Kids love it!

Well,  the kids loved the one exhibit they viewed during the eco fair. I would love to be there when they have more of it revealed. 
We made the lip balm and watched a short on line video on the importance of saving the Bees. The kids soaked it all in and loved looking at the different kinds of bees, honey, honey combs, wax  and paper wasp nests. I was really delighted to see such openness from every child. This video link is the one I chose for the children to base our discussions.

The teachers were thrilled to hear that the entire science centre was an educational gift to the school. In my dedication to the life long legacy of Dr. David Suzuki who inspired me,  I mentioned that we all have a role to play in conserving our environment and my personal hope is that this Science Centre will be the seeds to future environmentalist and scientists.
We went down to the ocean with the boys for dinner to celebrate the end of this chapter in my journey. 
The next chapters will be the caring for and development of future exhibits. As some pieces will break or get lost & I will be there to infuse it with new and interesting specimens & replacement parts.


Thank you everyone who donated specimens to this very worthwhile project.
Jean - Sea World - Florida
Project Seahorse - UBC
Arthur V. Zoologist - UBC 
Menita - Greater Vancouver Zoo
B. McGilvray
Parker Family
Honey Family
Kliner Mann Family
Dr. Ian Low 


& Mme. Rushton the school Principal for being supportive and open minded to such an environmental & educational project. 
I also need to thank the Parents Advisory Council of Quilchena for financially supporting the first $500. required for this $1000 project. Thank you for support!

Last but not least, Thank you to Bep at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum. She gave me advice and answered questions along the way. 
It was a trip to this museum which inspired me to do this for my kids. I really loved seeing my kids eyes light up with interest and intrigue. Scientific displays like these need to be more prevalent in kids education. They can not simply be a one time field trip. Which is why I created this Science Centre not only for my own children but all the children they go to school with. 
I strongly encourage you to find what inspires you and share it with children. They are the future and can make a difference if we allow them to and we believe in them!  :D

 &&& one last BIG & personal thanks to my own family. This project took a great deal of our time. It was all worth it because we got to share a common goal and had a ton of fun in the process!  I could not have & would not have done with without them!!!  :D

Earth Day @ Quilchena tomorrow

As you can tell, I have been absent & busy.
It is Quilchena's 3rd Annual Eco Fair tomorrow and I am gifting the science centre to the school and conducting a info session on the importance of bees.  As Community Leader of the David Suzuki Foundation I have been involved in yearly educational seminars with the children. This year we are making Earth Friendly Lip Balm with local honey, bees wax & cocoa butter. It should be lots of fun. They are going to love it. I'll post pictures later.  :D

Conservation codes

Today we added international conservation codes to the collection. I think it is very important information to give the children. Most of our collection has Low Risk - Least Concern rating but we do have several Low Risk - Near Threatened and Threatened - Vunerable specimens. 
3 days and counting....

Final Ocean & Marine display

Well, I think it is complete. I really did not know how to display all the shells and coral. It took a while to come up with an idea I thought might work. Voila!
This display has several donations from B. McGilvray who was so generous to share shells from Australia and the Indian Ocean.
We also have several Great Barrier Reef specimens including coral and shells from the Parker family which are on loan until June.
Thank you so much for the amazing specimens. We love them and I know the kids of Quilchena will too!

Florida Jean's Exhibit

Here it is!
Jean from Florida Sea World has donated a fascinating array of specimens not typically ever seen by children. I thought they were deserving of their own display case. I am sure the children will be as captivated and thrilled as I was when I received them.
Thank you again Jean - We love them & will take good care of them.  :D

Jean @ Sea World Florida!

A global shout out to Jean Curtice from Sea World Florida!
During our Family vacation to Florida we visited Sea World and had the most memorable and incredible day of our entire vacation. (Honestly!) We connected with one of the volunteers, Jean who was engaging visitors  with her charm and enthusiasm while educating us in conservation and the animals at the facility.
While speaking with Jean about how thrilled we were to actually see the Manatees they rehabilitate (which are on the brink of extinction)... we eventually talked about my project up here in Canada.  Jean then reached into her pocket and gave us some COW NOSE RAY TEETH she retrieved from the tank earlier that day! Amazing right? I know!
We stayed in touch after returning home and she sent me the most amazing surprise today in the mail!!!!

Puffer Fish Spines, a Skate's Egg Casing and some Black Tipped Reef Shark Skin!

Thank you soooo much Jean! Our kids will absolutely love these specimens!!!!

I will prep the labels and post a photo... soon!

