Give us a tiny university geology museum and, apparently, we
can kill three hours. Aurora was
still going strong, but Adeline, who rarely voices her opinion, loudly
proclaimed she was ready for a nap. Subsequently Aurora protested our having to leave. Ah, music to a mother’s ears – a child
upset because she wants to learn more science.
Most of our time was spent in the fossil room among casts of
dinosaurs, casts of prehistoric reptiles, and the skeleton of the Boaz
Mastodon. We drew pictures of them
in our notebook, took photographs of them and with them, and sang many a song
including our pool time favorite:
I am an ichthyosaurus
swimming
in the water
But when I see a
pterodactyl
Then
I go….SNAP!
At the geology museum, we faced and conquered fears. To master the cave, we held hands and
walked slowly back and forth between the stalactites and stalagmites until it
was no longer frightening. Then we
ran back and forth. Our first trip
to the black light room to see the fluorescence transformation was also
initially deemed too scary. We
cuddled tight the first couple rounds, but after a bit we could simultaneously
dance and watch the electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength strike the
minerals and cause the electromagnetic radiation of another, longer,
wavelength.
We pet a 1300 lbs copper nugget.
While we poked at a meterorite, we sang
A shooting star is not
a star is not a star at all
A shooting star’s a
meteor that’s heading for a fall
(Thanks They Might Be Giants)
Then we sang it again.
And again. And again.
We played games with the cases of minerals. What is your favorite? Can you find a
pink/orange/yellow/shiny/round/sparkly/black/pointy mineral?
The stepping stool to the grad-students-at-work observation
window was Aurora’s stage. Fossil nautiluses
were her audience as she sang many more songs, mostly of the made-up-on-the-spot
variety.
And always we returned to the dinosaur. Because as cool as all of geology is,
dinosaurs are the most awesome.
