In this weeks roundup: The grand opening of the new and improved splash zone at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a product that introduces your kids to the science of an owl's digestive processes, and flying boulders in Hawaii.
Photo Credit: Brian Scott
Monterey Bay Aquarium Opens the New Splash Zone
For our Northern California audience: Monterey Bay Aquarium opened the new and improved splash zone on Monday of this week. If you are planning to design an educational expedition that involves exploration of tide pools or a trip to the coast, this is a great element to include as a goal.
With a walk-through kelp forest and a forty foot touch pool that includes sea stars, sea urchins, hermit crab, cow's tongue, kelp, kelp crab, and many other creatures, the splash zone is well worth a visit. What impressed me the most were the docents that staff the touch pool, who are top notch. They do a fantastic job helping the kids handle and learn about the animals and I was totally impressed with their ability to adjust their answers to the age of the children. Highly recommended, if you have the opportunity.
Owl Puke
This isn't really breaking news, but I was on amazon browsing for books and stumbled on this little gem:
Description:
"... The Owl Puke
Book and Owl Pellet brings the best of those two worlds together in a unique package... What is an owl pellet? It's the football-shaped object regurgitated twice a day by owls, which contains the skeleton of at least one owl meal, be it a mouse, vole, shrew, or small bird. Used in elementary schools to teach the food web--but virtually unavailable at retail--a professionally collected, heat-sterilized owl pellet is now married to a lively, two-color illustrated book filled with facts and related activities about these most amazing birds. And what a story the Owl Puke Book tells--of the food chain, animal anatomy, life in the forest; of a bird that could read the bottom line of an eye chart from one mile away; and of a fierce hunter that swallows its prey headfirst and digests everything but the bones, which it spits back up in a pellet. As for the story the pellet tells, kids need only a toothpick to find out. The package includes a tray to hold the bones and a chart to help identify the pellet's contents."
It's a hoot.
If anybody does end up purchasing Owl Puke, please, please, please leave a product review in the comments section of this blog!
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Volcano Hurls Boulders
The USGS is reporting that an explosion at th Halema‘uma‘u Crater scattered debris over 75 acres.
"In addition to damaging the overlook, explosive debris covers the trail to the overlook, the Halema‘uma‘u parking area, and the portion of Crater Rim Drive adjacent to the parking area. On Crater Rim Drive the debris was up to 2 centimeters in size, with the size and thickness of debris increasing toward the overlook. The largest observed block ejected during the explosion was about 1 cubic meter (35 cubic feet) and must have been propelled from the vent located more than 70 m (230 feet) below the crater rim. Small impact craters from 30 cm (1 foot) blocks are abundant in the Halema‘uma‘u overlook area. Rock debris also extends halfway across the floor of Halema‘uma‘u Crater. The debris is composed of rock fragments that were derived from the walls of Halema‘uma‘u Crater."
Probably not a good day for an expedition to study the volcanoes.