Family Science

Do you enjoy being outdoors surrounded by nature? Ever wondered how botanists, scientists who study plants, press flowers for their collections? Or maybe you’ve always been curious to dissect an owl pellet! Join the Naturalist Center this summer where you and your family can learn and develop Naturalist skills and explore the natural world together.

Naturalist 101: Botany Basics
Saturday, June 22 at 10:00 am
This program is for adults and families with children ages 10+.
The Bay Area is home to a dizzying array of native plants. From monkey flowers to lizard tails, how do you begin to identify them? Get started by examining the common parts of flowering plants and discovering differences among major groups. Then, explore the grounds around the Academy, where more than 70 local species grow.

Reservations: Members $10; Non-Members $15; Reservations required; space is limited. To reserve a place today, buy a ticket online or call 1-877-227-1831.
Please Note: Meet at the Business Reception Desk located on 75 Nancy Pelosi Drive (formerly Middle Drive).

Junior Academy: Naturalist Know-how
Sundays at 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
New program for ages 8-11 starting Sunday, June 30th, 2013!
Learn how to be a naturalist! Each month a new nature skill will be presented. Simply stop by the Naturalist Center (Level 3 across from the Planetarium exit) a half hour before the program begins in order to register.

This program is free with Academy admission. Youth must be accompanied by an adult. Space is limited to 20 youth with attending adults.

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Come explore the coral reefs at the Academy. This month, let’s see if we can find some fast invertebrates, animals without backbones, on our reefs.

Examine marine invertebrate anatomy in our Coral Reef aquaria. The materials are available both in English and Spanish, and you can do this activity with your whole family. Children younger than 3rd grade might want some help with the reading and writing. You can talk about which ones might be fast and which ones might be slow. What structures on each invertebrate make it fast or slow?

Just for toddlers, we have our Fish Trek in June (only in English). This one is a ticketed event, and you can find out more here.

Is your child interested in growing up to be one of our biologists who work with the coral reef? Meet Matt Wandell, an aquarium biologist, who helps to take care of our reef. His biography tells you not only what he does for our corals, but also advice on how you can become an aquarium biologist!

Even if you don’t want to grow up to be an aquarium biologist, did you know that we all have an important role to play in keeping our coral reef invertebrates healthy and happy? Have you heard of ocean acidification? When we turn off the lights and unplug our phone chargers, reducing our electricity usage, we are also reducing how much carbon dioxide we put into the air! Producing electricity often puts carbon dioxide into the air at the power plant. That carbon dioxide is blown over the world’s oceans and dissolves into the water. Our oceans are becoming more acidic, which can dissolve the shells of the invertebrates which live in our oceans. Imagine if your home was slowly dissolving, how would you feel? We have a short video if you’d like to learn more. We can feel good about ourselves every time we turn off the lights or unplug our phone chargers, as we are helping to reduce our impact on the ocean’s invertebrates!

Venga a explorar los arrecifes de coral en la Academia. Este mes, vamos a ver si podemos encontrar algunos invertebrados rápidos, animales sin columna vertebral, en nuestros arrecifes.

Examine la anatomía invertebrada marina en nuestros acuarios de arrecife de coral. Los materiales están disponibles en inglés y español, y puede hacer esta actividad con toda su familia. Los niños menores de 3er grado podrían desear ayuda con la lectura y la escritura. Usted puede hablar acerca de que los podrían ser rápidos y cuáles podrían ser lentos. ¿Qué estructuras en cada invertebrado lo hacen rápido o lento?

Sólo para los niños pequeños, tenemos nuestro Trek de pescado en junio (sólo en inglés). Este es un evento que requiere boleto, y usted puede encontrar más información aquí.

¿Su hijo(a) está interesado(a) en ser uno de los biólogos que trabaja con el arrecife de coral cuando crezcan? Conozca Matt Wandell, un biólogo del acuario, que ayuda a cuidar nuestro arrecife. Su biografía dice no sólo lo que él hace para nuestros corales, sino también consejos sobre cómo usted puede convertirse en un biólogo del acuario!

