Sky Scraper museum

I took F to the Sky scraper museum today for a tour arranged by another hs'ing mom. There were about 12 kids there including one of F's friends. The girls stayed at my mom's house last night so we could go. We went to the beach in S.I. first, F and his fatehr colected sea glass and me and the girls made sand castles, A collected some rocks and shells, then we drove to my mom's house for pizza, stayed for about 45 minutes, then came home with F.
It was an interesting tour, the kids learned about how the landscapes of NYC are similar to Shanghai as far as tall buildings go. They got to see exhibits of various sky scrapers from Shanghai and the tallest building in the world that is being built now in Dubai. F knew about some of them already but it was still interesting to find out more about them.
After the 45 minute tour we went to the park across the street and had some quick snacks, the kids ran around for a few minutes and then we were off to the workshop... me and another mom walked to the train and went the 3 stops, walked the 5 blocks to the Architectural center for their workshops on sky scrapers and how they are built. We got there 30 minutes too early so me and F had lunch... great veggie sandwiches....

At the workshop the teacher explained how skyscrapers are able to stand up to the elements and demonstrated how they need to be supported from each side so they can withstand stand winds and other outside elements.. she talked about dead weight and live weight in regards to buildings.... then she gave each child a bowl with small marshmallows and tooth picks and had them build a structure that could withstand a few ounces of weight.

It was a fun class, F brought home his structure, as did I so the girls could use it too. So the first thing they all did was take both apart and start building ... the girls really did a good job making all creative things.. J built a butterfly and A made her version of an amusement park.... of course I took pictures.. I used the opportunity to talk to them about the shapes they used....

I also finished both of the kids' IHIPs... but I will wait until August to mail it in. It is amazing how in a course of a regular day we cover a lot of material without even realizing we care doing it.