Extreme Mammals & Biology

We're starting on Part 2 of AP Biology here, having completed 850 pages out of the 1275 or so in Campbell's Biology by the end of May this year, when we took a break. We decided not to cram it in, but to extend it to two "school years" so we could do it right, with Miss C taking the AP exam next May.

So today we re-started our biology study with a visit to the California Academy of Science's "Extreme Mammals" exhibit. After years of being Cal Academy members, we finally went during "members-only" hours this morning, and it was great. We were able to soak up every display before the screaming herds arrived, with Miss C doing her usual copious note-taking.

The "extreme" theme was a cute idea. In reality it was just a wonderful exhibit on all the features of mammals, with lots of emphasis on evolutionary developments, but it was interesting to focus on "extreme" representations, from brain size to horns to the biggest and smallest mammals, and so on.

We also finally got to go through the rainforest exhibit. The long lines have previously kept us out, but finally we were there when it was just opening for the day. We loved all the butterflies!

We're also resuming the long video series on Mammals on DVD, which we get from Netflix. On 4 DVDs, it's called The Life of Mammals, hosted by David Attenborough. Very enjoyable.

This is going to be a great part 2 of biology!