Kids’ Corner

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE – AQUARIUMS IN THE DESERT

By Jill “MamaBug” Frier

Water is a scarce resource in the desert, so we don’t typically imagine Arizona to be a place where you can find high-quality aquariums. Fortunately for Sonoran Desert dwellers, that perception is wrong. Arizona is home to a number of world-class aquariums, including the largest in the southwest. Summer is a perfect time to escape the desert heat and find an oasis of water and sea life in one of the many aquariums in our state. Here is a list of aquariums you can visit in the Sonoran Desert.

ODYSEA AQUARIUM

The state of the art OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale opened its doors in 2016. As the largest aquarium in the southwest, it boasts two million gallons of water, 60 exhibits, and over 30,000 sea creatures. OdySea also has separate tours and encounters available to learn more about sea life and provide visitors with additional aquatic adventures. Some of the extra highlights at OdySea Aquarium include a Behind the Scenes tour, an underwater SeaTrek, and a special Penguin Interaction Program. It’s best to buy your tickets online in advance, to get discounts and avoid waiting in long lines. OdySea is worth the trip and a great place to escape the heat of summer – and a membership pays for itself in just a few visits.

WILDLIFE WORLD ZOO, AQUARIUM AND SAFARI PARK

The Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium and Safari Park, located off the Loop 303 highway in Litchfield Park, is another awesome aquatic adventure. The aquarium portion of the zoo gets you up close and personal to sea life and lets you see everything from penguin feedings to sharks. The South Pacific Reef tunnel tank features the longest acrylic tunnel in

Arizona, and the aquarium is home to the only sea lions in our state. The Aquarium’s sea lion facility and programs offer educational demonstrations, sea lion shows and feedings at their specially constructed Shipwreck Cove area. The Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium and Safari Park is always worth a visit and the aquarium is a special treat for desert dwellers trying to beat the heat of

summer.

SEALIFE ARIZONA AQUARIUM

The SeaLife Arizona Aquarium, located in the Arizona Mills shopping center in Tempe, is a part of a larger SeaLife Aquarium group that has locations throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. The SeaLife Trust works to promote conservation efforts through education, breeding, rescuing and protecting aquatic animals all over the world. Some of the highlights of the SeaLife Arizona Aquarium include fresh water and salt water exhibits, Critter Canyon, an interactive tide pool, a Bay of Rays, and an ocean view. The kids will love the educational challenges and treasure hunts provided by the aquarium, as well as the fun play area! Buy your tickets online and in advance to get the best rates, and consider opting for combo packages with the Legoland Discovery Center if you plan to spend the day.

ARIZONA SONORAN DESERT MUSEUM - WARDEN AQUARIUM

The Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson is natural park that is completely unique to Arizona and the Sonoran Desert. It’s a zoo, plus a botanic garden, plus a natural history museum, plus a conservation, research and educational center. It also hosts a great aquarium for summer visitors to the museum. The ArizonaSonora Desert Museum’s Warden Aquarium opened in 2013 and welcomes Tucson residents and visitors with its unexpected exhibit of massive rivers with six-foot minnows, and oceans teeming with whales, stingrays, eels, and thousands of invertebrates found in the Sonoran Desert. As the museum explains, “A full understanding of the Sonoran Desert region isn’t possible without recognizing the importance of the freshwater rivers that flow through it and the Sea of Cortez, which are critical to this desert’s status as the lushest desert on earth.” Plan to stop at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum the next time you visit Tucson – it’s one you shouldn’t miss.

CABELA’S IN GLENDALE AND BASS PRO SHOP IN MESA

A free and fun way to see aquatic wildlife native to Arizona is to visit one of the huge freshwater Aquariums in one of our local outdoor outfitter stores, Cabela’s in Glendale or Bass Pro Shop in Mesa. Both stores house giant freshwater aquariums that offer up-close viewing of trophy-sized catfish, bass, striper, trout and blue gill, among other fish. Check out their websites for special events and activities and to learn more about the aquariums – each of these stores is a tourist attraction and a fun day trip in and of itself!

Take some time this summer to get out of the heat and visit an aquarium near your part of the Valley of the Sun. There are some fantastic options available, and it’s a great opportunity to keep cool and continue encouraging your kids’ interest in science and the world outside. Be sure to check Ladybug’s Blog for a more ideas for great places to get your kids out of the house and interested places to see around the great state of Arizona.

Be sure to check out Ladybug’s Blog for more articles and recommendations for fun things to do outside with kids everywhere in Arizona!