Incluso si su hijo(a) no quiere ser un biólogo del acuario cuando crezca, ¿sabían que todos tenemos un papel importante en mantener nuestros invertebrados del arrecife de coral sanos y felizes? ¿Han escuchado de la acidificación de los océanos? Cuando apagamos las luces y desconectamos los cargadores de teléfonos, reducimos nuestro consumo de electricidad, y también estamos reduciendo cuánto dióxido de carbono ponemos en el aire! Producción de electricidad a menudo pone dióxido de carbono en el aire en la planta de energía. Ese dióxido de carbono es soplado sobre los océanos del mundo y se disuelve en el agua. Los océanos se están volviendo más ácidos, y puede disolver las cáscaras de los invertebrados que viven en nuestros océanos. Imagine si su casa fuera disolviendose lentamente, ¿cómo se sentiría? Tenemos un pequeño video (sólo en inglés)si les gustaría aprender más. Podemos sentirnos bien con nosotros mismos cada vez que apagemos las luces o desconectemos los cargadores de teléfonos, cuando estamos ayudando a reducir nuestro impacto en los invertebrados del océano!

Are you a racing enthusiast? Whether you were built to race or built for long distance ocean travel, you were built for speed. Here at the California Academy of Sciences, we are super excited for our next exhibit, Built for Speed, running May 10-September 29, 2013 in the Piazza. You and your family will be able to explore some of the ocean’s fastest animals and their fascinating adaptations such as streamlined body shapes and torpedo-shaped bodies.

Walk out of the piazza towards the swamp and feast your eyes on a suspended 45ft. long catamaran and wingmast from ORACLE TEAM USA. This catamaran has sailed with a competitive edge. Take a look below at some of the highlights from our exhibit.

The Orca Lab
Witness museum staff and volunteers assemble an orca skeleton. This juvenile orca washed ashore in Northern California, and long before this, researchers knew him as Orca 0319. In fact, it is an offshore ecotype, a type of orca that isn’t too well known. Watch and learn how this finding led researchers and scientists to save the skeleton.

Take Action
Plastic waste, waste water pollution, and unsustainable fishing are three major threats to the health of the oceans today. Learn what you and your family can do to help our oceans by visiting several Ocean Action stations. And just as a quick reminder, download your Seafood Watch card now to help you choose ocean-friendly seafood the next time you’re at the grocery store or out for dinner.

Visit the Naturalist Center on Level 3
Speedy Species is this summer’s theme for Specimen Spotlight (Saturdays @ 2pm; May 9th through September 28th). Discover what makes toothed whales, sea otters and sea lions swiftly swim, twist and turn. And don’t forget to check out a mini display on The Problem with Plastics, by the Digital Learning Youth.

Speed in Space
Learn about the fastest things in the Universe- human-made or otherwise! From Apollo to asteroids, subatomic particles to light itself. Things in space move quicker than we can imagine here on Earth. Come join us and explore the farthest, fastest frontiers in this live, 15-minute program, hosted by our planetarium presenters in Hohfeld Hall at the Morrison Planetarium (runs two weekends May 11 – 19 and beginning May 27 will run weekdays only).

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April is always a lovely month in our rainforest. It’s warm, the birds are singing, the butterflies are beating their wings across the top of the canopy, and the ants are busy cutting up their leaves and tending to their garden. Mind you, our rainforest is like this every month. The weather doesn’t change much in our rainforest. We thought that this would be a great time to give you some fun science observation activities to do with your family in our rainforest. Don’t forget to dress in layers, since you’ll be very warm inside our rainforest sphere.

Learn more about Rainforests
Tropical rainforests usually lie along the equator. Except here at The Academy, our rainforest sphere includes elements from rainforests around the world. As you enter, you are on the Borneo level. After the first ramp, you are on the Madagascar level and as you get to the very top, you are in the Costa Rican level. Finally, when you depart the elevator, you are on the Amazonian level.

