elementary school

elementary school

The Carnegie Science Center; An Investment in the future

Posted on July 29, 2020 by jolynnpowers

It seems everything we are doing this summer is a investment in the future. Even the little day trips we have taken are to help my son explore ideas that he may want to revisit in the future. I have been working on several projects at work that are going to pay off 5 or 10 years from now. We are even working on our house with the idea that my husband will retire in 7 or 8 years. Maybe this all comes with age, maybe with the lack faith in the current situation with Covid, the looming election and the general unrest in the county we are just focused on what will come next. Instead of worrying to deeply about the current state of everything. Maybe the future is brighter than the drama of today. So we are spending time with Christopher in the most positive way we can think of, with small trips to help spread the joy of learning with him.

the USS REQUIN ( ss481) a standard fleet submarine with armament decommissioned and released from Navy list Dec 1971. Sept 1992 arrived at Pittsburg

So I wanted to share a little bit about a really impressive place that we enjoyed visiting over the 4th of July weekend. the Carnegie Science Center of Pittsburg, Pa. My son’s elementary school had made year end field trip plans to take the 5th grade class to the Science Center. The plans were cancelled when school was dismissed because of the Covid- 19 outbreak. So we promised our son as soon as the center reopened we would make the trip to Pittsburgh. It was a wonderful, educational day and I know we will be back to share the experience with my granddaughter also.

Young man moving the controls on a gigantic robot hand on the robotics floor of the Carnegie Science Center.

The Carnegie Science Center is a 4 story building, plus a basement cafe and interactive decommissioned submarine that is an interactive playground full of things to touch, build, try and see. Their website offers information on what is playing at the IMAX theater , The planetarium and what is featured in the gallery. They share information on what to expect each day and what you can and cant do in the huge activity gym attached to the main building.

We were overwhelmed with the options offered and spent about 5 hours in the main building and still did not do everything available. We did see a afternoon planetarium laser show to the music of the band “Queen” and the Gallery show called “Mummies”. It was all well done and Christopher was so excited to see each floor of exhibits.

One of the largest model train displays I have ever seen. Most of the locations are of Pittsburgh and the surrounding area.

Visitors start on the first floor where the Gallery show is exhibited. This show was about mummies and their creation. They covered not only egyptian mummies but European, Scottish and Mongolian mummies. I only took one photo because the crowds were hard to shoot around. A very informative show and Christopher learned that not all mummies are wrapped in bandages.

Natural occurring sand mummy from the middle east around 7000 years old/

Decorative display outside the exhibit for Mummies at the Carnegie Science Center 2020

You then proceed up to the frist floor of displays mostly about earth science, animals and water.

Some of the water displays we got top play with at the Carnegie Science Center

The Second floor was about Medical Science and Aero space. We played with bones, made our heart beat a drum, made dancing skeletons and played with a very loud fart machine. Tom played in a space capsules restroom, we touched a meteor and watched Christopher try out his Space Walking skills on a bodyboard.

The third floor is the Robotics and train floor. I thought I would never get Christopher out of these rooms. They are the high light of our day. Everyone found something they enjoyed.

Tom played several rounds of air hockey against a robot and never won

I personally fell in love with their collection of movie robots that talked.

Christopher was enchanted with the huge electric train layout and the moving miniatures.

The fourth and final floor is there Lego room and weather exploration display. The room had all the building blocks you ever want to find. Some were as large as a gallon milk jugs some were as small as a pee. They then allow you to place your creation in an earthquake simulator. We rode out the top 5 worst recorded earthquakes in history but now understand a lot more about the weather and quakes.

We then headed to the basement for a tour of a real submarine floating in the Ohio River. This was so fascinating and is part of your ticket price. I was just so surprised at how small everything was. Your entry into the ship is a new stairwell into the torpedo room, then you travel the length of the ship and exit out the back up a ladder to the deck. 80 men lived in these small quarters for 18 months at a time. It is a hard and dangerous job and one that not everyone is cut out for.

We had to walk through 5 or 6 of these hatches this man is about 6 foot and had to lean down to get through the opening.

We ended our visit with a laser show at the planetarium. For a extra $5 dollars each we spent the last 45 minutes of our visit in the dark with the music of Queen. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

A wonderful day to learn about the world of science.

Categories: Carnegie Science Center, education, elementary school, family fun, Legos, Ohio River, Pittsburg, Pa, Submarine | Tags: Carnegie Science Center, education, family fun, Legos, Pittsburgh PA, Submarine | 2 Comments

No Room in the School house.

Posted on January 6, 2015 by jolynnpowers

Well the move has gone pretty well and we are now officially up and running. The Holiday break is over for the school children and the husband and I should be back to the work grind soon. That is if I can get Christopher back into school.

One room school-house in Ireland, WV.

I should be thankful that this is only a minor problem caused by moving, but I can hardly believe it that two of the county elementary schools here are unable to add one more kindergartener Now the question is, should I just leave him in his current school for the rest of the year? I could move him to a school that is in whole other town but inside the county system, but do I want to change his schooling three times in a year? I have to drive him to school now and it is a 25 drive one way, twice a day every day. This equals 100 miles everyday for the remainder of the school year; around 4000 miles just for transportation for school.

I was hoping to head back to work by the end of the month as a Substitute teacher in the neighboring county middle school. This maybe the only job that I can actually do and work around the drop off and pick up requirements of a young school child. I am just feeling frustrated that when I want to use public education I can’t. Sadly I am not getting an income from the 100 miles a day I drive.

I will be looking into the amount of time that Christopher would have to ride a school bus to the next town to attend kindergarten in French Creek.If his bus ride is over the 25 minutes we drive now I will have to rethink this plan also.

These are all hard problems to solve quickly. I just have to take a deep breath and remember that his school problem is fixable and that I will work around what ever happens. I guess being a stay at home mom for another month or two is not the end of the world. I should just be happy that we made the move without any major disasters. The house and the new county are everything we want and more so this too will pass.