New program for ages 8-11 starting Sunday, June 30th, 2013!

Do you know a young person interested in nature? Take them to Junior Academy: Naturalist Know-how!

Sundays at 2 pm, California Academy of Sciences Naturalist Center / Lab (Level 3 across from the Planetarium exit)

Each month a new nature skill will be presented. Variations of the monthly skill will be available each week. This is a 45-minute program.

July: Observation Basics      August: Owl Pellet Dissection

September: Flower/Plant Pressing      Additional months: TBD

This program is designed for youth ages 8 to 11. Youth must be accompanied by an adult. Space is limited to 20 youth with attending adults.

Onsite registration is required for this program. It is recommended that you stop by the Naturalist Center a half hour before the program begins in order to register. Free with Academy admission.

Discover a miniscule world where materials have special properties and new technologies have spectacular promise! Find out how gecko feet, butterfly wings, and other things found in nature have inspired some amazing innovations.

Join educators for an exciting hands-on program each day at 1:00 pm and at various times during the week. Build a giant nano puzzle, explore how 3D imaging helps scientists work on the nanoscale, and do a variety of other activities on your own throughout the Naturalist Center (located on Level 3). Stop by to make a special nano “Naturalist Craft” each Sunday, March 31 and April 7, 12:00 pm-4:00 pm.

NanoDays is a nationwide festival of educational programs organized by the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Network). To find out more information about this festival and the fascinating world of nanoscience, visit whatisnano.org.

As regular visitors of the Naturalist Center know, our real Camarasaurus lentus leg bone (that you can touch) and dinosaur coprolite (fossilized poop) are quite impressive! If you haven’t seen these Jurassic fossils, come visit soon, as they’re part of a temporary display.

And, if you’re looking for even more dinos, check out this petting zoo performance from one of our partners:

Created and Performed by
ERTH – Visual & Physical Inc.

ERTH’s Dinosaur Petting Zoo

Gather the kids for a visit to a petting zoo like none other! Life-like puppets, from cute baby dinos to teeth-gnashing tyrannosaurs, come to life in an eye-popping performance that will delight all ages. This interactive event allows you to travel back to prehistoric times with ERTH performers and even feed, water and care for these marvelous creatures. The meganuera, dwarf allosaur and leallynasaura can’t wait to be petted and fed. Dare you get close?

“Technical brilliance, cultural insight and enchantment all in one go.”
– Sydney Morning Herald

Standard:    $18 | Members $16 | Students $14

Photo: Anna Barr © California Academy of Sciences



To celebrate ‘Tis the Season for Science at the California Academy of Sciences, seasonal animal behavior and adaptation information is on display throughout the museum. In the Naturalist Center, we are showcasing the amazing migration of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). The population found east of the Rocky Mountains migrate up to three thousand miles south to overwintering sites in central Mexico. Monarch butterflies that live west of the Rocky Mountains spend the winter in the coastal forests of California. Although some butterflies live long enough to complete the annual migration cycle, most of the monarchs heading south are navigating to the winter roosts without having been there before! How they are able to navigate remains a mystery and scientists continue to research this amazing behavior.



You can visit the Naturalist Center to learn more about the monarch butterfly life cycle, migration patterns and current conservation efforts. Throughout the winter at the Naturalist Center, specimens will be on display and monarch butterfly-themed games and resources will be available. You can also take part in the following activities:

• Make a monarch butterfly using printed origami paper and add it to one of our winter roosting areas!
• Learn about “monarch waystation” gardens and how you can help monarch butterflies thrive throughout the year by ensuring host plants like milkweed species are abundant.
• On Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. join us for Specimen Spotlight to learn more about the butterfly life cycle, behavior and migration patterns. Get a close-up view of butterfly wings!

We also encourage you to visit The Xerces Society and Monarch Watch to learn more about monarch butterfly migration and conservation issues.