News from the Discovery Center
Anne Church
Teacher Updates from the Discovery Center
March 7, 2012
The Discovery Center rocks on!
Discovery Center visitors on March 3 spent “Biology Day” making plastic lungs, watching real dissections, and enjoying other educational fun. On Sunday our new “Family Science Adventure” kicked off, with entire families exploring “Bubbles” in all kinds of imaginative ways – even setting them on fire. “Adult Night” on February 29 drew more than 300 grown-up people to sample science (and beer!) without small ones to chaperone. Expanded hours make it even easier to investigate all the Discovery Center has to offer – we’re now open from 9:30 am-5:30 pm Sunday through Thursday, and 9:30 am-7:30 pm on Friday and Saturday.
Field trips & Outreach events
Planning a field trip to the Discovery Center? Just email a.ch...@dcidaho.org with the date and time you prefer, and the grade level and number in your group– or call Anne Church at 287-4236. Admission for school groups is just $3 per student, and free for Title 1 schools. Our featured demonstration for March is the exciting “Volts & Jolts” exploration of electricity. There is a $25 fee to have this demonstration presented to your group. Our April-May presentation about vacuums, “All about Nothing,” will cost $35. To have Discovery Center science (and fun!) brought right to your school through an Outreach presentation, just contact Tori Powers at t.po...@dcidaho.org. Four different shows are available, including the popular new “Crazy Critters” about animal adaptations. Details are available at www.dcidaho.org/outreach.
2012 Tournament of Innovation
This weekend, March 9-10, the Discovery Center comes alive with science experiments and inventions from Idaho’s K-12th grade students. Many of our usual exhibits are tucked away to allow students to display their talents in science, technology, engineering and math. The public is invited to check out the displays, then join us Saturday at 3 pm for the awards ceremony. Kindergarteners through eighth graders present in a display and model format, while the high school competitors defend their analysis to a panel of judges before displaying their work. The projects on display this weekend have already won local and regional awards. What you will see now is the best of the best. Volunteers from the community as well as local professionals in science and technology spend several hours Friday night and Saturday morning reviewing, judging and providing feedback on every single project. Winning projects include the “Best of Category” in Working Inventions, Non-Working Inventions and Science Experiments, as well as a “Best of Show” for the K-4th grade division and the 5th-8th grade division. Winners receive trophies and ribbons; top winners receive monies for college. Drop by Friday and Saturday from 9:30 am – 7:30 pm and check out the Tournament of Innovation!
It’s almost time to spring into science!
Spring Break is a great time for students in grades 1-4 to dig deep into science during our week-long Spring Break Camp, March 26-30, from 9 am-4:30 pm each day at the Discovery Center. The cost is just $165 for DCI members/$195 for nonmembers. For details, just contact a.ch...@dcidaho.org, or call 287-4236.