting endlessly around one star in one galaxy in the universe, I feel pretty insignificant.   Just for kicks, here's an artist's depiction of a potentially habitable exoplanet, from the PlanetQuest web site.

The Steinhart Aquarium

Standing at the bottom of the world's deepest coral reef exhibit and watching the plants and animals drift and sway in the current gave me the feeling of being transported to a different place and time.  It was mesmerizing.  I could have spent all day in just the aquarium.  The aquatic life was fascinating; my personal favorites were the seadragons and the flashlight fish.  It would be impossible to discuss everything that we saw in there, but this video from the Academy's YouTube page does a decent job of showing some of the exhibits that I really enjoyed.  And just for fun, here's a picture of a Weedy Seadragon from the Academy's web page:

One of the things that I found most impressive about the aquarium was the opportunity to view these beautiful sea creatures from all angles.  We walked above them on the museum's main floor, walked beneath them in the Amazon tunnel, and walked alongside of them in many exhibits of all sizes.  Here's a picture of my son looking down through a viewing area in the floor as a stingray swam beneath him. 

 The 4-Story Rainforest

We didn't get to enter the Rainforest dome, and I am only moderately disappointed--it gives me a good excuse to go back!  The line was too long and we were too slow.  According to the Academy's web site, the temperature and humidity inside the glass rainforest dome mimics that of an actual rainforest and contains 600 species of free-flying birds and butterflies as well as many other plant and animal exhibits.  Here's a video from the Academy's YouTube account taken by some other guest who was more organized than I am.  And here's a photo of the outside of the dome from inhabitat.com--no fair showing you more than I got to see!

 

Hearst Forum

We watched the 3D movie "Bugs!" in the Hearst Forum, which follows the life cycle of a praying mantis who avoids decapitation by being gentle to his female mate and of a caterpillar who enters his chrysalis and transforms into a butterfly.  The thing that stood out the most to me from this movie was their description of the metamorphosis that occurs inside the chrysalis.  I always envisioned the process as being mostly about the caterpillar growing wings, but it's far more fascinating than that.  The movie described it as the body being melted down to liquid form and then rebuilt.  Here's a brief description that I found on HowStuffWorks:

"The transformation itself is amazing. Think of it as recycling -- if you drop a plastic bottle off in the recycling bin, it can be melted down into an entirely different shape. This is what happens inside the chrysalis. Much of the body breaks itself down into imaginal cells, which are undifferentiated -- like stem cells, they can become any type of cell. The imaginal cells put themselves back together into a new shape. A few parts of the body, such as the legs, are more or less unchanged during this process."

I now have a much deeper respect for the incredible process of metamorphosis.  That alone was worth sitting through the Bugs show.  That, and my three-year-old daughter comforting me during the spider parts by saying, "It's okay Mommy, don't be scared!  It's just a movie.  Abi is right here."

The Kimball Natural History Museum

The natural history section hosts a multitude of exhibits about a wide variety of topics from climate changes to the Galapagos Islands to making environmentally sound food choices, and many of the displays and exhibits were interactive and kid-friendly.  One of the highlights for the kids and I included the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton.  He looks ferocious, but the volunteer worker taught us that in spite of movies like Jurassic Park, the T. rex is thought to be primarily a scavenger.  Sure, he could hunt, but when you're that big and your arms are that useless, why waste your energy on chasing fast-moving ground critters?  Just scare away somebody else from their hard-earned kill and enjoy your dinner.  We also had fun checking out the animals in the African hall, especially the live penguins.  This isn't the greatest picture of the penguins, but then again, I'm not the greatest photographer.  Huh.  Coincidence? 

Living Roof

The Academy's living roof is one of the signature features of the new building's eco-friendly design.  The roof space was put to use as a planting area for many native California species, and there is a portion of the roof that is open to the public.  It can be accessed by climbing just one extra flight of stairs and is definitely worth seeing just to say you did it.  Plus, the idea of climbing up on the roof has kid-friendly appeal; my son was very excited to tell his friend, "I got to go all the way up on the roof of the museum, and I didn't even fall off or get hurt!"  Here's a picture of us checking out the scenery.  My dad is a worse photographer than I am. 

Here's a better picture of a portion of the roof from the Academy's web page:

Tips on visiting with kids

Here are some suggestions for those of you who want to take your children to the Academy.  First, the good news:  Kids ages six and under get in free! 

