Our fourth day will be spent at the Pink Palace Museum
located at 3050 Central Avenue in Memphis. The museum features a variety
of temporary and 
permanent
exhibits, a planetarium and an IMAX theater. The Pink Palace is open daily.
Ticket prices vary depending on what exhibits the group plans to attend.
For the purposes of our field trip, we will plan to visit all of the exhibits,
the planetarium and the IMAX presentation. The cost for our tour will be
$9.75 (school group admission price). We will also plan to eat lunch at
the museum deli which will cost approximately $10. Because this "field
trip" is in the planning stages only, it is not known which planetarium
show and which IMAX presentation will be 
showing
at the time of our actual field trip. I have, therefore chosen the shows
that I feel would best meet the needs of my learners at this time. Hopefully
at the time of the actual field trip there will be other programs that
meet the needs of the learners just as well.
The Museum's permanent exhibits focus on regional, cultural
and natural history. While we will take time to tour all the exhibits,
our group will focus
on the Geology and Oxbow Lake sections of the museum.
The Geology section features outstanding examples of rock and mineral specimens, a working seismograph, and fossils that trace the history of Earth from its formation 4.6 billion years ago to the last Ice Age. Because it is a site we will visit later in our tour, we will take special note of fossil specimens that were collected at Coon Creek, a fossil deposit from the Cretaceous Period which is located in McNairy County, Tennessee.
The Oxbow Lake section features exhibits depicting pictures, diagrams and explanations of the formation of an oxbow within a river and later an oxbow lake. This exhibit will reinforce previous learning as the oxbow is a feature we have already been seen on our trip, both as a model (Mud Island) and in person (New Madrid, MO).
Our
next stop at the Pink Palace will the the Sharpe Planetarium where we will
attend the program entitled Starlit Nights. During the program,
students will familiarize themselves with the summer sky including the
following: summer constellations, how they were defined and the mythological
features for which they were named. Follow this link for more information
about the Summer Sky.
Our final stop at the Pink Palace will be the IMAX theater.
Here we will visit the extraordinary underwater world of coral reefs through
the program 
Coral
Reef Adventure. Through the courageous filmaking journey of a husband
and wife team, we will visit the coral reefs of Australia's Great Barrier
Reef , the majestic islands of Fiji and Tahiti and the mysterious Rangiroa
atoll. Through the eyes of the IMAX camera and with the help of scientists
and naturalists, we will gain a greater understanding of these fragile
yet essential ecosystems. Follow this link to find out more information
about Coral Reefs.
| Summer Sky.
Coral Reefs. Next site on the trip. |
|
 Questions/Comments? |
Graphics
The Memphis
Guide, Pink Palace Photography, Starlit graphic, Coral Reef Adventure
graphic, as Retrieved from the World Wide Web, (July 14, 2003).
Photos
Thomas, Donna (May 2003).
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