Our Scientists Study Rainforest Insects
One of our scientists, Brian Fisher, studies ants that live in rainforests. Ants are just one amazing insect that live in rainforests, including ours. We also have ties with the islands Sao Tome and Principe, which lie off the west coast of Africa. We’re finding out that the islands have many endemic (unique) insects.

Investigate Insects with Your Family
We have a scavenger hunt that you can do with your children.

四月的來臨是雨林最喜愛的期間。四月一到，天氣會變暖，鳥類會歌唱，蝴蝶也會在我們的活屋頂飛來飛去。螞蟻也會很忙地修剪樹葉。其實，加州科學館的熱帶雨林全年都會有這種事情發生。雨林的天氣平常面對很少變化。加州科學館認為四月期間是一個可以讓大家參加一些科學活動的最好時間。

了解更多關於熱帶雨林
熱帶雨林通常會在赤道附近生長。在加州科學館的熱帶雨林 內你會體驗到各種熱帶雨林的特色。當你進入雨林就會見到婆羅州雨林的特色。之後，在熱帶雨林的第二層就會體驗到馬達加斯加的雨林而頂層就會見識哥斯達黎加雨林的美麗。最後，當你乘坐升降機到雨林的底層就會目暏亞馬遜雨林的奇妙動物。

我們的科學家都研究雨林!
加州科學館的Brian Fisher, 正在研究住在雨林中的特別螞蟻。我們也在聖多美和普林西比和島上研究島上特有的昆蟲類。

和家人一起探討昆蟲類
加州科學館有一個可以讓一家人參加的昆蟲尋寶活動 。

Abril siempre es un mes precioso en nuestra selva. Hace calor, los pájaros cantan, las mariposas están batiendo sus alas en la parte superior de la copa de los arboles, y las hormigas están ocupadas cortando sus hojas y tendiendo a su jardín. Por cierto, nuestra selva es asi cada mes. El tiempo no cambia mucho en nuestra selva. Pensamos que este sería un buen momento para darle unas actividades divertidas de observaciónes cientificas para hacer con su familia en nuestra selva. No se olviden de vestirse en capas, ya que se sentirán caliente dentro de nuestra selva.

Aprenda más sobre las Selvas Tropicales

Las selvas tropicales por lo general se encuentran a lo largo del ecuador. Excepto aquí en la Academia, nuestra selva incluye elementos de selvas tropicales en todo el mundo. Al entrar, estás en el nivel de Borneo. Después de la primera rampa, estás en nivel de Madagascar y al llegar a la cima, estás en el nivel costarricense . Finalmente, cuando sale del ascensor, está en el nivel de la Amazonia.

Nuestros Científicos Estudian Insectos de la Selva Tropical
Uno de nuestros científicos, Brian Fisher , estudia hormigas que viven en selvas. Las hormigas son solamente un insecto increíble que vive en las selvas, incluyendo el nuestro. También tenemos vínculos con la Islas Santo Tomé y Príncipe, que se encuentran en la costa occidental de África. Estamos descubriendo que las islas tienen muchos insectos (únicas) endémicas.

Investiga insectos con su familia
Tenemos una búsqueda de tesoro que puede hacer con sus hijos.

Discover a miniscule world where materials exhibit unexpected, special properties! Gold, for example, exhibits unexpected colors such as red or green when seen at the nano scale! Just to put things into perspective, one meter equals one billion nanometers!

During March 30th-Arpil 7th, the Academy will be celebrating the itsy bitsy, super duper small world of nano. Join the Naturalist Center for an exciting hands-on program each day at 1:00pm 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 Center Craft” on Sunday, March 31st and April 7th, 12:00pm-4:00pm.

NanoDays is a nation-wide festival of educational programs about nanoscale science and engineering and its potential impact on the future. It engages people of all ages in learning about this emerging field of science, which holds the promise of developing revolutionary materials and technologies. Who knew there was so much to learn about this itsy bitsy world of nanoscience! I know I just did. Get your nanoscience on!