My recommendation would be to pick up your tickets for the Planetarium show as soon as you arrive.  The cost of the show is included in your admission price, but because there is limited seating for the day, you have to pick up a pass for the next available show time.  I picked up our passes at about 11:30 a.m. for the 3:30 show, and when we walked by there after lunch all of the seats were gone for the day.  Don't miss it!  The bug show also requires you to pick up passes.  There's an information desk at the front entrance to direct you to where you can pick up your passes.  If you have young children, consider whether or not you think they can sit quietly for the 30-minute show.  It's not easy to get up and leave if your infant or young child gets fussy.  I'm glad I didn't bring my three-year-old daughter to the planetarium, but my six-year-old son absolutely loved it. 

If I had it to do over again, I would have started the day with the rainforest exhibit, which had a long wait to get in all day long.  The exit of the rainforest puts you directly into the aquarium, which also took a good part of the day to explore.  After seeing those two major sections of the building, I think everything else could be seen pretty easily. 

Some things that are good to know about if you have small children are the touch tank in the aquarium, where kids can touch the starfish and sea urchins, and the Early Explorer's Cove, a play area designed for children five and under.  My daughter was blissfully happy spending an hour in there with Grandma while my son and I went to the planetarium show. 

Most importantly, if you get the chance to visit the Academy, bring your camera and have a blast!  It's an unforgettable experience.

-Guest blog written by clairandamjones

[science_spot]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 8:28 AM

Ann Marie,  this blog is fabulous!  Just so everyone knows, I didn't make any modifications to this post at all - you are seeing it in its original form :)

I really enjoyed reading about your experience at the CAS.  I am completely jealous!!!  We don't have anything that cool around here.  Now I totally have a reason to get to California on "business"!!

I completely know what you mean about feeling insignificant once I step back and imagine how big the environment is "out there".  The planetarium sounds like it would be so cool so see.

That sea dragon is really cute, my 5 year old is going to love seeing him when I show her this post.

Yes, seeing the rainforest is a great reason to go back!  We have a new rainforest display at our local zoo and it is among our favorite places to go.  I would love to see your pics when you do make it back there.

That living roof looks like something from the Teletubbies! 

Overall it looks and sounds like you all had an incredible time.  Thanks so much for sharing this with post with us, and for being our first guest blogger! You rock!

Tonya

AKA sunmoonstars

The Science Spot

 

(Original Poster)

[PaxMommy]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 11:09 AM

I want to go! I want to go!

Wonderful, informative post!

And I love this: "In my opinion, the word "museum" is a serious misnomer which brings to mind images of lifeless, static exhibits depicting historical events.  In contrast, the Academy is filled with living plants and animals."

This is an excellent debut, clairandamjones. You are brave for being the first guest-blogger.

 

[Mickey28]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 2:05 PM

This makes me very jealous and wishing that I lived closer to San Fran!  What a great post!  Thanks for sharing Ann Marie! :-)

[evwsquared]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 3:33 PM

You already know how jealous I am about your visit! I really need to play hooky one day and go (because the weekends are way too busy). It is just so awesome to have a place that gets people so excited about science! Thinking about all of the different ways in which the imaginations of the children who've visited there have been sparked just gives me goosebumps.

[clairandamjones]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 3:42 PM

Thank you, Tonya, for letting me post on your blog!  I'm really glad that this compilation of information has had the opportunity to reach your science-loving audience, and I'm very happy to share my experience with all of you.

If anyone wants to read a shorter version of my experience from a more personal perspective, I posted a journal about it here. 

Thanks again, Tonya!  I had a lot more things that I wanted to share about astronomy, so I just might be back here some day soon...

[arthistmom]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 5:01 PM

This post just made me get serious about planning a San Fran visit in the fall to experience CAS's amazing offerings. (And, oh yeah, my sister's in SF too.) Thank you for this!

[DestMasters]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 5:05 PM

Wonderful post! I love the description of viewing the star as it was thousands or years ago.  Awesome.

Thanks for having such a great guest blogger!

[aenima49]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 8:15 PM

Oh wow!  What a neat place!  We'd have to make 4+ trips to see all that!

[Max]

Jul. 21, 2009 at 8:25 PM

I took my boys there when we last visited Cali.  We had a ball at this fabulous facility.  It was definitely worth the trip for us.