Expo Day

San Diego's annual Science festival came to a close Saturday with a huge Expo Day at Petco Park.  There were hundreds of exhibits and hands-on activities for all ages, as well as 2 stages with performances throughout the day.  The girls were excited to go see Sid the Science Kid since they really like his show on PBS.  I figured we'd check out a few things, but not stay long after the show.  We ended up going with my friend Rachele and her son (the girls' friend) Michael and we stayed almost 5 hours!  No nap for Audrey, but she was just as excited about everything as the older kids were.  

(On a side note - we unknowingly took part in the kick off of the Science Festival last weekend at Balboa Park.) 

When we first arrived, the girls each took a turn controlling the remote controlled submersibles provided by the Office of Naval Research.  They were given a bag full of goodies that they had fun with too - mainly the posters that they imagined to be maps.

Couldn't help thinking of my dad (an electrician for 39 years), as the girls tried to figure out how this circuit worked to turn on 2 different light bulbs and a little fan.  They moved the switches, pushed the button and watched it move from one light to the next.

The Sid the Science Kid show was great.  The girls loved all the songs he sang, and loved seeing Sid - from a distance.  They were both afraid to get their picture with him, so I did.

After the show, we went down to check out more exhibits.  We got lab coats to wear from Gen-Probe as we made necklaces with our DNA in them.

Eliza got to experiment with filtering water.  It was pink when she pulled it into the dropper, then they put a little filter on the end, and when she squirted it into the other cup, it was clear.

Eliza and Audrey both liked watching the water move in different directions as they blocked and unblocked it with the blue partitions.

They made kazoos with tongue depressors, straws, and rubber bands.

What would a science festival be without a microscope and magnifying glasses to look at bugs?

Eliza had fun making animals tracks and trying to identify what animal they came from.  This one was a mountain lion, but she liked the raccoon one too because it looked like a hand.

Another must have at a science festival - live animals to see and touch.  This is a blue-tongued skink.

All the kids liked the tomato worms.  Audrey tried to reach in and grab them out!

We moved on to a table where the kids could make different molecules with toothpicks and gum drops.  Audrey made Hydrochloric Acid by putting a gum drop on each end of one toothpick.

Eliza made an Ozone molecule that was a triangle shape.  Audrey ate hers right away, but Eliza was so proud of hers that it made it all the way home before she ate it.

The kids paused for a few minutes to watch the giant bubbles this girl was making.

There were of course quite a few exhibits related to the human body.  Eliza's preschool class has been learning about the body for the past few weeks, so she was excited about this as well.  Our friend Michael is pouring water into the top of this exhibit - a model of the Digestive System made by 5th graders.  Eliza understood that it was related to a body, and asked the guy where the spine was.

Seeing how the diaphragm inflated and deflated the lungs.

Giant paper mache eyeballs!  Eliza was very curious about the rubber band on the back that was meant to be the optic nerve.  She is all about messages to and from her brain lately - at dinner she tells me "My brain is sending me a message telling me I'm full."

Her report/presentation at school (yes preschool) was on the Human Heart.  She was happy to see this model and be able to open it and look inside.  She told the woman behind the table that her heart is as big as a racquetball.  She can't wait for me to print the pictures so she can take them to class soon!

Audrey dipping her paper into the water to check the pH.

Very excited to watch it change colors!

This exhibit had pictures of Nemo and Dory up, and were explaining to the kids that the pH of the water had to be just right for them to live in.  Eliza dipped hers into some slightly dirty looking water and the pH was bad, so she tried the very clean looking water - still not right for fish.  Surprisingly, it was the dirtiest looking water that was the right pH level.

No idea what this booth was set up for, other than to let the kids play with bubbles, but they sure loved it!

Then we moved on to a booth set up by one of the local preschools.  The girls each made their own bubble wand from pipe cleaners.  They put little plastic tubes on them and then I helped them twist the stem together. Audrey did great at putting the tubes on all by herself!

Then we tested them out of course!

The girls had so much fun exploring and learning about all different kinds of science.  I was happy to have found yet another free great event to take them to.