USGS Open House

   In an attempt to make my sister insanely jealous, we took Anthony to the US Geological Survey Open House.  Some of the demonstrations were incredibly cool.  We loved the flour volcanoes.  Bob finally understands that Crater Lake was NOT dug by the Civilian Conservation Core, but rather hollowed out by a bicycle pump.  The liquid nitrogen tricks were a great success and I learned a new trick, how to carbonate a grape.  If you look closely at the bottom picture you'll see the live-action of Anthony smashing a frozen leaf with all the bits falling to the ground.

  What wasn't a success.  The demo about a natural disaster in Africa where thousands died due to a carbon dioxide release and a poster describing a solution to keep it from happening again.  The poster was at child's eye level and included a picture of several dead bodies.  Anthony was pretty upset by it and spent the rest of the day asking questions.  I'm sending a thank you note to the USGS for putting on an amazing event with a thought that maybe the poster wasn't completely appropriate for all children.