Monday, April 1, 2013

Vacation Part 3!


Be forewarned that this post has a LOT of pictures!

We went to the Museum of Discovery and Science in FL. It was amazing!

Like the last couple of entries I was unprepared. Luckily I found the descriptions of most of the exhibits on their website. Unlike the last couple of entries, I DO have pictures AND descriptions of the exhibits! 

First we checked out the Ecoscapes which included lots of living plants, animals like bats, turtles, and rabbits, and habitats.
 

Jayden even pet a snake!





 
 





 There was an exhibit showing taxidermy animals.


 Tio JC went over the water cycle with Jayden.



We saw inquisitive and playful otters that swam up to the window and put on a show for us with their little tricks. 
 



 
We checked out the Prehistoric section. The kids stepped on a scale which let them know how many of them had to be eaten on a daily basis to fill up different prehistoric animals.
 We saw a HUGE Imperial Mammoth and a saber toothed cat.  

The kids hid inside of a 50 ft Megalodon (an extinct species of shark that lived millions of years ago).
 

Check out those teeth!
Of course Cait had to dig in his nose!
 

 We went through the storm center and created clouds and checked out a 10 foot tornado.
 We stopped and checked out a plasma ball that represented lightening. 
 There was a little indoor playground where the kids climbed the Hardwood Hammock.

 
 
 Cait made bubbles.

 
 And Jayden climbed the Wacky Walls.

We checked out the Powerful You exhibit which was Jayden's favorite part.  We used tools in the Cutting Edge exhibit that showed us how hospitals utilize technology to benefit patients. This included robotic surgery, cyberknife, and a CT scanner. We also saw models used to replace injured or non-functioning parts of the body, including a replacement hip and knee! 




The Powerful Pulse exhibit showed the parts of the heart and how it functions. This machine was amazing! We didn't even get to check out all of its functions but we did manage to see the anatomy of the heart, blood vessels, skeletal structure, and the muscles in the body.

Jayden has been learning about the effect of alcohol on the mind and body. He got to try out a DUI simulator and realized that alcohol leaves you unable to control yourself the way you want to.

Next we went to the Aviation Station to sit in the cockpit of several different aircrafts. 


We also tried a really loud machine that demonstrated the amount of force necessary to escape Earth's gravity.

After we left we went for a walk. I can't remember where this place is, but it was a nice little strip.


 

 

This museum was probably our favorite trip while there and we will DEFINITELY have to repeat it!

To be continued...