4/２/11 Saturday Events — Part 1 (Lab of Ornithology and Ag Fair at the Mall)

After our Saturday drawing class, mommy brought Mimi to our first stop of the day — Lab of Ornithology.  They offer series of small workshops to teach children about bird illistration.

 

The small group was facilitated by a Cornell student.  The facilitator in Mimi’s group is a long-time bird observer.  She first talked about body shape and structure of birds and how to capture their shape with pencil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The facilitator is planning for a trip to Antarctica to do more bird watching.  These are some of the notes she shared with children.

 

 

 

 

Mia’s family was also there.

 

 

We went with our friend, Ania.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we finished the activities in Lab of O, we went to Ithaca Mall to attend the Agricultural show case event.  This is where the local ag communities gathered and offer educational opportunities to school age children about career opportunities in agricultural fields. 

 

The offered free milk and ice cream for sampling. 

 

 

They each got a very generous portion of serving.

 

 

Someone was working on her box of milk.

 

 

More hands on activities where you can touch small animals.

 

 

 

 

 

Mimi spent quite a bit of time in front of this booth.  She was studing on different breeds of dogs to determine which kind she wants IF she gets to keep one (and it’s a big IF).

 

 

 

 

She told me that she will want to have a golden retriever as her pet.  We will see….

 

 

There are various of small projects that children can make something to take home.

 

 

Ania finished her rooster cup.

 

 

Mimi was working on her glove garden — you place seeds into the finger tip of the glove with wet cotton balls to keep it alive. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end, you will blow it up before tying up your glove.

 

 

In addition to the indoor activities, they also have other show case events outdoor.

 

Some farmers brought their herd for a show-and-tell.

 

 

I think it’s a lama but now I am not sure.

 

 

Of course, there were different farm machinary available for a demo.  You get to climb up to one of the big tractor for a dry “test ride”.

 

In US, they rely heavily on machine to be able to yield from large acreage of farmland.  Economic scale is a very important factor of success in agricultural business.

 

 

Are you thinking of working in the farm?

 

 

Can you see how big the wheels are, compared to the size of Mimi.

 

 

Someone brought a beautful horse for children to play with.

 

 

Look how shiny its hair.  This horse must be well taken care of.

 

 

The owner also brought a rabbit.  The rabbit has a very comfortable touch.  It felt so soft that it’s almost unreal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The owner asked if Mimi and Ania would be interested in feeding her horse.

 

 

If this one is on board,

 

these two will not let go of this great opportunity….

 

 

You will put the hay on the top of your hand and lay it out flat so the horse will be able to grab it with the mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, these two wanted to get on to another big tractor before departure.  They waited patiently for their turn.

 

 

The pilot and the co-pilot are now on board.

 

 

Do they look like they are in charge?

 

 

After saying good bye with Ania, we headed to the Science Center for the 2nd part of our day.