Hawaii Day 3

Today we woke up at a later time. Our first tour was of Pearl Harbor. We went in the Bowfin submarine and on the memorial. Did you know that oil is still leaking from the Arizona? After Pearl Harbor we went to the Aloha swap meet where we bought some flowery jewelry and souvenirs for our family.  Next we swam to a raft and a small island at Kahala Hotel where we also watched dolphins perform tricks. The raft was very slippery and Samantha's watch is now submerged off shore somewhere. As our day was ending, we started to get drowsy once again. That was a fun and educational third day in Hawaii!

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Lauren and Samantha in their new dresses posing for a photo outside of Tutu and Papa's house!

Pearl Harbor Memorial!

Lauren and Samantha steering the wheel of a submarine!

The oil still leaking from the Arizona! 

Lauren and Samantha with two survivors from Pearl Harbor!

Playing in the pool.

Hawaii Day 2

Today we got up very early and headed off to hike a dormant volcano. To get there we had to climb 74 steps and then another 99 steps. We also had to go through a dark tunnel. Did you know that Oahu is 4 million years old?  After we went to the top of Diamond Head, we went to Cockroach Gulch. The waves were gargantuan! We learned how to body surf but our teacher accidentally pulled our heads down in the sand. That made us very drowsy. Then we got home and started to cook. We made a Caesar Tortellini Salad. It was delicious. We had a spectacular second day in Hawaii! 

Lauren snorkeling!

The Blow Hole!

Samantha snorkeling!

The Education Girlz with Tutu on top of Diamond Head (Le'ahi)

Hawaii!

Manta Ray

The Education Girlz arrived in Hawaii for an academic trip to learn about volcanoes, the ocean environment, and World War II history. The day started out with an orienteering adventure through the Waialae Iki neighborhood overlooking Diamond Head, learning the directions "mauka" and "makai" as well as discovering the indigenous flora. We got up close and personal with manta rays, dolphins, and sea turtles (honu) at Kahala Beach. We also swam in the ocean and frolicked on sea rafts. We had a great first day!

Raft fun!

Identifying a tree by its bark.

The island!

Beetles

Lauren experiments with a Bess beetle.

Samantha experiments with a Bess beetle.

The dung beetle and the stink bug.

The Desert Botanical Gardens' class on beetles was fascinating! These bugs have chewing mouth parts, called mandibles. Beetles have two hardened elytra that cover their bodies. The elytra come together down the middle of their backs and make a nice clean seam. They line up nicely, while true bugs like the assassin bugs and milkweed bugs have wings that overlap.

New Uniforms

The Education Girlz have a new uniform. These two-toned pink shirts were individually designed by each girl to reflect their personal academic goal: "It's all about the learning!"

You girls look smart!

The dolphin is just one of our mascots!

Don't let the flower fool you.

Butterflies and Milkweed Bugs

Monarch butterfly at Desert Botanical Gardens

The Desert Botanical Gardens was the setting of today's lesson on the milkweed bug and bugs in general. We learned about the habitat and life cycle. We also learned about the milkweed bug's diet.

Looking for milkweed bugs.

The Inquiry Process

Writing Ideas

Where do writers get their ideas? From potatoes, of course! The Education Girlz transformed ordinary potatoes from their kitchen larder into characters full of personality. Nani the mermaid potato attended the prestigious University of the Pacific where she majored in "swim-ology". Minna the tennis champion potato attended Standford on an athletic scholarship. Both of these potatoes had distinguished careers and many published papers demonstrating the 6 traits of writing: voice (lots of it), conventions, word choice, organization, ideas, and sentence fluency. Unfortunately the potato pals sprouted and attracted flies, and so they were laid to rest after a very moving ceremony and a published obituary. RIP potato inspirations.

Minna the tennis playing potato rules the court!

Nani the mermaid potato enjoys her aquatic habitat.

Nani's casket was decorative and festive.

The sad day arrived and Lauren read her potato eulogy.
Minna was laid to rest in a practical orange shoe box
that sports a colorful tombstone and witty epitaph.