Where: California ScienCenter, Los Angeles, CA
Website: https://californiasciencecenter.org/
Travel Buddies: Hanna, Tonyo + Bruce and Kathy Garrett
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| The Kelp Forest at the California ScienCenter |
Visiting the US is also a chance to catch up with friends. I realized during this visit that as we accumulate US-based relationships, it has been getting harder and harder to meet a LOT of people during a trip. There just isn't enough time!
From Tucson with Love
We were so lucky that my former host parents (from my Up With People stint in 2007) Bruce and Kathy Garrett decided to travel all the way from Tucson, Arizona (9 hours!) to see us in Cerritos, CA last June. The last time I saw them was more than 10 years ago, when I said goodbye after a week of living in their house (see my UWP diary here: http://bananaspinworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/live-in-now.html)
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| Hanna and the Garretts Tucson, AZ (2007) |
I was so happy to see them again! I stayed with more than 15 families during my travel year with UWP, and I can say that I connected the most with the Garretts. I believe we share the same love for adventure, science, and telling stories.
Kathy asked us where we wanted to go during our one day together. It was a choice between the Aquarium of the Pacific (http://www.aquariumofpacific.org) in Long Beach, or the California ScienCenter. Of course, our little scientist Googled both destinations and picked the ScienCenter!
Maia won't enjoy the field trip just yet, so it was really a day for Tonyo.
Our education started from the moment Bruce and Kathy picked us up. The Garretts arrived in a super cool Tesla!(https://www.tesla.com) Tesla is a leading manufacturer of electric cars, and they are known for their innovation and sleek designs. I loved learning about the smart car's capabilities. I was awed at how Bruce pays $1.00 to get the same mileage vs. Kathy's $35.00 worth of gasoline in her car. I also learned that a Tesla owner can charge their cars for FREE at any Tesla Super Charger stations scattered in the United States. You may also charge your car at home at minimal cost. The Garretts have solar panels installed in their Tucson home, so that makes their car charging even greener!California ScienCenter
At the time of our visit, they also had the visiting exhibit, "King Tut, the Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh." We've always been fascinated about ancient Egypt and apparently this was one of the biggest King Tut exhibits ever to go on tour! I also just recently found out that this is the last world tour for the King Tut artifacts (they go to Europe next and around 9 more cities in the next 7 years) before they move everything in its permanent home in the Grand Egyptian Museum.
When visiting the Center, be sure to allocate one whole day (specially if you have a super curious kid like mine) so you can enjoy all attractions.
King Tut
King Tut's tomb remains one of the most important archaeological findings up to this day. Its discovery prompted a big interest in Egyptology and the artifacts found in his tomb provided a lot of insights for researchers about the life in ancient Egypt.
It was a huge collection, with some items marked as "first time out of Egypt." Tonyo had a great time going from item to item, insisting to read all the descriptions. A lady saw him and kindly offered to give Tonyo her audio guide. It was a welcome bonus for us (and quieted Tonyo down a bit...)
The exhibit was fascinating. It was a treat seeing the items that we used to only see in documentaries. I personally loved the jewels - I found the intricate designs and the colour combination of gold/ blue (lapiz)/ red/ black very beautiful. I also liked learning about the Book of the Dead, where spells were written so King Tut could bring to life the miniature warriors that were buried with him inside the tomb.
Tonyo liked learning about the multiple coffins where King Tut was buried in (sort of like Russian Matrioshka dolls). He also liked the display about the jewels and accessories that were placed upon King Tut's mummified body.If you are interested to see this exhibit or its future tours, you may learn more at: https://kingtutexhibition.com.
EcosystemsThe Ecosystems exhibit was focused on the interconnectivity of all creatures, things, events, activities in our planet. It was subdivided into several zones: the Extreme Zone, Forest Zone, River Zone, Island Zone, Rot Room, Global Zone, L.A Zone, and the Family Discovery Room.
Tonyo liked the Forest Zone, which featured the Kelp Forest. It was amazing how they showcased a diverse world living amongst the seaweed. My favourite was the Extreme zone, which showed life in harsh environments such as the desert and the Arctic. I also liked the L.A Zone, or the urban zone. Come to think of it, humans and our urban lifestyle is indeed an ecosystem of its own with a huge impact to the environment.
Air and Space
The Air and Space exhibit devoted a lot of time on space science and how we are able to send humans to space. I found the astronaut toilet very interesting. Tonyo and I also rode a flight simulator (which, for me, is just a shaking box with a TV inside.. exciting for kids, though!)
Tonyo likes the life sciences (biology/ zoology) more than the physical sciences (chemistry/ physics) so he was not very enthusiastic about the techie space stuff. However, this changed a bit when we entered the Samuel Oschin Pavilion to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour!
First launched in 1992, the Endeavour has successfully completed 25 missions into space, including the first service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. I was awed by the size of the shuttle! The external body of the main component, or the orbiter (this is the one that looks like a plane...) is actually made of ceramic tiles. Each tile has a different material composition, each one carefully designed and chosen to be exactly where it is needed.
We also saw a film on how the shuttle was transported from the Los Angeles International Airport to the ScienCenter. It was pretty cool to see how they navigated the city streets! It was a huge spectacle for the public, and apparently very expensive - with a $200 Million dollar funding for the move.
An unused External Tank (or ET) was also on display. This is a huge single-use gas tank for the orbiter. This carries all the fuel that a space shuttle orbiter needs to fly to space. It detaches from the orbiter 8.5 minutes after launch, and falls back into the earth (most of it disintegrates in the atmosphere on the way down).
A Day of Learning
We spent a lot of time in the exhibits above and were pretty much "exhibited out." Tonyo was still energetic and was determined to see everything. We breezed through the other exhibits pretty quickly! The World of Life showed how living things' cells and body systems work. The Creative World showed implications of inventions and innovations in our daily life. There was even a special exhibit that talked about Fear and Phobias (pretty creepy!)
The California ScienCenter is a great place for learning and sparking young (and old) minds towards science and innovation. How I wish more kids can have the opportunity to visit. It is located at the Los Angeles Exposition Park, which also has the California African American Museum and the Natural History Museum. We hope we can go back and see the other museums some other time.
On our way home, I loved how Tonyo enthusiastically talked to Kathy and Bruce about his favourite portions in the exhibits, and how he'd love to be able to invent something someday. We ended the day in high spirits.
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| It's Tonyo's turn! In 2007, I enjoyed Bruce's stories about the deserts of Arizona and Native American art and history. Now, 2018, Tonyo heard about science, space, and ... really, really bad jokes. |
Thank you so much to Bruce and Kathy for the fun-filled day!
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| Hanna and the Garretts plus two (Tonyo and Maia) 2018 |
