September 10, 2013 First homeschooling field trip

Today we went to the museum. The first thing we did is look at the fossils. Then we went to explore the ice tunnel and to lean about glacier formations here in New York, a long, long, long time ago. And then we dug for fossils. We saw a Mastodon skeleton. We looked at animal habitats. We studied the disease carried by mosquitos, called Lyme disease. After that, we went upstairs and did activities with balls, planes, vacuums, and rode on a hovercraft. The last thing we did was watch a movie about Rochester NY and its natural resources. Glaciers formed the lakes, and water is one of our area's greatest natural resources. The water wheels and millstones were used in Rochester to make flour. Wind also makes electricity, here in New York. The salt mine, right near Geneseo, proves that seas once covered this area. Once the seas receded, the salt was left behind, deep underground. There is a lot of sedimentary rock in this area, filled with fossils from marine animals, such as trilobites, crinoids and coral. During dinner, we decided to guess (develop a hypothesis) about peppers. My dad's friend gave us a basket of peppers. We didn't know which ones were spicy. We tested out our guesses, and the red thin pepper made all of us almost cry!! My face was red and my lips felt burnt. Then we tried lip balm, drinking water, and ice to cool our mouths. Mom laughed at us. Charles made funny faces. At night, I went with my dad to go vote for the Sheriff. My dad got a ballot, and he filled in his choice for Sheriff, and put it the voting machine to count. We all received a sticker for voting. I had a good time today.