All Going Swimmingly: Jazzin' at the Shedd

Got back to the dorm late today (since we were signed out with the RA's, we were allowed to miss curfew) so I'll keep it brief. I had a lovely evening at Jazzin' at the Shedd (with many pictures of fish to show for it, as promised), but first let me tell you about the rest of my day!

FISH!!!

Class today was about moral development and the family, both topics I was looking forward too. We looked at the stages of moral development and the different ways that parenting can affect a child growing up. After lecture we went to lunch, which was horrendously crowded. There were huge lines and all of the juice dispensers were out of order (TRAGEDY). After lunch, we watched an excellent video about some economists who decided to study the economic returns of investing in early childhood education. Basically, their economic research indicated that putting money into education would boost the economy by keeping kids out of prison and off welfare in the future. I loved this video because of the interdisciplinary quality of the work and the way it made investing in education seem like more than just a nice thing to do. Today we also got to explore the space where we will be performing our experiments (starting tomorrow, ahhhh!) and got to try a test run of the experiment with our professors. It didn't go quite as smoothly as planned, but I am confident that everything will go well tomorrow.

These turtles are pretty much models

FISH IN A SEA ANEMONE!!!

After class got out I rushed to do my homework and get ready for Jazzin' at the Shedd! The aquarium was beautiful and there was so much variety! I loved how there were several little placards for each exhibit that had information that was interesting and accessible, rather than the overly scientific wording and obscure concepts I often see at museums and aquariums. The fish were great, but unfortunately I was not nearly as impressed with the jazz. It wasn't incredible, but it still created a nice atmosphere. At the end of the evening a group of friends and I went out on a hill behind the aquarium and watched the sun set on the city of Chicago. It was absolutely stunning. After a quick bite to eat and some intense 20 questions on the bus ride back, we all arrived back at the dorms safe and sound.

Sunset in the city