Friday 13 April 2012

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:)

5 comments:

  1. How cool! I had never seen anything like that tree. I'll have to start looking for such things now. I'd really love to see that butterfly display!

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  2. Looks like a cool place!! I've always loved looking at stuffed animals and big dioramas at museums.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog!! :)

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  3. What an awesome field trip! Of course, live animals are always cool, but you can't stand right next to them! And the tree thing- I have never heard anything like that.

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  4. Even though you missed out on the outside, it's always great when the kids get so interested in something that they don't want to leave, huh?

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  5. I always find stuffed heads on walls to be a little creepy but the butterfly case looks awesome! Thanks for sharing with us at NOBH!

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