California Regions: An Hour from Everything!

Our second unit for the year has been learning about the four major geographical regions of California: Coast, Desert, Mountians, and Central Valley. I told the boys we call this unit "An Hour from Everything", because from where we live, we are pretty much an hour from all the geographical regions of our state.

I took the kids to the California Science Center, next to the Coliseum at USC, becuase they have an awesome exhibit about Ecosystems, that covered part of what we were studying. This is a great museum, and it's free! There are lots of hands on things to do and see. We had a really good day.

The boys loved this Air Force jet right outside the museum.
This little one really enjoyed her first field trip too!
As part of our mountain study, we learned how mountains are made, which leads to Earthquakes. The boys were very interested in this subject. They got to make a marshmallow/toothpick structure and see if it would stand during an Earthquake. Jell-o works very well as the Earth's crust. The boys had a good time trying out varying strengths of Earthquakes. I think their structures lasted until the 10.0 earthquake.
As you can see by the picture, Hunter also had a good time eating marshmallows!

Ladd took the boys, along with their cousins and uncle, on a hike in the mountains nearby. He also took Tanner to the beach while we were studying the coast. I am so glad I have a husband who loves to spend time with his boys and give them some of these hands on experiences. There are certain things I try to avoid with a little baby, like sunny beaches and bumpy mountain hikes.

The boys also started their PE class. This month is soccer. It is fun that Hunter is old enough to join in on some of the classes now!