Animal Encounters at Featherdale Zoo

Jed loved, loved, loved Featherdale Zoo at Sydney.

In one morning, we got a week's worth of Zoology lessons - perfect for my active learner.

Petting the wallabies...

Petting the soft fur of a koala. Smelled like the eucalyptus leaves they like to eat.

Petting a kookaburra bird...

and a dingo pup...

then meeting the pup's sire a few meters ahead.

 

Here's a wombat: 

and a prickly echidna:

Learning about the cassowary bird, which is as tall as Jed.... 

Learning about albinos. What do you call a white/ albino kangaroo? A wallaroo!

 

Here's a lovely albino peacock, straight from the Kung Fu Panda 3 movie. And its cousin with the really beautiful colors. 

 

  

But, the highlight of the whole trip was feeding the kangaroos...

Here's the best photo of all:

Dinosaur Walk

Learning about Dinosaurs at the Dinosaur Walk exhibit, also at the Melbourne Museum. 

My son, the dramatic actor...

Our Weight in Gold

We stepped on a weighing scale that computes your weight in gold.

Jed's weight in gold is 1.8 million dollars.

Together, our weight in gold is over FIVE MILLION DOLLARS... cool!

Metamorphosis - Complete & Incomplete

In the next exhibit at the Melbourne museum, Jed learns about Complete and Incomplete Metamorphosis in a fun and engaging way.

As a kinesthetic learner, Jed learns best by doing and not just reading or listening. This display is perfect for him, as  he gets to see, feel, touch & play.

Here is a display panel where Jed pushes either of two buttons to watch two different kinds of metamorphosis - a caterpillar hatching from an egg, or a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis.

Here is a life cycle showing a complete metamorphosis

and the incomplete metamorphosis:

with samples of insects that undergo either complete or incomplete metamorphosis:

 

 

 Jed studies the sample insects through a magnifying lens.

A Bugz Life

Jed learns about bugs in this fun & interactive display at the Melbourne Museum.

Bugs make all kinds of amazing homes. 

Here, Jed pushes buttons to activate lights that show the ciculatory, nervous, digestive & reproductive system within a cross-sectioned enlarged replica of a beetle. I love the sheer delight on his face!

I found these large informative displays fascinating. I had a great Earth Science teacher - God bless her heart! And I loved my science classes. I hope to pass on to Jed the same kind of love for science & learning. He skipped past these displays, as I expected. But, I took good photos and, when he is older, we can go through them together.

Learning about camouflage... Here's an insect that looks like a leaf.

Can you find them now?

Here is a darkened lens.

Jed presses the button and can now see a real specimen inside. This display shows a rhinoceros cockroach.

Did you know that.... ?

Jed stands in front of a display of all sorts of animals, smiling and all pleased with himself for learning more about bugs.