5 WAYS TO MAKE MATH PART OF YOUR KIDS’ DAILY LIVES

For many students, math can 1. BAKE AND COOK like a new toy box or a bench for to practice percentages. Kids can seem like the most challenging Math and the kitchen go hand-in- a reading nook. These types of calculate how much an item will school subject. But it doesn’t hand. Making cookies? Double projects require the use of math cost and the money saved any time have to be. Math is actually all or halve the batch to learn about - from measuring materials to there’s a listed discount, like 20 around us. Here are five ways you dividing, multiplying and fractions. calculating the area and volume that percent off or half off. They can also can help kids draw connections Have the right recipe but the wrong objects will occupy. Be sure to point calculate what the total charge will between classroom math and the measuring gear? Convert from out when and how math is being be after the sales tax is added. At math that touches their daily lives. metric to English to practice simple used. the grocery store? Let kids weigh formulas. Witness how produce and calculate the cost. fractions work firsthand 3. HAVE FAMILY MATH NIGHT by quartering ingredients Play games that deal with math and 5. CREATE A BUDGET like peppers and apples. the tools on hand to win them, like A great way to teach kids how For more hands-on the Casio fx-55 PLUS, a scientific budgets work is with their own education, let kids do the calculator which helps students learn spending money. They will learn measuring, timer-setting elementary mathematics such as how to make their money last, as and anything else that fractions, division with remainders well as how to count it out and requires math. and random numbers. The True figure out how much change they’ll Fraction Display helps student get back. You can also loop them 2. BUILD understand the mathematics behind into your own budgeting process. SOMETHING improper fractions, mixed fractions For example, if you have vacation TOGETHER and simplification, providing the plans on the horizon, you can show Following instructions tools they need not to be intimidated them how to create a budget for from start to finish by math concepts. transportation, accommodations, is important for any food and more. math student, so build 4. GO SHOPPING something together, Shopping is the perfect opportunity (StatePoint)

CAVE CREEK UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Preschool Programs

LAST CALL! Join us registration day to meet the coaches, get fi tted for your uniform and become a Cave Creek Falcon! June 9th 9:00 am - 12:00 noon @ Lone Mountain Elementary School 5250 E. Montgomery Road, Cave Creek 85331

2018-2019

Black Mountain Elementary – Child’s Play Preschool New→ Desert Sun Academy – Global Beginnings Preschool Desert Willow Elementary – Spanish Immersion Preschool Horseshoe Trails Elementary – Preschool New→ Lone Mountain Elementary – STEM Preschool

480.575.2000 www.CCUSD93.org

We offer the following teams in our program: • Mitey Mite (ages 6-9) • Cadet (ages 9-10) • Jr Pee Wee (ages 10-11) • Pee Wee (ages 11-12) • Jr Midget (ages 12-13) • Cheer (all ages)

EDUCATION WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO TEACH KIDS TO CODE

In today’s world, when it comes Today’s kids do have a unique to preparing kids for the future, core understanding and natural there are few better ways to sense of how programming do so then by teaching them how works. Kids with even a little to code. Not just for use in the bit of experience, see the whole technological age, but to develop picture of technology with a academic skills, patience, and new frame of mind. This was critical thinking. All of which are unimaginable in years past. key components for success in But kids today get it and can school, life, and careers. see coding in a unique way. Learning to code also teaches What is coding? Coding is what children critical thinking and makes it possible for computer strong problem solving skills. software, apps, and programs. Kids become empowered by the Your browser, your computer’s results of coding because there is operating system, the apps on an immediate gratification when your phone, Facebook and the World Wide Web, they’re all made with code. Just a simple website they write a line of code and they see actions on a screen or a robot come to life. ” “ Coding is a basic literacy in the digital age, and it’s important for kids to understand - and be able to innovate with - the technology around them. -Tynker like Google requires hundreds of lines of code and full time teams As mind boggling as it seems of programmers to manage and to many adults, today’s kids maintain. embrace even radical new technologies like augmented Most recently, there has been a reality, 3D printing, laser lot of attention to IoT “Internet cutting, and artificial intelligence of Things” apps. These are the wholeheartedly. Yes that means programs that run your entire even more coding! As you might house! Automatic thermostats, be scratching your head, one front door cameras, and Google thing is for certain, there’s no Home and Alexa. There are stopping the technological wave. many more of these technologies Kids that learn to code will be coming! Who will design and ahead of this curve and ready to code these apps? Possibly your launch into great adventures and kids and grandkids! careers of the future. ! New applications are being developed that will change our lifestyle and facilitate our work. As We at Generation Tech are thrilled to serve your community as a neighborhood technology Coupo 10% Off! n Code: Ridge10 technologies expand into the 21st hub where kids of all ages can century, coding will become the gain new concepts and learn to single greatest tool to manage it. use and manage technology.