science

Field Work Friday: Virginia International Raceway

July 18, 2014 by Amy

I know next to nothing about racing – maybe we should just say ‘nothing’ and be honest – but My Little Man is really, really into vehicles. Tractors, building, racing, wheelbarrows – doesn’t matter, he likes’em all.

So for this week’s field trip we ventured to the Virginia International Raceway.

I expected a big paved circle with some bleachers. VIR is so, so much more.

The Virginia International Raceway sits on 1300 acres in southern Virginia. It features a nearly four mile road course that can be 4 separate tracks or one long one, but is also home to three restaurants, three inns, luxury villas, Camp Motorsports, and a spa, among many other attractions.

Our tour began near the North Paddock. As this is a Stock Car Club of America national race weekend, nearly 300 cars will be participating, and many had already arrived and begun to practice. In this picture you can see some of their gear.

The kids were enthralled with seeing the cars fly around the track. My Little Man couldn’t tear his eyes away.

There are several outside businesses that operate on VIR’s land. One uses these older vehicles to teach government officials, among others, how to handle car chases and drive defensively.

Another service is the racing “country club.” Like at a regular country club where you can join to play golf, here you can join, reserve garage space for your car, and then come here to race.

After our tour we were permitted to wander freely throughout the North Paddock area, watching the cars practice and checking out their garage areas. This car was coming off of the track after a 30 minute practice session.

We watched part of the practice from a second-story restaurant deck area which was just beside the track. I was afraid that someone’s head would get stuck – he wanted to be closer!

We were perfectly positioned to watch the cars come off of a long straight stretch and move into these turns. We even saw a few come off the road and maneuver to return to it.

These cars were patiently waiting their turn to practice – and finally it arrived! They headed onto the track.

Two drivers graciously agreed to let us see their vehicles up close and personal. I can’t imagine driving that! They told us that they topped out somewhere above 130 mph on the straight stretch.

My Little Man overcame his shyness at the prospect of sitting inside a real race car! He was curious, however, about why the steering wheel was so soft …

and so he asked the driver. The driver, Frank, told us that the gloves have leather grippers on them, and so the steering wheel is suede. Together they help the driver grip the wheel well, with less likelihood of slipping.

My Little Man sat in this car.

What a setup!

The kids also asked why the tires had so much gravel stuck to them. Frank explained that the tires had sticky outsides. This special coating helped the tires grip the road better and better as they heated from the friction of the race. Since this car had just come off the track, there was still lots of gravel holding on.

Aren’t they beautiful? I didn’t realize we had such racing fans!

I had no idea that there was such a complicated racing venue so close to us – or that there was so much happening there. While I’m still not a big fan of driving fast or in circles, VIR is a really neat venue.

Are you a racing fan? Have you ever been to a track?

Field Work Friday – Alligators and Owls and AFRICAN PORCUPINES , OH, MY!

July 18, 2014 by Amy

We recently had the opportunity to see Dan the Animal Man do his thing at a local park.

Who’s Dan?

He’s a pretty amazing guy. He works with exotic animals and has impressive credentials. He’s worked at the White House, on several movies, and been on seemingly every TV talk-type show there is.

Soon he’ll be affiliated with the Creation Museum, showing people just how each animal is part of an intricate design by God.

Dan brought several animals with him that day, this African Porcupine being one of them. We had never seen anything like it! Dan showed off her unique features and dispelled some common myths about these types of creatures.

The other animals Dan brought were a bit less exotic but equally impressive. The European Owl has a huge wingspan and is totally silent when flapping its wings. It’s head can turn around really far, too!

We learned what makes lemurs different from monkeys – and that they’ll let you know if you’re misbehaving!

The last animal that Dan brought was this alligator. After impressing us with his size and strength, Dan moved him outside, where everyone had the opportunity to touch and take pictures with this animal.

We first head Dan speak a few years ago, and the kids haven’t forgotten it. Instead, they insisted that we attend this presentation, and they were equally impressed. I’m sure we’ll be hearing about the time they touched a gator for years to come.

