Field Trip: Springfield's Capitol

  What started out as a way to find something educational and cheap has evolved into a goal.  We've now gotten 3 state capitols under our belt.  Our latest being Springfield, IL.

   This capitol was the smallest so far, but Mookie said it was her favorite.  It is probably the oldest.  It was interesting though to see the contrast of the old and the new with the large digitized screens that were in the House and Senate chambers. 

  Of the three capitol buildings we've visited so far, it was the one that was the most sparsely decorated with statues, and displays.  We didn't feel like we were missing out though.  These buildings are so grand they just kind of blow you away ;)

they wanted a pic with each of them on a star

  Our trip wasn't merely for art, architecture and history mind you.  We found fossils in the floor, and Mookie proudly told me what each type of stone was in the base of these columns.  Do you know where she got that information.  No, not Mom the teacher - Mindcraft of all places!  Well, that will temper my threats to throw that out the window some days...

Bubby with his foot by the shell fossil & the different stone in the column

We had the awesome opportunity to take a buddy with us to lunch and needed to kill a little more time, so we headed to the State Museum. I'll tell you I am a little thankful for the having to kill time.  We had to park by the State Museum when we landed and Shorty about died when we passed it by to go to some dumb old capitol (which he usually enjoys, but not in comparison to something like that!).
  Shorty made some buddies and played with the animals while the big kids dug for dino fossils...

  Right before we left, we were in the area where you could put together pottery replicas. I was telling Bubby how I used to put together Native American pottery for real when I worked in an archaeology lab.  He laughed and said, "let me see what you got old lady!".  So the race was on...yeah, I beat the socks off of him ;)

pottery reconstruction

Illinois State Museum - or what Illinois was doing right

  Bear with me on a little rant.  This past week we went to the best comprehensive state museum we've been to in the mid-West and it is slated to close its doors in August due to the funding or what will be the lack thereof by the state.
  The Illinois State Museum in Springfield, IL is an educator's dream.  The first level take you through the natural history of the state of Illinois starting with its paleontology and working its way forward through the modern environment.

taken by my co-photographer Mookie

  There are tons of hands-on items, excellent graphics and dioramas to draw in the student.  "Phone" stations where you can listen in to further details about parts of the exhibit and little cards you can swipe to light up more clues!

swiping a card

   My most favorite part?  How it draws it all together.  For instance, on the exhibit on bears, they had the diorama display, a tactile bear track, description of all those and the items in the diorama and then you can pull out a drawer beneath and see how bears were reflected in Native American culture!  Sheer awesomeness!

the bear exhibit

Not to mention how other scientific fields like geology, archaeology, biology and the like are covered in such an interesting way to appeal to even the most disinterested of passerby.

  The second level was partly dedicated to the Native population (with some life-sized figures that made my pre-teen blush I might add).

listening to the "phone"

They also had a section dedicated to art, but right now it is mostly empty space.  The other exhibit takes you on a historical tour through time from first settlement to modern day.
  Shorty's favorite part was the basement - the play area!  He got to load a jeep to take out on a specimen expedition, dig for fossils, use a microscope to look at bones up close, put together replicas of Native pottery and read in the nook!

rubbings

local wildlife hide and seek

a quiet book nook

For those of you in NE Kansas, the layers of learning in this one museum was like me taking our group to 3 different ones in our area: the Kansas Historical Museum, Natural History museum at KU and the Children's Discovery Center.  All in one museum!  And not paying the $50+ for admissions and travel.  This museum was FREE!! All we had to pay was a couple bucks for parking.  I am certain (as I am for our home state) that this museum is NOT a major money vacuum and that cutting it from the budget will solve even part of the financial ills for the state.  I wonder if charging a fee (not prohibitive to regular attendance by locals like our own historical museum) was discussed.  Surely that would be a benefit.  We are planning to make a trip back to Springfield in the near future and the kids keep asking if we can go again.  All I can answer is, "I hope so, I hope so."