I had the day off today from my gifted class so we took a field trip to Ft. Myers. We had a great time wandering around the botanical gardens. I liked looking into all the old rooms in the houses and thinking what it would be like to be Thomas Edison.
It was pretty neat that they had their own private pool with a diving board!
It was awesome to see all the inventions and improvements that Thomas Edison made. The offices were all set up just they way they were when Edison was alive.
I especially enjoyed the fountain that looked like a little volcano.
The Edison library was not as full of books as I figured it would be but it was really pretty looking.
This is Edison’s little office. He seemed to have phonographs ALL over!
Henry Ford also shared the home area and did a lot of work with Edison. I learned a lot about the Model T and Model A.
The banyan tree out front was amazing! I could have looked at it ALL day! Boy do I wish I was allowed to climb it!
I thought these were HUGE coins. Turns out they are all medals and awards that Edison won.
Samples of many of the lightbulbs Edison worked on.
Some of the early recordings that were played on the phonographs… before records.
How the phonograph worked!
A version from a few years later.
The lab was under renovation and the contents were stored in a huge cage but it was great to see the actually bottles and glass Edison would have used to work with his botanical experiments.
The lab without all the bottles and tubes! The machines were fascinating.
This is the cot that Edison would nap on during his long sessions in the lab.
Edison’s desk. Many many hours spent working in his lab.
After our tour of the estate, I went to a homeschool class on simple machines. I settled right in and had a blast in my class. We split into teams and got to made a balloon powered car. Our next experiment we had to make a catapult. I had some problems with the team I was on (the teammates kept snatching the supplies and wouldn’t listen to my ideas) and after a few tears the instructor moved me to another team. I eventually defected and joined a team of one! I had some great ideas and no one would listen. Just because I am 5 doesn’t mean I am not pretty darn smart!
When it was time to test out inventions mine came in 2nd place. One mind made one great project! Mommy and Daddy were very proud.
We had a nice ride home and made a few stops along the way. We got home around 9pm and went straight to bed. What a FUN day!