If you have the opportunity to hear Dan the Animal Man speak, don’t miss it. He’s not only great with the animals, but he’s very funny – and he can share fascinating facts about the way that animals work together throughout creation. It’s a great experience!

Field Work Friday – Building Birdhouses with the Eastern Bluebird Rescue Group

July 18, 2014 by Amy

Last week we had the opportunity to visit the Eastern Bluebird Rescue Group with our 4-H club. This amazing facility produces more than 1,000 birdhouses specifically designed for bluebirds every two weeks! They have been instrumental in increasing the bluebird population and getting this bird taken off of the endangered species list.

We began our tour learning about the specific design of the bluebird house – from the metal covering of the house entrance, the grooves cut into the inside of the door, and the bluebirds’ preferred color and location of their homes.

Next we moved on to learn about other animals that the rescue group works with. Besides the beavers, deer, bobcat, and red fox, we also saw an alligator, a snake,a wolf, and an opossum.

The leader of the facility is a federally certified animal rescuer, and this small owl is going to be a permanent resident now. He’s blind in his left eye and not suitable to be released.

Bluebird houses recently finished ….

Then we headed off to the shop to learn how to make the houses.

Only a select few volunteers are allowed to use these power tools for safety reasons.

This man is able to put a house together in under 90 seconds. Wow!

Our bluebird house experts. 🙂

The founder of this group came out to speak to us at the end. He was a very kind man, and it was obvious that he was passionate about animal rescue.

When we finished at the bluebird house construction facility, we caravan-ed off to the founder’s farm to see his wolf pack. He keeps these wolves, who are of different varieties, to teach people about animal rescue.

Being this close to these beautiful, wild animals was amazing! We all learned a lot on this trip.

Now to hang our bluebird house ….

Have you taken any cool field trips lately?

Field Work Friday – Bird Watching

July 18, 2014 by Amy

This week we traveled back to Little River Regional Park to learn about bird identification from park manager Mike DiFabio. As this is something that My Little Man and I know virtually nothing about, we were excited to find out more.

Mike began by teaching us about the basic ways that birds can be identified – visually, by their bodies, habitats, or nests, but also by the sounds they make or where they are found. He brought tools along to help us in our quest.

All of the children were excited to learn how to use these binoculars!

After learning the basics, we headed out on Little River’s bird watching trail. Each child took binoculars and a special bird identification sheet that Mike had made for us.

The bird trail at Little River was carefully created to contain different types of trees, birdhouses, and a meadow, all to attract different birds. At this bench in the deciduous forest we stop to search for birds and identify the ones we can find. Mike uses a special tool that makes bird calls to identify the ones that we can hear but not see. The kids were all fascinated with this!

At this birdhouse Mike talked to us about the types of birds that make their homes in cavities and how to go about seeing if there’s a bird inside. He showed us how to stand off to one side and knock before opening the lid so as not to scare any birds inside.

From this point, we hiked through the rest of the forest, across the meadow, and back to the pavilion for a question-and-answer session. We even got to see a heron!

As always, Mike went above and beyond the call of duty for our kids. Each child got lots of personalized attention and access to great equipment while in the park. Afterwards, we picnicked, visited the playground, and hiked a few trails before heading home.

If you’re in the Triangle area, you should definitely visit Little River Regional Park. This park has a great staff and many education events happening. It’s also the only park in a multi-county area where the staff will conduct these types of educational seminars for free upon request.

Field Work Friday – Hershey’s Chocolate World

July 18, 2014 by Amy

A few years ago, as we left my grandmother’s house near Hershey, Pennsylvania, we decided to tour Chocolate World on a whim. I hadn’t been in a few years but loved it as a kid, and I thought that our kids were old enough to enjoy it.

I was right.

While they had fun exploring the newly expanded building and its attractions, their favorite one was the old simulated ride through the Hershey Factory – the same ride that I had enjoyed as kid.

When we were making our plans to visit Pennsylvania this time, we knew that Chocolate World had to be on the list.

In fact, it turned out that the simulated factory ride was my Little Man’s only request for our time in Hershey.

