Davids Family Vacation

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There once was a little boy named David. And he lived in New Jerseywith his mom and dad. Davids mom was a librarian and his dad was a middle school science teacher.David was just like his dad, he loved science. His favorite thing to do was get science books from the library and learn about experiments and weather. For his 7thbirthday his family decided to take a trip to San Andreas, California. That night David sat in his bed and thought about his trip. He was very excited.

David could not wait to go to the library and take out books about California. While reading through the books about California, Davidkept seeing pictures of the San Andreas fault. He was so interested in it. Maybe his family would be able to see it when they visited California.The day of his trip had finally arrived and David woke up bright and early. He hopped out of bed, put his clothes, and ran downstairs. He grabbed his favorite cereal and poured it into a bowl. And he ate it faster than a bunny on an ice rink. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r0J0YMx4XiU/TPesx2IpOGI/AAAAAAAACFc/_WJmnNs4HVg/s1600/Bunny%2BIce%2BSkating.jpg

Then he ran up stairs and brushed his teeth. He was ready for his trip. He brought his library books to look at on the plane. There was so much that he wanted to see in California.

Finally, Davids parents were packed and ready to go. David was jumping with excitement. He had never been on an airplane before. . David could hardly wait another minute. He yelled to his parents,MaIll be in the car! and ran outside.

Then hehopped in the car, put on his seatbelt, and sat there, and sat there. Finally, David and his parents were pulling off of their street and heading to the airport.

David had borrowed books from the library about airplanes. He couldnt wait to see the cockpit and the pilots control panel. He had talked to his friends at school and heard that he might get peanuts anda pin with wings on it. He was hoping that he could bring the pin back to school to show his friends.

When David walked into the airport he gasped and looked around. The place was huge!How would they ever find their way to the plane? Davidand his parents walked to the end ofa big line.His mom and dad explained that everyone was excited about flying, but everyone still has to wait in line.

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While they were waiting, Davidasked his mom what they were going to do in California. She said, Since California hasso manyearthquakes I think it would be afunidea to visit a science museum.Weare goingto a place called Shakezone.Shakezone is part of a childrens museum. It has exhibits, and hands on experiments for kids.

After getting their seats on the plane,David was so excited waiting for the take-off. The engine started to rumble and the plane lurched forward. Theplane started topick up speed and the tip lifted up and David felt pinned to his seat.It was so awesome to see how little the houses and cars looked below them.

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As the plane pushed higher they flew right through the cloudsinto the beautifully sunny sky.Then David yawned and started to get a little tired.Asthe engine roared behind him he driftedoffto sleep.When Davidopened his eyesthe plane was flying overthe city of San Andreas. The sun was shining and it was going to be a beautiful day insunnyCalifornia.http://health.uml.edu/thc/HealthIssues/SkinCancerSW/HappySun.jpg

The airport was very busy, there were people rushing every way. David had fun trying to find his suitcase going around on the luggage carousel.

Davids hotel was awesome. It had 16 floors and their room was on the 12thfloor. Riding up the glass elevator, David could see everyone having lunch and playing by the indoor pool.

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Later, aftertaking atour of the game room and pools, Davids family packed a lunch for the museum.David could not believe the heat when he left the hotel to go to the bus stop.Shortly,a blue and red buspulled up to take them to the museum.The bus ride was fun because the driverkept telling jokes and singing silly songs. David was surprised how quickly they arrived at the museum.Davidwas relieved when he walked in to the cool air-conditioned building. Thismuseum didnt look like the ones in Davids books. This museum was just for kids. They had big rooms with craft tables and the pictures and signs were lower so David could see them without having to even look up. There were big groups of kids that were listening to a guide.

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The kidslooked a lot like Davids classmates at home.It was so much fun. David played with sand and blocks with other kids from all over the world. David couldnt wait to tell his friends that this kind of science is really fun.

