Family Science

Have you ever heard of the Galapagos Islands? Zoom in and try to find it on this map. Hint: It’s neighbor is the country of Ecuador. Did you find them?! These islands formed as a result of erupting lava that cooled down as lava rock from volcanic activity on the ocean floor. Over time these lava rocks grew and grew into an archipelago, a cluster of islands. There are many endemic species (species native to this area) to the Galapagos, but how did they get to an area that is hundreds of kilometers away from any continent?

Settling on the islands

By playing our bingo game in our lesson, Coincidental Colonization,you’ll experience first-hand how chance plays a big role in the successful dispersal of your species to an area such as the Galapagos. Notice the different ways species could have colonized or settled on these islands. What species will you choose? Maybe the blue footed boobie or the Galapagos tortoise? How will it settle?

Cal Academy’s Expeditions to the Galapagos

Take a look here at one of our scientist’s expedition 800-m deep in a submersible capable of withstanding the enormous pressure so deep into the ocean. John McCosker has made many discoveries, including fish found only in the waters of the Galapagos. Next time you visit us here at the California Academy of Sciences in our Islands of Evolution exhibit, check out the specimens collected during this expedition along with other specimens such as the Galapagos tortoises and Darwin’s famous finches which were collected on previous expeditions.

Have you ever heard of minibeasts? You’ll find them in Africa and all around the world. You’ve probably seen them outside your home and maybe even in your home! Slugs, snails, spiders, butterflies, bees and beetles are all minibeasts. They don’t have backbones and you don’t need a microscope to see them, though you often have to look closely in order to find them. This month we are suggesting that you go on a minibeast hunt at home, in the park or in Tusher African Hall. If you like them, we even have a way for you to create your own minibeast habitat at home.

Hunt in Africa
Did you know that we display minibeasts in our dioramas in Tusher African Hall? Ask your children to try to find the insects on display during your next visit. There are five different species. To help you out, they are:

• green protea beetles in the Cape Floristic Province
• black-and-yellow-spotted firebugs in the Namib desert
• tsetse flies in with the Roan Antelopes
• scorpion in with the Olive Baboons
• termites in the Somali Arid Zone

Next Steps
After you hunt minibeasts you can ask your children: “What was your favorite minibeast and why?” You can brainstorm how to make more habitats for that minibeast. If you have a little bit of space in your yard or balcony, you can make a home for one or more types of minibeast. Here’s one how-to. Here at the Academy, we used the guide to make a minibeast habitat in the Academy garden! In it we’ve found: milipedes, centipedes, worms, snails, slugs, spiders, and wood lice ( also known as roly-polies)!

Hunt near Home
Sticking close to home, you can start your hunt for minibeasts. After you introduce minibeasts to your children, ask them to suggest places to look for minibeasts. You can take this handy minibeast key with you, to help you identify them. Great places to look are under objects resting on the ground, such as twigs, rocks and leaves. Also look for flowering plants, as those flowers are often designed to attract flying minibeasts. A crack in the pavement, with a bit of soil and a few small plants, can be a minibeast refuge. One woman in the UK videos the minibeasts that she finds in her town. Can you find the ladybird larva in the video? Your children could digitally capture the minibeasts that they find. Are your minibeasts like the ones in the UK?

School is out! Head outdoors with your family and connect with the natural world. There is so much around you. Step outside and make discoveries. Document your findings. What will you discover in your backyard, neighborhood park or even right outside your doorstep? Plan for outdoor time as part of family routines. You may not realize it, but there’s always a place nearby to begin your connection with nature. Below are some great ways you and your family can get outside and contribute to some fun outdoor learning experiences. Take the pledge to Be Out There!

Collect and Identify
Who doesn’t enjoy collecting? Everyone at some point has found something interesting and started a collection. Scientists make collections all the time. Geologists collect rocks not only to identify them, but also to figure out how they formed. An outdoor activity can begin as easy as a collection. What can you all find around your home? Maybe it’s a collection of rocks, fallen branches, or bugs (just make sure you return them to their homes once you’ve explored and wondered about them). See who can find the most rocks, bugs, or whatever the collection may be and then test your observation skills and try to identify them with the help from this bug book found in your library.

Theme Gardens
Children can plant their favorite vegetables or flowers to attract butterflies and other pollinators to your yard. Attract different pollinators like honeybees, butterflies, moths, beatles and birds to your garden by growing the plants they like to eat. For butterflies, plant nectar-rich flowers and the proper host plant for caterpillars. Honeybees like flowers that have a place for them to land like daisies, asters, clover and many more! What other plants can you grow to attract pollinators to your garden.

Backyard Safari
You don’t have to go far to explore the great outdoors.Go on a safari in your very own backyard or neighborhood park. Get the whole family involved the next time you are hanging out in your backyard or at the park. Draw a map of your backyard or you can visit your neighborhood park and choose a location where you’ll be exploring. Then quickly sketch this location on a large poster or sheet of paper. With the help of this lesson record your experience on your backyard backpack safari. What animals live here? What sounds do you all hear? Once you’ve recorded your findings, as a group, note the areas of your map where you made these observations and see how it changes every week, month or season.

iNaturalist
Do you love taking photos of nature? Join this social network, which enables you to share your pictures of living things with a global network of people who can help you learn and identify the creatures you observe. Record your observations and share your findings by helping with real and valuable scientific data.

Wildlife Watch
Make a nature notebook and write about what you observe the next time you’re out with your family. Maybe you have a cool family outdoor experience you’d like to share. I’m sure there are many out there who’d love to hear what you’ve discovered. I know I would!

Para español haga clic aquí

Come explore the coral reefs at the Academy. This month, let’s see if we can find some fast invertebrates, animals without backbones, on our reefs.

