Behind the Seeds

When organizing our trip to Florida there were so many more options than time we had available.  Trying to figure out what to do and what to skip was the most daunting task.  Anything we cut came with a great sigh of disappointment - the options were limitless.

On our third day of the trip we were set to spend our day at EPCOT - Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.  Walt Disney original vision was a park that explored what the world could be.  It is made up of two parts - one part Future World - investigating the sciences - and the other part World Showcase - an investigation into 11 of the world's cultures.  There were so many options we can choose from to enrich our time at EPCOT, but we decided to go with the "Behind the Seeds" tour - a behind the scenes tour looking at the "Living on the Land" attraction - an indoor greenhouse using cutting edge technologies to grow fruit and vegetables with less space and waste. The approaches they have taken are vast, and the food from this one small greenhouses is used daily at EPCOT in some of the restaurants.

I wasn't sure how the kids would enjoy it - I mean agriculture and plants are not always the biggest hit with the 15-17 year old crowd - and yet students were fully engaged.  They talked about genetics, bacteria, grafting, and genomics in the lab - looking at the techniques and equipment used.  We went through a research lab focused on chemical free pest management approaches - which is what Disney uses - the biggest being the use of small bugs to prevent bacteria or fungal infections in plants, and eliminating the need for pesticides.  A lot of the behind the seeds tour takes you through working laboratories and shows you what kind of jobs you could get and research you could do with a degree in Biology.  This real life application of Science 10 and Biology 11 topics of botany and conservation was rich and meaningful - and just the beginning.

Inside the greenhouse itself there was vertical growing, hydroponics, the use of fish to filter water and plants, circular rotation growing, top down growth, self-watering beds and more.  If there was a way enhance the sustainability of a crop by resource and space management - Disney was trying it.

And this ties into their name - EXPERIMENTAL prototype community of TOMORROW.  Or maybe it should really be TODAY.  In a changing landscape and with growing populations, the need for more food, on less space, is essential.  Seeing the approaches and rational behind what can be done with so little resource is encouraging.  Scientists are working today to ensure we can have a happy, healthy (and well fed) future.

Along with our lesson in agriculture, we also got to see their fish farms, baby alligators, a 9 lb lemon, mickey mouse shaped cucumbers, and do a spices smell test.  It is amazing what they have behind the scenes (or SEEDS, as the title of the tour suggests).  Students were engaged beginning to end.

So if you are in the EPCOT area, and at all interested, it is worth the few extra dollars for this tour.  They sell tickets in the Land Pavillion, downstairs next to "Soarin'".  Enjoy it - we did!

My Florida Top 5 - by Ali

It was really difficult to narrow down my top five things about this trip, since it originally started with seven items and grew from there, before I had to bring it back down.  As much as I would have loved to explain why I loved every single minute of this trip, I just picked out the very best, in my opinion.

Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley (Universal Studios) 

“BUTTERBEER”

I was really looking forward to going to Hogwarts.  From the minute I found out that it was on the trip, to the minute we arrived, it was sitting in the back of my mind, jumping up and down with excitement.  When we finally arrived, I was a bit nervous that it wouldn’t be as grand and magical as I hoped it would, but those fears were unfounded.  IT. WAS. AMAZING!!!!  I felt really immersed in the whole “Muggles in Hogsmeade” experience, and the shops, food, and villagers made it even better.  I loved getting butterbeer (it was fantastic), going on the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley, and seeing the GIANT DRAGON ON GRINGOTTS THAT BREATHED FIRE EVERY TEN MINUTES!!!!  The clothing shop mirrors that told you were looking fine, or alternatively that it really wasn’t your style.  Even seeing the people of all ages running around with wands and casting spells added to the experience.  Basically, it was awesome.

Manatees

“Look at its lil’ face!”

Now, I could talk about the manatees all day, but I won’t.  Essentially, they were adorable.  It was so cool to see them in their natural habitat, where you could be swimming along in the surprisingly not frigid waters and one would rise up out of the gloom like a surfacing submarine (yes, the first time one did that, I thought it was a submarine).  It was really different to see them where they actually live, to see a bit more about how they act, as opposed to how they act merely in theory.  Then there was that one sunbathing manatee who just floated by the boat and let everyone pet him/her.  And there was the mom manatee who went drifting by with her baby, and my mind exploded with cuteness overload.  All cuteness aside, they were very beautiful creatures who just drift around happily all day, and that’s a really nice thing to watch.

Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom)

“I know this isn’t a picture of Kali River Rapids, or of us after getting soaked, but this picture is important and must be shared.”

I felt like I needed to single out this ride in particular.  I went on it five times with my faithful companion Jacob, who got soaking wet as well, but not as wet as the last time in which I was that ONE PERSON who got drenched... and then I never dried and had to change when we got back.  But anyways, it was so much fun to first play water roulette on who would be that ONE PERSON, and then to cackle hysterically when the newbies got on with their little ponchos and thought they were safe.  After a period of time, we felt pretty much like practiced tour guides, warning them as they looked up and down our drenched frames with horror.

