Nixon Park Nature Center

We took the kids to the local nature center near my parents. It concentrates mainly on the animals, landscape, and history of the Pennsylvania area.


A Local hunter donated various stuffed heads of animals found in the area.












Some one who was a big game hunter donated stuffed animals from around the world, I believe every continent was represented in this display



My kids loved looking at the polar bear and couldn't believe how big it was!










Plenty of things for the kids to touch and explore















Lots of neat information to read















Microscopes to view different items

















the next picture I am going to show you is really neat, I have never seen anything like it before. Here is the question of what do you think it is.....














Sorry about the light glare. But do you know what this is?













The picture says this is the inside of a conifer tree which has rotted out leaving the whorled branches behind. The branches did not decompose as quickly as the rest of the tree because they contain more resin and tannin. There is also a wall of tissue between truck and the branches that helps resist decomposition from spreading to the branches.






There was also a room devoted to show casing butterflies, moths and insects from every continent.










We spent so much time inside the nature center we ran out of time to explore the many nature trails they had outside the center. We will just have to go back the next time we visit my parents.

I am linking this post up with the Home school Field trip hop...see button on my side bar:)