He was so excited to see the characters that he even posed for me – a rare event!

Chocolate World had just been renovated – again. We spent some time with a super nice ticket lady to choose our options. The main ride through Chocolate World has always been and still is free, but most other attractions have a fee.

We began with Gabby, Harmony, and Olympia, the singing cows, and did the factory tour. The lines were non-existent for a Wednesday afternoon in May, and since my Little Man liked it so much, we rode twice.

One of the new big things, just opened that week, was a 4-D show involving a mystery in the Hershey Factory. We decided to try it out. We weren’t really impressed with the mystery aspect, but the special effects were great.

I would love to be able to bring this much Hershey’s chocolate home! It’s a good thing I can’t – but we always have fun playing around with it.

My Big Helper decided to go for the Hershey’s Factory Experience. They have a simulated factory line, designed for little-little kids, where they make a photo ID name badge for them, give them the paper hat you see above, and let them fill up a tin with chocolates from a conveyor belt. The experience is free, or you can take home the tin and some photos for an added fee.

Before leaving, we had to do some shopping. As we explored the stores, we found a new feature in a back corner – the ability to send an email via this super large screen. My Big Helper chose to send a message home to her daddy and really liked typing on the big screen.

Hershey’s Chocolate World is definitely a fun experience. You can learn a lot about how chocolate is made and about the many ways to eat chocolate from these tours – and Chocolate World is home to several other attractions, as well.

This was a great cap to our spring chocolate study. We were able to compare the Hersey Chocolate Factory to the small and exclusive Videri in Raleigh and the mid-sized Wilbur Chocolates in Lititz. Throughout this unit we studied geography, history, biographies, science, and the art of cooking with chocolate. How could learning get any better?

It will be hard to top this chocolate-flavored study. I wonder what could top this one??

Have you been to Chocolate World – or any chocolate factory? What has been your favorite thing to study?

Field Work Friday – The Amish Barn & House

July 18, 2014 by Amy

While we were in Lancaster County, PA, a few months ago, the kids really wanted to visit some Amish touristy spots. Having grown up around the Amish, I felt rather odd doing this, but a visitor’s center recommended the Amish Farm & House on Route 30, and it was the perfect place to learn about the Amish up close and personal.

From the outside, this farm looks very odd – it’s practically in a Target parking lot! Apparently this is the only Target in the country that has a hitching post.

The Amish Barn & House was a working 15-acre Amish farm about 60 years ago. A young family lived there until Lancaster rezoned the property for commercial use only. At that time a local restaurant owner, who had noticed that his waitresses spent lots of time answering questions about the Amish, decided to purchase the farm to teach others about Amish culture.

The house is set up like a museum. Most rooms reflect the items that an Amish family would have, making it easy for you to understand their daily lifestyle. A guide takes you through the house, explaining what you see.

My Big Helper got to be the ‘model’ to understand the progression of Amish female clothing.

A barn behind the house had several animals. We were fascinated with the baby turkeys!

A recent addition to the property is an Amish-built schoolhouse. A former Amishwoman, who used to teach before marrying, now sits at the teacher’s desk, ready to answer questions. We arrived just in time to talk to her before this busload of Brazilians arrived!

The kids loved exploring the inside of this buggy. They weren’t expecting blue velvet seats or the dashboard with knobs. It was fun checking it all out!

There were many other features to this property. A new picnic pavilion, a light inside the old well, an outside oven, a carpentry shop, a covered bridge, playground, animal pens, scooter run, and a summer kitchen, just to name a few. A sign near the front door said that most visitors averaged an hour and a half there – but my kids were sad when we had to leave nearly three hours later. They could easily have spent the day.

With kind guides, in-house artisans, authentic artifacts, and lots to do, this made a great field trip.

Have you ever studied Amish culture?

Field Work Friday – What Lives in a River?

July 18, 2014 by Amy

This week we headed off to Little River Regional Park, a great park just outside Durham to find out what lives in a river.

