Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science

 

Monday 7/8/2024

My day started by meeting with Michael, who is in charge of every new staff member. He walked me through the process of onboarding, which consisted of filling up some papers and getting my own ID to be able to access most of the areas in the museum. After this long process I finally met with Analisa, who is my supervisor. She explained to me that this week I would be helping the Education Department with their summer camp. 

The summer camp is divided into different groups depending on the age of the campers, and today's group was the campers between the ages of 7-8. I wasn't sure what I'd be doing, but I quickly figured out I was there to assist the teacher with activities and look after the campers. It turned out to be a pretty nice day. 

Tuesday 7/9/2024

I arrived at the Frost Museum at 9 a.m. and headed to the first floor of the museum. In there I was assigned by Mikaela, another of my supervisors, to assist the Investigators group, consisting of kids aged 8-11. This group in comparison with the group I was assigned on Monday was more relaxed and calmer.

Around noon we visited "Power of Science", which is an exhibition that the Frost Museum has where they merge different sciences at the same place. The exhibition features sections honoring great scientists, an interactive periodic table, a hurricane simulator and tanks with beautiful jellyfish, corals and many other marine animals. 

Moon jellyfish that we saw at the exhibition. 

Wednesday 7/10/2024

After arriving at the museum, I headed straight to the first floor and I helped Carolina, a teacher, to gather all the kids and go to the second floor, where they started their lesson. Most of the summer camp lessons focus on marine science, covering topics like ocean organisms, the importance of the ocean, and why it needs protection. When the teacher explained the lesson to the campers, it felt like I was transported back to my high school classes. At times, I found myself so engrossed that I forgot I was there to help the teacher and listened carefully, as if I were a camper myself.

I think that my favorite part of this day was during aftercare, in which I constructed a Lego bridge with Ruby, a very sweet girl. She also built a car that had wings and two engines!

Ruby and her flying car. 

Thursday 7/11/2024

This day was my favorite. I got to work with the little kids, who were around 5 to 6 years old. All week, I had been hoping Mikaela, my supervisor, would assign me to this group, and today was finally the day. However, I soon realized I needed to pay extra attention to them. With little kids you need to keep a close eye on them, asking regularly if they need to use the bathroom or anything else, and making sure they are paying attention during the lesson. 

But all that work was worth it if I could see them laughing and having fun with the activities.

But now I am going to explain why this day was my favorite. We dissected a dogfish.  I mean, we didn't dissect it, but we watched the teacher do the dissection. So is the same thing. Anyways, that dissection was so interesting. The way Ms. Lauren handled the dogfish and explained to the little kids step by step of what she was doing was quite mesmerizing. However, the best part is that our dogfish was pregnant, and she had nine pups (baby sharks) inside of her uterus. Nine! It was an incredible experience. Maybe a little gross for the little kids, but really cool for me.

Picture of a spoonbill, because I can't put pictures from the dissection. 

Friday 7/12/2024  

Today was my last helping at the camp. I helped the Lil Astronauts (5-6) again! Around 10 a.m. all the groups headed to the planetarium for a presentation by a scientist named Josh. Josh came to the Frost Museum to explain us what he does as a scientist. He collects data about birds, fish and does water testing all over South Florida, particularly in the Everglades. He showed us some videos of him tagging fish and how he uses a helicopter to see all the birds, along with some other animals, in the Everglades. His presentation was very interesting and gave me more ideas to what I might want to do later in life.

After his presentation we did a lot of activities and had a small presentation that the oldest campers (11-15) prepared for the class. 

Weekly reflection:

Throughout this week I learnt a lot of things. I gained more knowledge about science and discovered how to care for young children. However, the thing that really marked me this week is how if we teach kids something at a younger age, we can make a difference in the way they think and act. Teaching about the importance of environmental preservation and conservation should be part of the educational curriculum and this summer camp gave me more reasons to believe in it, because we are teaching kids to respect nature and think twice before we do something that might harm it. And that way of thinking is something we need now more than ever and the only way to accomplish it is by teaching about it. 

Working with the education department was a wonderful experience and I am very excited for next week when I will be working with the Collections department!