My mission this trip was to make it the most educational experience possible. With some online research in advance, I was able to find some really neat opportunities for learning. I brought some of our regular reading curriculum to supplement our 'field trip'.
We started our first day with a visit to Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. These beautiful gardens feature white lions, white tigers, leopards and panthers. The Dolphin Habitat houses a large family of Bottlenose Dolphins. The dolphin habitat is designed for observation and educational purposes. The kids enjoyed the experience and did learn several interesting facts from the brochure that was provided and the short narratives given by the trainers. David was disappointed that there wasn't a show or animal performances like at Sea World and Sarah wished that the cats were available for viewing during the nocturnal hours when they would be more active (it closes at 6 p.m. and we missed it the evening we arrived).
Later that day, we visited the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art to see A Sense of Place: Landscapes from Monet to Hockney. This exhibit featured more than 30 world-class artworks. A complementary docent tour provided additional background information and helped us learn to observe intricacies such as lighting and perspective when observing the paintings and photographs. A particularly interesting work of art titled Montagne Sainte Victoria by Vik Muniz was composed from powdered pigments which were then photographed. This work of art was also recreated completely from flowers and other plants in the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens---It was remarkable!
Floral version of Montagne Sainte Victoria by Vik Muniz
The last lesson took place at BODIES...The Exhibition at The Luxor Hotel & Casino. Sarah felt the exhibit was 'disturbing' while David found it to be 'cool'. The exhibit featured over 200 actual bodies and specimens, dissected and displayed in a respectful manner. The revolutionary polymer preservation process retains the look of the original anatomical specimens, but appears rubber-like. We toured eight of the nine rooms which were divided according to systems such as Skeletal, Muscular, Circulatory, etc. We saved the ninth, the Reproductive System and Fetal Development Room for another day, based on age-based recommendations that were provided. There was an emphasis on making healthy lifestyle choices, for example, by showing a healthy lung and a smoker's lung side-by-side. We learned that for every pack of cigarettes that a person smokes, he takes 3 hours and 40 minutes off his life! At the end, David and I got to touch kidney and lung specimens---WOW!!! David wished for more hands-on experiences while Sarah wished to get the heck out of there ASAP!!! There are wonderful teacher's guides, available upon request, for free here. We are going to use these at home as a follow-up to our trip.
Upon our return, we resumed reading one of our Chinese literature selections titled Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. We happened upon an ancient piece of advice befitting much of what we had observed in Las Vegas: "He Who Rides on a Tiger Cannot Dismount." Indeed, we decided that bad choices entrap us. They are like a tiger, who once mounted, will become angry and dangerous to dismount. We vowed to pray for those in that city who were ensnared by sinful choices and to be vigilant ourselves.
Our mission to make our trip one of educational value and fun times was achieved. We had a great time of learning, fun and relaxation. If you have the opportunity to make a trip to Las Vegas, don't hesitate!
We had fun too!!!
SpongeBob Squarepants 4D Special FX Ride at the Excalibur Hotel
Looks like fun. We are headed there in a few weeks sans kiddos.
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