Park Manager Mike DiFabio met us bright and early to begin our hike. The weather was rather cool and it rained hard yesterday, so we had a smallish group – but these boys were big on energy.

Though cool, it turned out to be a beautiful day for a hike.

The boys collected leaves while hiking to the river, and when we arrived, Mike helped the boys identify all of their leaves. Did you know that some trees sport two different leaves??

Some of them were really interested in this.

After talking briefly about what a river is, where it goes, and how different animals might use it, Mike passed out the tools we could use. He had fish nets and collection vials for each person, as well as bigger tanks for storing any creatures we might find. There were also books to help us identify our finds.

This was a huge hit. What little boy doesn’t want free reign to play in a river?

The kids were creative where they looked for specimens …

and they searched hard to find the creatures of the river!

Over the course of our visit, we found baby fish and a small toad.

A beetle required the identification book …

(photo taken by and used with permission of Susan Byerly)

and so did this tiny snail.

After packing up our river tools, we decided to finish the hike via a longer route that would keep us by the river.

Mike continued to teach us about nature as we hiked, pointing out this beaver trail …

and teaching us about how beneficial even this dead tree could be for the forest.

Upon returning to the pavilion, we were hungry and happy to eat our lunches! It was truly a gorgeous day to be outside, though, and we learned not only about the river, but the leaves, the trees, the history of the area, and the animals who live there, too.

If you live in the Durham area, be sure to check out Little River Park. If you don’t, look for park information for places near you.

Who knows what kind of hidden natural treasures could be just around the corner?

Field Work Friday – The Water Treatment Plant

July 18, 2014 by Amy

Kids’ brains are like sponges, and they learn from everything they see all around them. They’re insatiably curious, too, and want to know ‘why’ everything is and ‘where’ it came from and ‘how’ it got to be that way.

So, to follow up with the questions I received after we studied what grows in a river, we decided to find out how that river gets clean enough for us to drink.

This week we visited the water treatment plant.

One of the first things we learned was that the treatment plant’s original purpose included not just cleaning water, but also to be a bomb shelter.

The things you learn on a field trip!

We learned that water leaves the reservoir and travels through a large pipe into this cement tank.

From there, it’s taken to a large tank where it is stirred and has chemicals added to it. These chemicals are “sticky” and adhere to dirt particles, making them heavy enough to fall to the bottom during the next procedures.

The water flows through pipes, filters, and tanks underneath these concrete walkways. Because the water is so heavy, it can only be contained in cement – and the pathways over the tanks are necessary for support.

The water flows through this large cement tank, where the dirt particles become heavy and fall to the bottom of the tank. It takes four hours for the water to be processed from the time it enters the first tank until it is ready to leave the building.

Repairs are made here …

and the valves can be opened here.

All of the valves are controlled here.

The water is tested after each stage of treatment by a chemist to make sure that the chemical levels meet safety standards.

Finally, the sludge water comes out here, to the lagoon. Eventually the clearer water is skimmed off the top and taken to the waste treatment plant to be cleaned.

Our tour guide was fantastic about answering all of our questions, and we got to climb all over that plant!

We learned that there’s a lot more to cleaning water than meets the eye – and that it’s a very precise science.

Call the management of your local water treatment plant and ask for a tour. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot!

Oh – and if you can go out with your friends for lunch afterwards – so much the better.

Field Work Friday – The Circus

July 18, 2014 by Amy

I’ve been wanting to take our animal-loving kids to the circus for years, so when our local home school group decided to go there for a field trip, there was no way we would miss it.

During the week leading up to our trip, we studied everything about the circus. The Ringing Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus website is amazing, and since that’s where we were headed, it was the perfect launchpad for our exploration.

We began by reading about the performers in the circus. Our kids didn’t really understand what a circus is, so they had lots of questions. As we read their bios and talked about their native country and how long they had been performing, we used circus vocabulary words like ‘ringmaster,’ ‘three ring circus,’ and ‘trapeze.’ They began to understand, finally asking if it was going to be like one of the shows that we saw last year at Disney. 🙂 To help them understand further, we visited YouTube and found short clips of some performers so that they could visualize what each could do.

