So I don't have much of an update... Still finishing up my curriculum guide with editing and fine tuning. This week is more focused towards preparing for the summer camps as it is getting very close to when they will begin. 

I'm getting more comfortable with the Museum and the exhibits there. I want to learn as much as I can now so that when I'm surrounded by little kids and chaos I am as best prepared as I can be, though I know it's impossible to be prepared for everything.

This Sunday I am going to help with the junior volunteer orientation, probably helping Amanda with her session on how to engage children. I'm looking forward to being able to meet some of the junior volunteers. 

Nothing really else to report as of late, it's been kind of a slow week so far. Everyone have a good Memorial Day weekend?

Side note- new animal fun fact from my curriculum guide I'm writing- the Blue Whale is the largest animal in the world at 400,000 lbs. Its heart can weigh as much as a car, and its tongue can weigh as much as an elephant.

Weekend Training and First Day of Internship!

On Saturday I went to training for my internship at the Florida Museum of Natural History. I met Katherine; a supervisor in addition to Amanda, and got my shirts and name tag. I met the teachers that I will be working with during the summer camps they have this summer and I took a tour of the museum. It was incredible to see all of the extra space that is hidden to the public and used as offices or storage... the museum in twice as big as I first thought. We also learned about where we will be going our first day and what we'll be doing.

Yesterday (Monday) was my first day. I was a little nervous about how long it was (11 - 6), but it went really well! I got lost a lot (I forgot a lot of the places Amanda toured me on Saturday), but everyone was extremely friendly and helped me. When I first came in I got a key to all the secret places in the museum (super legit) and then began learning about curriculum guides. 

Curriculum guides are what the museum gives the teachers when they come to teach a summer camp, and there are all different topics. They have learning objectives, background information, and activities for the teachers to do with their students. The activities should be able to correspond to different exhibits in the museum. My curriculum guide topic is "Nature's Champions" which means the biggest, strongest, fastest, oldest, smallest, etc, animals. Yesterday I finished a whole topic on adaptations- because all of these characteristics that makes these animals "champions" come from adaptations that help them survive. 

It was actually pretty fun. I learned a lot of interesting things (like did you know the hump of a camel doesn't actually store water? It's all fat!), and it was really challenging to think of activities that kindergartens who can't really read or write would be able to participate in, as well as 5th and 6th graders. 

I'll keep you updated on what happens next!