There Is No Air In Space

D is continually engaged, creatively integrating his imagination with observation. His keen awareness operates on many levels simultaneously, poised to observe the ant making its way across the floor while he perceives a slight shift in you breathing and asks you why you are upset. I doubt his intellectual mind ever rests. I often feel like I can't keep up with his probing inquisitions and ravenous appetite for learning. It is as if his mind is set to "Yes!" and "More!"; relentlessly wondering and seeking connection.

We were reading a story about Buzz Lightyear preparing for space flight. The story talked about how he was standing in front of the air conditioner because he knew how cold the air would be in space. D was playing around with his Buzz Light year doll. I was wondering if he was actually paying attention to the story I was reading. My doubt was promptly put to rest.

D, without even glancing up from his play, said, "There is no air in space. "
I stopped reading, looked up at him and smiled. "You are absolutely right, there is no air in space."
D added, "How can it be cold if there is no air?" Good question!
"We will have to look that one up." I replied.

The question had never occurred to me.

The theme of the last two days has been science. Yesterday we went to the "Budding Scientist" program at the EcoTarium and stayed for a planetarium show, "The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket." Then today we spent the afternoon setting up D's Toy Story 3 bedtent, reading some Toy Story books, and then thanks to Netflix Wii streaming, watched 2 episodes of The Universe, per D's request. We watched Season 1, episodes 1 and 2  - the Sun and Mars. He sat attentive for nearly two hours, asking some really great questions and we spent time discussing solar flares, robotics, and why Mars lacks an atmosphere but Earth has one. (Hint: It has something to do with planetary magnetic fields.)

A Whale of a Good Time at the EcoTarium

This morning we made our bimonthly visit to the EcoTarium for preschool story time. It is one of Daniel's favorite things to do. We forgot that it was Veterans Day until we got there and saw the throngs of people. Luckily we were able to get a ticket! (It is free, but you have to get a ticket as they limit the number of families that can participate.)

The topic of the story time was "Whales". Miss Kathy read a story about saving the whales and then we took a little field trip out to one of the main exhibit rooms where they had set up a 40 or 50 foot "whale" - a plastic whale inflated with a large fan that the kids were invited to go into and pretend what it would be like to be inside a whale! While Daniel was a little dissappointed that there wasn't a real whale, he loved getting inside and playing pretend. We then did a craft and made a necklace in the shape of a whale tale.

Afterward we poked around some of the exhibits - the outer space exhibits are always a hit. Daniel loves visiting the air table. (See the picture) His favorite thing to do is to get the small plastic ball to hang in air. He delights in adjusting the air to watch the ball rise and fall!

After playing outside on the payground for a while and revising the air table on the way out, we purchased a book in the gift show and returned home. We read the book, "On Earth" by G. Brian Karas when we got home and both loved it! Great book introducing the concepts of the revolution of the earth, the earth's axis and equator, and the journey of the earth around the sun resulting in seasons. We were then inspired to begin work on a craft project - constructing a model solar system. We talked about the relative sizes of the planets and that the sun is not a planet, but rather a star. It was lively conversation and I was impressed on Daniel's grasp of the concepts as the result of his nightly conversations with his dad at bedtime. They have been putting up glow-in-the-dark stars and constellations in his room and talking about them for the past few months. Yet again, I'm inspired by my son's love of learning and for rolling abstract ideas around in his head!