Category: Science Day – Ivy, Ann, Ariana, Brooke, Jay, Joshua, Maddie, Maris, Mickey, Sydney, Zoe

NOTE: This is Mickeys blog post, his page was being silly. I am simply a vessel.

We began the day with a presentation from Ivy encompassing the history of the world and the size of the planet in relativity to the universe. Then we set off for the science museum. We struggled with downtown parking for quite a while and whilst at the meter to pay, the man behind Ivy and I gave up on paying and simply strutted away (maybe it was a reflection of his wealth (he was wearing a fancy business suit)) We narrowly missed Craig Lazarski which was quite disheartening, but it was okay because they had taxidermy ducks. Below are wood ducks. Fun Mickey fact, I am obsessed with ducks and they are my favorite animal. I own my own taxidermy duckling (obviously it was not killed for taxidermy, it was found dead)

(december 17, 2022 the day i purchased my taxidermy duckling in winston salem)

anyway back to X day, i really like Wood Ducks because of their brightly colored feathers. They have to live in bodies of water near trees (hence the name “wood duck”) because they require wooded cover for nesting.

we continued our journey and saw other  fascinating taxidermy!

(i literally only took pictures of the taxidermy ducks, but there were bears, raccoons, possums, other birds, etc.)

Then Maddie, Ivy, and I ventured into a store where i bought a pocket sized book on sharks. Little did the rest of the group know that i would spend the rest of the day sharing my new round plethora of knowledge with them. I love the ocean and marine biology so this was very exciting to my friend’s dismay.

We ventured onward and saw some geology related things which i promptly got very excited about as i do rocks and minerals in science olympiad. I shared with Maddie and Ivy about the fluorescent properties of Calcite and how rubies and sapphires are the same mineral (corundum), depicted below.

We entered an interactive room where there were many skulls that we were allowed to touch which was SO exciting. After a quick hand wash, we ran into Maris and Brooke and explored the Arthropod Zoo. Here are Chrysalis’

and here is me kissing an arthropod (i forget the specifics, clearly we didn’t have anything serious it was merely a fling)

Maris, Brooke, and I applied our biotech skills in a fun little lab and off we went to lunch. it was scrumptious. everyone tried fried pickles per my request and (most) enjoyed them! Below are additional photos (Please enjoy)

we started off the morning with two interesting videos to get an idea of our significance and history as humans on Earth. We then struggled with downtown parking for 30 minutes and almost went into the wrong building. But we ran into a familiar CA stats teacher while lost.
the exhibits were very interesting and a small subgroup of about 4-5 people visited their active lab area where we could see some jellyfish and participate in a mock lab of how frogs are tested for diseases.
we ate lunch together as a large group of 11 and struggled to park for only 10 minutes this time.
the museum offered lots of historical information of humans, animals, geography, and the general existence of the Earth.

Today, I spent a lot of time looking at the animals and ecosystems in North Carolina. I always knew that NC had a lot of diversity in terms of wildlife and plants, but this trip really made me realize the extent of the diversity, which is much more than I imagined. Apparently NC has a savanna in its southern area near the coast, which I was completely unaware of. I loved seeing all the model animals (I think some of them were taxidermy animals) in the different habitats, especially seeing the live fish and turtles. At one point, I saw a dinosaur-looking thing that reminded me of Mitch McConnell.

 

This x-day I decided to do something a little bit different. I’ve been inspired in the past few weeks by other artists online with their life studies of natural environments, and I wanted to do something similar at NCSM because there’s a lot of detail I can capture and I think the skeletons were especially cool to draw. I think I improved a bit over the course of the day and want to try doing the same in other spaces.

Today we learned about the magnitude of space and explored the intertwinement of space and nature at the Life and Science Museum in Raleigh. We got to do hands on science projects about DNA, and reinforced our knowledge of space from the morning in the planetarium and space exhibits. My favorite stop was learning about history of archaeology in our own state, and I got to see beautiful gemstones that were found in locations not too far from us. We were also surrounded by around 100 fourth graders on a field trip, and spent most of the time trying not to step on them (results varied.)
Side note: we found Mr. Lazarski wandering amongst the common people and gently coerced him into taking a selfie (much to his chagrin).

 

For me, spending today at the Natural Science Museum was quite interesting as it was the first time in a long time that I explored a scientific or historical museum. From manipulating land elevations with kinetic sand to watching the different snakes in their habitats to observing a wasp nest through a microscope to learning about the diverse biomes of North Carolina, with each floor of the museum, I rekindled my childhood curiosity about the world. Throughout my high school years, I’ve focused my scientific interests away from biology, but, after today, I might just start re-exploring the intricate beauty of our Earth.

^ an island Josh and I made with sand

^ two emerald tree boas chilling on a branch

^ Acrocanthosaurus skeleton

There were so many animals at the natural sciences museum! Who would have thunk it? Anyway, it led to us having an interesting conversation about the ethics of taxidermy. How riveting!

I went into the experience expecting to learn about space, but I actually learned a lot about reptiles and amphibians .