Jenkinson’s
Aquarium located in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. is one of my favorite class
trips. Each exhibit is designed to
promote awareness of the animals, their habitats and conservation. It offers guided tours that take the class through each
exhibit explaining what the children are seeing, the animal’s origin, habitat,
and general information about the creatures themselves. Children are allowed to ask the tour guide
questions as they go along. Along with
the tour is a question and answer learning session about the Aquarium’s penguins. 
In an enclosed room the children learn about
the penguins and are able to view one first hand as its trainer lets a penguin
walk the room. It is very exciting!! From outside a glass tank the children learn the story of the
Aquarium’s rescued seals and watch them do tricks during their feeding time. 
Another favorite at Jenkinson’s is the touch
tank where children not only learn about marine life but are able to touch live
animals ranging from a sea star to a juvenile shark. This trip offers so many
interesting things to see! Before
leaving, weather permitting, the children love to take a walk on the beach near
the water for a group picture.
The Franklin
Mineral Museum located in Franklin, N.J. is a museum that features over 300
species of minerals from the Franklin-Ogdensburg area. If your class is studying rocks and minerals
this is the place to go. The museum
features the world’s largest Fluorescent Display. The glowing display really wows the
kids. There is also a wing in the museum
that features collections of fossils, Native American relics, fossils of fish,
dinosaur footprints, shells, bones, and skulls.
What’s really cool is visitors can explore a two story replica of a zinc
mine and all of it working equipment.
At
the end of the trip children can find souvenirs in the Buckwheat Dump next
door. It contains mine tailings that can
be scoured by armature geologists for mineral specimens!!!!
Another
popular trip is the Liberty Science Center located in Jersey City, N.J. It offers floors of hands-on exhibits, a
Digital 3D Theater, and the nation’s largest IMAX Dome Theater. This is a great
place to explore science and technology and how they influence our lives. The downfall to this trip is that it is so
popular that sometimes it is very crowded and children have to wait a long time
to get near some of the exhibits or miss them all together. This trip is not one of my favorites but
seems to be loved by the students. There
is so many permanent exhibitions and temporary exhibits that I cannot possibly
include them in this blog so feel free to see for yourself using the link I
have included.
Jenkinson's Aquarium
No comments:
Post a Comment