Elizabeth Kann

Brooklyn’s New Squibb Park Bridge

Elizabeth Kann — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:57:59 +0000

The Squibb Park Bridge connects Squibb Park to Pier One in the Brooklyn Bridge Park, passing over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Furman Street. Views of the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty, and the Brooklyn Bridge make this bouncy, pedestrian bridge something to experience. The bridge opened on March 21, 2013. A New York Times article described the bridge here: A Zigzag Offers a More Direct Route to a Park.

View of Manhattan from Pier One in Brooklyn.

Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute: The Giant Heart

Elizabeth Kann — Thu, 02 May 2013 14:47:21 +0000

The Giant Heart: A Healthy Interactive Experience is an icon at the Franklin Institute.

Children can walk through it as if they were blood traveling around the heart.

Built in 1954 and renovated in 2004, the giant heart is 2 stories tall.

In the same exhibit, the heart spiral shows the different sizes of animal hearts. At the top is a model of the beaked whale and at the bottom of the spiral is a model of a canary’s tiny heart.

You can press the buttons to listen to the animals’ heart rates. The beaked whale has a heartbeat of 20 beats per minute, and the canary has a heart rate of 800 beats per minute.

At the blood fountain, you can learn about red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells.

Another display shows how blood can be different colors. Iron gives fish and humans red blood. Copper gives octopuses blue blood. Nickel gives butterflies green blood, and vanadium gives sea cucumbers yellow blood.

The Franklin Institute is expanding with a new building scheduled to open in the summer of 2014. The new pavilion will include an exhibit on the human brain.

A Poetry Garden in the Woods

Elizabeth Kann — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:56:21 +0000

April is National Poetry Month, and poetry rocks!

Anonymous poets, or perhaps woodland fairies, left poetry in this forest.

Click here for more ways to celebrate National Poetry Month.

The United States Botanic Garden

Elizabeth Kann — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:30:04 +0000

The United States Botanic Garden was the vision of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. It was established on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in 1820 and opened to the public in 1850. The exhibits include medicinal plants, cacti, rare and endangered species, a jungle, orchids, and a children’s garden. Its plant collections number over 60,000. The USBG rescues plants confiscated at U.S. borders. Three plants on display date back to Lieutenant Charles Wilkes’ U.S. Exploring Expedition from 1838 to 1842.

The jungle exhibit…

A Theobroma Cacao tree…

Otherwise known as the chocolate tree…

The orange pods contain seeds that become cocoa beans.

A cactus from Bolivia

A papaya tree…

The World Deserts exhibit…

The Garden Court…

Also the Garden Court…

The East Gallery…

Also the East Gallery…

The Children’s Garden…

Upcoming programs include Dig into Reading: Story Time at the Garden and Science Saturday’s for kids ages 7-12. A Family Field Journal activity guide is available at the entrance. Admission is free.

The Philadelphia Flower Show

Elizabeth Kann — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:32:16 +0000

The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Philadelphia International Flower Show began in 1829 and now covers 10 acres in the Philadelphia Convention Center. This year’s show is called “Brilliant” for its British theme.

The Flower Show runs through March 10, 2013.

Brooklynscapes

Elizabeth Kann — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:58:31 +0000

Views from the Brooklyn Bridge Park…

Lower Manhattan skyline viewed from Pier 1.

MoMath Museum in New York City

Elizabeth Kann — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:13:07 +0000

MoMath, or the National Museum of Mathematics, is a new museum in Manhattan geared towards 4th to 8th graders. But plenty of younger and older mathematicians are enjoying the exhibits, too. There are puzzles and games and a Wall of Fire (a laser light that will outline you in red if you cross its path), the Human Tree (it turns your image into branches of fractal images which move as you move), and the Math Square (it lights up the shortest path to connect everyone standing on the square).

The Harmony of the Spheres lets kids make music.

Kids and adults can take turns riding on the square-wheeled tricycle.

Or just monkey around.

MoMath is located on 26th Street between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue.

The Reading Terminal Market

Elizabeth Kann — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:56:47 +0000

The Reading Terminal Market is a farmers market in Center City Philadelphia that began in 1893. The market has over 80 vendors in an indoor area of 1.7 acres.

You can get pretty much anything there from sausage

to candy,

like marzipan money makers

and chocolate ladybugs,

even a chocolate-covered onion!

Or lungs

and hearts.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Epsy House, A National Historic Landmark

Elizabeth Kann — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:20:35 +0000

The Epsy House in Bedford, Pennsylvania, was George Washington’s headquarters during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.

Legend has it that Mrs. Epsy organized a dinner party to honor President Washington. The turkey was set on the windowsill to cool and a passerby stole it.

Now there’s a different kind of meat available at the Epsy House, as the sign on the front door indicates…

It comes in milk and dark chocolate…

A view inside the candy store in the Epsy House…

in historic downtown Bedford, Pennsylvania.

The Morgan Library and Museum

Elizabeth Kann — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 14:00:56 +0000

The Morgan Library and Museum in New York City is not your typical library. There is a glass elevator, a secret staircase, art galleries and books though you can’t take any books out. The library began as Pierpont Morgan’s private library in 1906. Now through January 27th, ‘Beatrix Potter: the Picture Letters’ is on exhibit. During this time, every Sunday at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm, there will be a Peter Rabbit storytime for children.