Monday, June 1, 2015

The Florida Aquarium is Turning the Big 20

If you don't know already, our family LOVES The Florida Aquarium!
We recently purchased our annual pass and let me tell you, the boys absolutely love going there!
This Spring, we decided that it was time to let the boys start to plan our homeschool field trips.
Little Bro's first field trip plan was, of course, to one of his all time favorite spots in our region: The Florida Aquarium! It was a great curricular tie-in to the boys' study choices for Spring:
  • Flora and Fauna of Madagascar 
  • Water Conservation
Little Bro made out a list, packed some snacks for our car trip there, and then, planned out exactly what he wanted us to learn while there.
We all were instructed to bring notebooks and pens or pencils.
He decided that at every area, that we should select our favorite animal in the exhibit and write down its name, including its scientific name in Latin. He then instructed us to collect facts about the animals.
He checked out the various program offerings and decided that our family should go to the Secret Sealife Superhero Show. Both boys were very excited that their dad was selected to be a part of the show!
Dear Hubby was chosen for the role of Team Sea Turtle Superhero Captain.
We did extensions related to Madagascar and then, after our second trip, the boys focused on water conservation and clean up efforts following oil spills.
Big Bro helped to plan the second trip back to The Florida Aquarium. Even though he has studied some of these topics before, he still enjoyed getting to revisit some of his favorite areas and to see some of his favorite animals. We dubbed our second field trip Water Lab Day. We checked out that area there and then, the boys did various science experiments related to water conservation at home.
Such a great way to make natural connections to their learning!
So nice for them to take an active role in planning their areas of interest for their studies too.
If you have not been to The Florida Aquarium in a while, you really need to revisit this gem of an aquarium! If you have not been there ever before, you are missing out!
Here are some fun photos from two of our most recent visits to The Florida Aquarium:






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