In anticipation of the upcoming Orionides meteor shower, some wonderful homeschooling families ventured to the Griffith Observatory two weeks back for a late afternoon visit and dinner picnic. It wasn’t crowded at all because that night it was unseasonably cloudy & raining. Instead of splitting our time waiting our turn to gaze heavenward in the observatory’s 12-inch or 200-inch telescopes, we frolicked amongst the incredible interactive displays as well as watched a 30 minute planetarium show and a 15 minute movie about the Observatory itself (and it’s incredible $93 million renovation).
The observatory is incredibly kid friendly and given the renovations costs all taxpayers should go as often as possible (it wasn’t all on the taxpayers, Leonard Nemoy and his wife donated a chunk of change too). As it is, The Griffith Observatory and Space Museum is one of the only destinations in LA where it is not only free to enter, but free to park as well.
The building itself is a beautiful art deco sight as it sits atop the highest peak in Griffith Park and has a wonderful vantage of the Hollywood sign. Oftentimes, there are astronomers who love to share their passions beside their pet telescopes spread about the front lawn of the Observatory. In the past, my daughter and I were guided by just one such wonderful astronomer, to see the red dot of mercury on the horizon just as the sun was setting. Reaffirming -
~ People Everywhere are Wonderful.~
…….Once inside the lobby from the front entrance, the restored mural or series of murals painted on the ceiling are stunning and worth the time to explore. In their own creative way, they share how space through out the centuries has impacted us tiny human beings. For those who need a bit more action or distraction, lift the kiddos up so they can peer down into the center pit in the lobby which holds a unique pendulum clock in motion.
Pendulum in the Pit of front Lobby
Observing the pendulum swing in the pit
Before you leave the front lobby, pick your pleasure of astronomy shows and times and purchase your inexpensive theater tickets. Children under the age of 5 are discouraged from entering as the shows occur in darkness and the attendants do not want to worry about safety if you and your child need to be escorted out. And once out, you don’t get back in. In my experience, I have found that the docents who work later in the day and evenings seem to have a more jovial nature. Once we knew when we were going into the show, we knew we had time to take in the smaller East wing of the Space museum.
The exhibits were thrilling. Especially the Tesla Coil that one of the docents allowed the children to flip the switch and MAKE blue Lightening. A smaller version of what Nikola Tesla invented for the world. 
Click on the Tesla Coil image or here to see our living the Tesla Magic of Science.
Other interactive exhibits in the East wing allowed the kids to watch the sun and moon in orbit above their heads and the potential eclipse we would see from Earth. Or watch the Earth as it orbited the sun and see our seasonal change projected on a screen.
…………………By the time all had pressed buttons, watched movement, asked lots and lots of sparking questions, it was time to enter the Planetarium and see the constellations and learn about the Big Bang theory. Here is one child’s interpretation of just that theory that you can click on for a brief video.
A few of us with wee ones in tow heading down to the Cafe to partake of our picnic dinners we had planned on having on the lawn if it were dry. We supplanted our meals with a few items from the Cafe at the End of the Universe in order to properly patronize the eatery. But they were great to us all. I must add that the outdoor patio at this Cafe is my favorite place to dine at night in all of LA.
After the first show and a bit to eat for all, we were off to explore the West Wing and the gigantic models of our Solar system.
………………And as an added treat, the docent who shared the Tesla Coil experience with us, tracked us down to let us hold and pass around a REAL meteor that had been on Earth for about 50,000 years, but was actually about 4.5 BILLION years old. He knew that some of us were heading out the Joshua Tree national park the next week in order to view the meteor shower/Shooting stars in a less light polluted location.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………After all the fun we said our goodbyes and pranced our way through the puddles back to our cars. An extra boon, due to the rain, there was no need to park anywhere but the parking lot at the top of the hill.
Let’s take turns flipping the end of the stick while I secure the other end on the table with my hands. What happens? The stick is jumping up and down on the free end. Do you hear sound? Let’s be quiet to hear the sound as the stick hits the table. Okay, now everyone place your hand somewhere on this picnic table and feel for the VIBRATION while Benja flips the stick. Did you FEEL that sound? That is how 
So let us all be scientists to investigate the nerve cells in our hands and see if we can trick them or not.
And now who wants to 
First each scientist got a glass full of Plasma (water and yellow food color) and lets pour in some salt too. Plasma makes up about 55% of our blood. And it is no coincidence that it is the same color as our Urine, because once our blood has done its job, it goes to the liver to get cleaned and what is left goes out our body as yellow pee. Next we added cheerios and red food coloring, for this is the shape of our red blood cells. Except they don’t have a hole all the way through them, just a big dent in the middle. (and if you are wondering 
Let’s all make our own Spinal Column. Some of the parents have cut up the toilet and paper towel rolls and punched holes into them so we can string them like beads on our Spinal cord our nerve superhighway. And for that I have strung together about 5 rubber bands into a chain. And there are small discs cut from a blue styrofoam tray (came under vegetables from store) to string between each bone otherwise the vertebrae would just grind bone onto bone. See the spinal column must be both flexible so we can bend our torsos sideways, backwards and forwards but also sturdy to protect our delicate spinal cord.
“Science is a great game. It is inspiring and refreshing. The playing field is the universe itself.” Isidor Isaac Rabi (1898-1988) U. S. physicist. Nobel prize 1944. 
This past Saturday my family enjoyed the scenery and arts in Uptown LA. On a lark, I found a blurb about a free concert taking place as a part of 