David followed the arrows painted on the museum floors. They showed how to get to all the different parts of the museum, so you wouldnt missany of the rooms or exhibits. Davids mom let him get his own headphones that explained all the exhibits that theywouldsee on their tour.http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSVG2EAwYfroqjcgK6C5Om8aSy6tgfRR3SJxnKD84j7QpWqEzjA

It was great getting to listen to the stories on his headphones. Sometimes David remembered reading about the things in his library books.As Davidwas looking at pictures of California he saw pictures of a long line through the earth. As David read the signs under the pictures, he remembered seeing pictures of it in his books. It was called the San Andreas Fault. Davids dad explained thatthe San Andreas Fault is a bigcrack that goes along the cost of California.He said that they would find the museumfaultroom and learn about it.

Davidlearned so much ashe wandered throughthe museum.Hemadea buildingout of woodand putitona shake table. A shake table is a machine that vibrates. Whenthewooden houses startto shakeyou can seehow much vibration a building can with stand before falling down. ThenDavid and his mom and dadwatched some videos on howthe earthsplates move and earthquakes happen.The movie had facts about the San AndreasFault.http://www.scec.org/education/images/shakezone/kidswithmodels3.jpg

David wanted to see the exhibit about theSan AndreaFault. The museum had a big room with pictures and videos. But the best part was a ride that you sat in. The ride really didnt move much, but itmade you feel like you were in a helicopter flying over the whole San Andreas Fault line.

David wasstillconfused. Hethought.Why would there just be a bigcrack in California? Like did some guy just one day say Hey, I know what to do today! Im going to make a giant crack up the coast of California? So David asked the guide.The guide explained that there arehard pieces of earthcalled plates. These plates move very slowly and meet with other plates.This is called platetectonics.

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The guide explained that these plateshave edges called boundaries. There are three different types of plate boundaries.The shifting of these plates causes movement at3 types of boundaries. Divergent; where new crust isformed

Convergent boundaries, where platescome together

Transformboundaries, where two plates slide pasteach other.

But he still did not understand.David raised his hand Why are there giant plates under the ground? .The guide explained No, not plates like dinner plates. Think of it like this,the earth is separated into a bunch of pieces. Those pieces are called tectonic plates.And all these plates are touching each other. If two bump into each other and it shakes the ground, an earthquake will happen.And if they pull away from each other they create a fault, a big crack in theearthssurface. And that was how the San Andreas Fault was made.

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David had so much new information floating around in his head he felt dizzy. He thought about earthquakes, plates andfault lines, this was the best science class ever. He was excited but tired when he got on the bus back to his hotel.

When they got backtohis roomDavid put on his swimsuit and went down to the pool,he had such an exciting day.Then he dried off and went back up to the room.Davids mom had a surprise for him, shehad rented his favorite movie;Journey to the Center of the Earth.

David couldnt believe what an awesome day it had been. Half way through the movie, Davids eyes began to get heavy and his blinks were getting longer.

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The next morning during breakfast Davids dad asked him what he would like to do for the day. David replied See the San Andreas fault. Davids dad laughed and decided that would be a great idea. David quickly got ready and headed down to the tour bus with his mom and dad.

The bus hada tour guide and loudspeakers. Asthey drove,the driver explained about what they were seeing. David couldnt believe all the cracks in the earth from earthquakes. As they approached the San Andreas Fault area the bus pulled over so every could see.

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He could hear everyone talking and saying how cool it was but he couldnt see it. All the people in front of him was blocking his view. He was jumping and hopping but he still couldnt see. Until his dad picked him up and held him by the window.

ThenDavid saw thecrackitjust kept going and going!The bus driverexplainedthat the fault wasover 800 miles long.The fault is 15 to 20 million years old. It is wide too. In some places it isseveral hundred feet wide and in others more than a mile wide.It is 10 miles deep in places.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/Kluft-photo-Carrizo-Plain-Nov-2007-Img_0327.jpg/220px-Kluft-photo-Carrizo-Plain-Nov-2007-Img_0327.jpgThen hismom told him about howearthquakes happen there everyday! David was amazed. He had never even felt an earthquake in the 7 years he hadbeen alive.

Davidhas always wanted to feelan earthquake. But the kids here are probably sick of them. But David was still happy. He got to come to California and to see a giant crack in theearth.But he just wanted tofeelan earthquake.

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Just then the ground started to shake.

The End