Crabs

Completed the 3rd of 5 Ocean & Marine exhibits.  I would like to add a lobster and horseshoe crab to the arthropod exhibit in the summer but for now it is as good as it will get.  :D

Moth balls

Well my goodness as hard as I tried to keep nasty protein eating bugs out of the collection, I found one this morning!
This nasty bug created a tiny hole in one of my seahorse specimens. Time for MOTH BALLS!!!
Honestly, I really have a dislike for the smell but so do bugs... I am told. So, for the sake of this lovely collection, we will all have to endure the 70's piercing smell of moth balls. UGH!
I think a small paper envelope taped to the back of the drawers should keep them out of the kids reach and protect the collection.
If you have any other suggestions, I am all ears.  :D

My Wish List...

I have 3 more displays to complete & post.
2 Ocean & Marine - Crabs and Shells
1 Mammal
I am hoping for some last minute donations but it looks like I will have to do some more cold calls to and cross my fingers.

My future vision for the Science Centre includes the following...

Mammals - Placental Mammals -Fur & teeth samples from animals like bear, rat, rabbit, beaver, moose, seal, deer, coyote, fox etc...
Birds - Eggs & Feathers from animals like seagulls, ducks, blue Jays, Owl, Pigeon, Ostrich, Stork, Robins etc...

Reptiles - Snake eggs & snake skin. It would be amazing to have a skeleton but might be impossible to obtain. Perhaps jar/ specimens.

Ocean & Marine - Sunstar, Horseshoe Crab, Abalone shell, Urchins, Jellyfish in jar, and more varieties of Seahorse - I know the kids will love them & shark teeth... maybe even a baby shark.

Insects - Funnel spider, Tarantula & molts, more scorpions... I know the boys will be thrilled with specimens like these.

Fossils - I would love some more. We have only a few.

I expect to replace items as time passes and kids have accidents with things. It will be a part of the process and is expected. If you think of anything else which will be interesting, let me know.
You can also let me know if you have any donations. I would love to hear from you.  :D

New Starfish

We have a new starfish for our collection. A wonderful addition from one of the families at Quilchena who went to Hawaii during Spring Break. It is the largest one in the collection and I am sure the kids will love it.  :D

Tide Pools

Decided to check out the local tide pools this evening after dinner with my two kids.  We had a great adventure. Low tide was at 6:15 ish and we got to the beach at 6:30. Perfect! We found some barnacles, limpets, cockles, seaweeds, starfish and some crab backs. Great for our specimen displays. We left the starfishes as were clinging to a rock and we respect their lives & their struggle as they await the oceans return. Definitely a great family adventure which effortlessly opens the door to discussions about clean oceans and how the tides are controlled by the position of the sun & moon etc. It is amazing how kids learn and retain information. After all who does not love the thrill of flipping over a big rock to see all the crabs scampering and running in the damp sand, and the squeal of children experiencing the riches of life!

Book Order

Ordered some environmental educational books today from Scholastic - as teacher resources. My kids have those great book order programs where if you purchase books - the class gets books and resources too. Our books for the science centre are - a Clean Air, Clean Water series & Discovering My World set of 6. I think these will be relevant materials for the K-4 grades.

Finished Seahorse display

Our lovely seahorse display is now labeled and complete with seaweed and seagrass for our specimens to rest upon.  Since seaweed and seagrass are a critical part of their natural habitat I think it should be a part of the children's education as well.

We also have 'teachers only' tags on the borrowed retail items which we will be returning to UBC in June.  Thank you once again to Project Seahorse. Our Ocean & Marine collection simply would not be as impressive or attractive without your support!  :D

Labels

Both mobile unit exterior drawers now have labels as well. It should make finding things easier for the teachers.  :D

Oh my goodness... I went to the dentist today and guess what he donated for our Mammal collection? 

I'll post a picture soon.  :D

Arthropods / Entomology

The entomology collection has just received a couple more specimens and labels. Lots of lovely additions.

Finishing exterior drawer labels today or this evening.

2 weeks & counting...

Sent out invitations for a personal viewing to families who have donated items to the Science Centre.

2 weeks to go - Finishing touches.
Created drawer labels and panels for the sides.
Using clear plastic adhesive to affix things... just in case we decide to change things down the road. Thinking long term.

Still have to decide what to do with my Shell collection drawer and the drawer with starfishes, teeth, barnacles, urchins, cuttlefish bones, crab parts, etc.  hmmmm... I'll post a picture when I figure it out.

Conservation

Quilchena Elementary now has a wonderful child oriented biodiversity & conservation board with local community events and eco-club information.  Perfect timing for the upcoming 3rd Annual Eco Fair on April 29th.

Asian Scorpion

Many thanks to the Greater Vancouver Zoo. The scorpion is sure to cause some excitement among the kids. It is a wonderful specimen!
Thank you for saving this one for us.