Lava Hot Springs

Another field trip I promised the kids we would take, while we were on our vacation, was to Lava Hot Springs. During our National Parks Unit, we talked extensively about the world's first national park--Yellowstone National Park. Our Yellowstone discussion was broken into three main parts: 1) Geothermal features 2)The Yellowstone Fires 3) Yellowstone Wildlife. During the first part of our discussion on geothermal features, we covered hot springs, amongst other things. (see school blog for more info.) When I mentioned that there were some hot springs you could swim in, the kids became kind of obsessed with the idea. Consequently, we couldn't pass up the chance to actually take a dip in one as another stopover on our drive up to Yellowstone National Park.

We didn't have a long time to bask in the steaming pools, and to be honest, they were considerably hotter than I expected them to be; (some so hot I couldn't even enter them) however, it was an enjoyable stopover nonetheless.



Even baby Mase braved the shallower parts of the coolest pool.



It was a great way to bring our discussion on geothermal features to life, and to help ensure that no one would be tempted to "dip" into the much hotter pools in the actual park. It also made me genuinely curious about the possibilities of geothermal energy. It's another of the many times that one of our school discussions has sparked an interest in me and propelled me towards further research and learning. Actually, this happens so often, I'm beginning to wonder if the real reason I was supposed to home school has less to do with the kids, and more to do with me. Who knows.