 The rides in Universal Studios

*internal screaming*
Universal Studios, especially the Marvel island, was great.  I got to go on The Incredible Hulk (terrifying), both dinosaur rides (terrifying), and the Spiderman ride (not terrifying).  I can’t believe I survived the Hulk and the dino rides, but for me, the real highlight was Spiderman.  When we went on it first with the lights on so the effects were less realistic, I thought “Wow, this is amazing.  It can’t possibly get better!” and then we did it with the lights off and I thought “IT GOT BETTER HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?”  After we got to go around the back and look at how the cars and effects worked, it got so much more amazing.  For me, the best part was how the cars only move at one extremely slow speed through the track, and yet the tilting and shaking makes it feel like your speed is changing.  It was ingenious.

Team Physics and Team Geology Rocks!

Finally, I have to mention Team Physics (Becks) and Team Geology Rocks (Mama Kenks).  Throughout many of our activities and almost all our workshops, we were split into two groups, and the sense of camaraderie was brilliant.  When doing the Physics workshops, and the tours at Animal Kingdom, and pretty much anywhere else, everyone on the trip really bonded.  The very first exciting thing for me on the entire trip was Mr. Becker showing up and destroying everyone at Smash Bros.  Just being with all those people was awesome.  We got to learn about each other, compete (I’m lookin’ at you, rover building challenge), and even just hang out like at the African Buffet and Margaritaville.  The people are always the best part of anything, and I’m really glad I got to spend time with such great ones.

Thank you Mrs. Becker, Ms. Kenkel, and Mr. Becker for bringing us on this trip.  It truly was the experience of a lifetime.

Welcome to Orlando - by Shweta

TODAY IS NOVEMBER 9, 2014. Today is the day following a red eye flight in which all (or at least the most) of us kids and teachers (except Ms. Kenkel, with her skillful plane sleeping abilities) stayed up, unable to sleep on a red-eye flight from Sea-Tac International Airport to Orlando International Airport.  And while a few of us may have caught some z's in there, I know I couldn’t sleep. But I turned this struggling into a positive by buying wi-fi to use on the plane - so it wasn’t completely a total bust of time! In addition, I was grateful to have given myself a good solid whole night’s sleep the night prior to the flight, which helped. A LOT.  I realize now I prefer daytime flights over red-eye flights.  I personally find it really hard to sleep on buses or planes, or just anything that I can’t use as a bed. Plus, I feel more awake in the day (for obvious reasons), and I find it’s generally easier to be productive on daytime flights. Well, maybe "productive" is the wrong word, but during the day there is least the opportunity to socialize, and get to know your group better.  No one frowns on you for the constant chatter, and enthusiasm is encouraged, instead of stifled while you try to respect everyone attempt to fight for those few previous minutes of sleep that they can get.  But I feel really disoriented on night flights, like how one would feel after waking up from an afternoon nap. Nevertheless, it was a very tiring, but any experience required to get us to Orlando was well worth it

We hit the ground running when we landed, and let me say that entering the park was so surreal.  I was literally a zombie as we came through the gates. But sleep exhaustion aside, we jumped right into the fun (in an effort to help kick-start our adrenaline so we wouldn’t collapse onto the ground). The park we explored today was Hollywood Studios, which had some similarities to California Adventure Park in Disneyland (though Hollywood Studios is much smaller). I won’t go into a huge compare/contrast of Disneyworld and Disneyland because I’ve been to only one park here in Florida so far, and I don’t know enough about the former to criticize. But, that doesn’t mean they both don’t radiate the same magic!  I'm looking forward to seeing what the other 3 parks here at the magical World of Disney have to offer!

I swear I will not recite my whole day today, but I did want to mention that I spent half of it with Mom & Dad, (Mr. & Mrs. Becker), and Mama Kenks (Ms. Kenkel). It was time well spent, and definitely going to be continued over the near future. I love getting to spend time with teachers.  Getting to now them and enjoying time with them from a non-academic yet academic perspective (I hope that makes sense - if not, I blame it on the fact that I brain-turning-to-mush level sleepy) is really fun, and really, unlike any other fun you can enjoy.

Tomorrow, we’re going to go and explore the past and present of manned space flight, learn about engineering and other super cool stuff at NASA, and not to mention MEET AN ACTUAL ASTRONAUT, the one and only, Captain Winston E. Scott!! THE EXCITEMENT CANNOT BE CONTAINED.  I guarantee you a much more detailed story of that experience to come.

Now I am going to recharge my mind’s fried batteries. Stay tuned for more of Shweta's jumbled thoughts tomorrow!