As the week progressed, we studied the animals in the circus. We read books about each one, drawing pictures, writing summaries of what we learned, and watching documentaries of some through the Smithsonian Channel app on the Nook. My Little Man particularly loved this! Ringling Bros. also has an Elephant Conservation Center in Florida, and we read about that before watching a short documentary, also on their website. That fascinated my Big Helper.

Soon the big day had arrived! We headed out bright and early, determined to beat the crowds – and we did! We were even more excited to learn that our seats were IN THE SECOND ROW! The motorcycle highwire guy was almost directly over our heads! What a view!

None of us could wait for the show to start.

Personally, this was one of my favorite acts. An old-fashioned stunt show, these men and women could do amazing acrobatics on galloping horses. Their strength, balance, and trust in each other and in their mounts was inspiring to see.

This troupe of jumping acrobats was pretty neat, too. How they could use a springboard to jump four people high and land on someone else’s shoulders is beyond me – but they did this and more.

The group of martial arts masters from the Far East fascinated my Little Man, and with good reason. They were able to bend steel with their chests, snap hard boards swung at their heads, and balance on the tip of a spear – on their chests. Here, this man jumped through a blazing hoop of knives – with a black hood over his head.

(Photo courtesy of the amazing Susan B.)

Princess, the tiger on the left, was having a rather grumpy day, making this show quite tense. I’m glad I wasn’t the one in the ring with her! – but it did make for an exciting show. I’m not so sure that My Little Man is ready to take up lion taming, however …

(As I’m sure you can tell, this photo was also taken by the amazing Susan B.)

nothing prepared me to my Big Helper’s new fascination with elephants. She has added working at the Ringling Bros.’ Elephant Conservation Center in Florida as a new career possibility for her future. I wonder where I can find an elephant for her to ride?

All in all, we loved our trip to the circus and were nowhere ready for the show to end. The kids are already talking about Ringling Bros.‘ trip to the Triangle next year. Maybe we’ll be able to go again!

Have you ever taken your kids to the circus? What did they think? Do you know where to ride an elephant?

Field Work Friday – A Veterinary House Call

July 18, 2014 by Amy

This week we had the opportunity to watch a veterinary house call. My in-laws are stabling a horse for their grandchildren, and since this arrangement began only recently, they wanted to be sure that Belle is in good health.

I’m not sure that Belle appreciated their concern, however. I think she was trying to hide.

First, the vet and her assistant established a medical record for Belle and took some information to establish a baseline. This included taking her picture from several different angles and checking her heart rate.

Next, they checked her feet. Belle has serious issues with having her back legs touched, so this wasn’t easy. The vet did manage to check one foot …

before Belle kicked and had to be moved against the fence to complete this portion of the check-up.

The peanut gallery was in awe of this entire procedure. We must’ve looked like such bumpkins, parked in our lawn chairs, watching the vet do her thing. (Good thing I didn’t make popcorn.)

She is beautiful, isn’t she?

They slipped her a sedative so that they could begin the dental portion of the visit.

Next they rinsed her mouth with an iodine solution. This was to remove any leftover grass in her teeth and clean the area well before working with her teeth.

Check out that headgear! They stabilized Belle’s head …

and then they inspected her teeth visually. (I think the boys wanted one of those fancy lights.)

The vet was so nice to stop and explain everything to us periodically.

Belle’s teeth are wearing unevenly as most horses’ teeth do. Because the upper and lower jaws are not the same width (and because horses’ teeth never stop growing), the edges get sharp and then the horse can’t chew food properly. Because this was happening, Belle’s teeth needed to be filed.

I’ve never had a cavity. After watching this massive tool at work, I’m pretty sure I don’t want one. Floss, please!

Woozy and a bit bow-legged, Belle walked docilely back to the pasture. Done for now – with a clean bill of health.

I’m glad that Belle doesn’t have to do that every day, but I’m very happy that she’s healthy.

If you’ve never watched a vet do a check-up on a large animal, it’s very interesting. Call up a vet and check it out!