Hello all- This week, I attended the State Fair on two separate days with my 5 1/2 year old homeschooled Kindergartener. Little did I know we could learn so much at the fair- it covered two days worth (and more) of Science, Social Studies and Math!! Here are some of the things we saw and learned. ~ Lots of maps to read everywhere. ~ Learned about the various counties in the California building ~ Attended a talk on the solar system- there is a cool hanging sphere in the CA. building sponsored by the Dept. of Water Resources and they can project various moon and planet surfaces on there. ~ Saw living examples of all the stages of frogs from tadpoles to full grown frogs. ~ Saw and learned about HUGE sturgeons and the life-cycle of salmon ~ Saw piglets born today (counted them- 6 male and 6 female- and other nursery and farm animals for math) and learned about runts and how they are fed- also that pig gestation is only 3 months!! ~ Saw and learned about a bunch of different bugs in the insect pavillion. ~ Compared and contrasted hooves of horses, cows, goats and pigs and which ones we get milk from vs. those we don't. ~ Saw a quail hatching and one that was about a 1/2 hour old along with baby chicks and ducklings. ~ Watched Ukranian kids singing and dancing. They were dressed in attire native to their homeland and had some instruments pretty much unheard of outside of the Ukraine. ~ Visited the 9/11 tragedy memorial and talked about what happened there. They have a big chunk of metal there- part of one of the beams from one of the towers and lots of photos- also a big spinning cement ball on water- it's a type of fountain with all the names of the deceased on the ball- very touching exhibit. ~ Learned about stagecoaches and how they pre-dated cars and then saw some of the first cars on display. ~ Rode on the 2nd largest Ferris Wheel in the world on both days- once during the day and once at night- very different views. Just thought I'd share- we had a blast!! We'll definitely go back to learn more next year- fun, fun, fun!! Tara