Examine marine invertebrate anatomy in our Coral Reef aquaria. The materials are available both in English and Spanish, and you can do this activity with your whole family. Children younger than 3rd grade might want some help with the reading and writing. You can talk about which ones might be fast and which ones might be slow. What structures on each invertebrate make it fast or slow?

Just for toddlers, we have our Fish Trek in June (only in English). This one is a ticketed event, and you can find out more here.

Is your child interested in growing up to be one of our biologists who work with the coral reef? Meet Matt Wandell, an aquarium biologist, who helps to take care of our reef. His biography tells you not only what he does for our corals, but also advice on how you can become an aquarium biologist!

Even if you don’t want to grow up to be an aquarium biologist, did you know that we all have an important role to play in keeping our coral reef invertebrates healthy and happy? Have you heard of ocean acidification? When we turn off the lights and unplug our phone chargers, reducing our electricity usage, we are also reducing how much carbon dioxide we put into the air! Producing electricity often puts carbon dioxide into the air at the power plant. That carbon dioxide is blown over the world’s oceans and dissolves into the water. Our oceans are becoming more acidic, which can dissolve the shells of the invertebrates which live in our oceans. Imagine if your home was slowly dissolving, how would you feel? We have a short video if you’d like to learn more. We can feel good about ourselves every time we turn off the lights or unplug our phone chargers, as we are helping to reduce our impact on the ocean’s invertebrates!

Venga a explorar los arrecifes de coral en la Academia. Este mes, vamos a ver si podemos encontrar algunos invertebrados rápidos, animales sin columna vertebral, en nuestros arrecifes.

Examine la anatomía invertebrada marina en nuestros acuarios de arrecife de coral. Los materiales están disponibles en inglés y español, y puede hacer esta actividad con toda su familia. Los niños menores de 3er grado podrían desear ayuda con la lectura y la escritura. Usted puede hablar acerca de que los podrían ser rápidos y cuáles podrían ser lentos. ¿Qué estructuras en cada invertebrado lo hacen rápido o lento?

Sólo para los niños pequeños, tenemos nuestro Trek de pescado en junio (sólo en inglés). Este es un evento que requiere boleto, y usted puede encontrar más información aquí.

¿Su hijo(a) está interesado(a) en ser uno de los biólogos que trabaja con el arrecife de coral cuando crezcan? Conozca Matt Wandell, un biólogo del acuario, que ayuda a cuidar nuestro arrecife. Su biografía dice no sólo lo que él hace para nuestros corales, sino también consejos sobre cómo usted puede convertirse en un biólogo del acuario!

Incluso si su hijo(a) no quiere ser un biólogo del acuario cuando crezca, ¿sabían que todos tenemos un papel importante en mantener nuestros invertebrados del arrecife de coral sanos y felizes? ¿Han escuchado de la acidificación de los océanos? Cuando apagamos las luces y desconectamos los cargadores de teléfonos, reducimos nuestro consumo de electricidad, y también estamos reduciendo cuánto dióxido de carbono ponemos en el aire! Producción de electricidad a menudo pone dióxido de carbono en el aire en la planta de energía. Ese dióxido de carbono es soplado sobre los océanos del mundo y se disuelve en el agua. Los océanos se están volviendo más ácidos, y puede disolver las cáscaras de los invertebrados que viven en nuestros océanos. Imagine si su casa fuera disolviendose lentamente, ¿cómo se sentiría? Tenemos un pequeño video (sólo en inglés)si les gustaría aprender más. Podemos sentirnos bien con nosotros mismos cada vez que apagemos las luces o desconectemos los cargadores de teléfonos, cuando estamos ayudando a reducir nuestro impacto en los invertebrados del océano!

Are you a racing enthusiast? Whether you were built to race or built for long distance ocean travel, you were built for speed. Here at the California Academy of Sciences, we are super excited for our next exhibit, Built for Speed, running May 10-September 29, 2013 in the Piazza. You and your family will be able to explore some of the ocean’s fastest animals and their fascinating adaptations such as streamlined body shapes and torpedo-shaped bodies.

Walk out of the piazza towards the swamp and feast your eyes on a suspended 45ft. long catamaran and wingmast from ORACLE TEAM USA. This catamaran has sailed with a competitive edge. Take a look below at some of the highlights from our exhibit.

The Orca Lab
Witness museum staff and volunteers assemble an orca skeleton. This juvenile orca washed ashore in Northern California, and long before this, researchers knew him as Orca 0319. In fact, it is an offshore ecotype, a type of orca that isn’t too well known. Watch and learn how this finding led researchers and scientists to save the skeleton.

Take Action
Plastic waste, waste water pollution, and unsustainable fishing are three major threats to the health of the oceans today. Learn what you and your family can do to help our oceans by visiting several Ocean Action stations. And just as a quick reminder, download your Seafood Watch card now to help you choose ocean-friendly seafood the next time you’re at the grocery store or out for dinner.

Visit the Naturalist Center on Level 3
Speedy Species is this summer’s theme for Specimen Spotlight (Saturdays @ 2pm; May 9th through September 28th). Discover what makes toothed whales, sea otters and sea lions swiftly swim, twist and turn. And don’t forget to check out a mini display on The Problem with Plastics, by the Digital Learning Youth.

Speed in Space
Learn about the fastest things in the Universe- human-made or otherwise! From Apollo to asteroids, subatomic particles to light itself. Things in space move quicker than we can imagine here on Earth. Come join us and explore the farthest, fastest frontiers in this live, 15-minute program, hosted by our planetarium presenters in Hohfeld Hall at the Morrison Planetarium (runs two weekends May 11 – 19 and beginning May 27 will run weekdays only).