Science Education Center of California

Science Education Center
of California
3001 Chapel Hill Road
Orange, CA 92867
714-292-6845
krawitz@sprynet.com

 

Science Education Center of California

Gifted & Talented Education

 


Background and Philosophy

The Science Education Center of California has made a commitment to provide a broad range of educational services to the community. They range from educational presentations and museum displays to science supplies and curriculum books. Most of these outreach programs are designed with large groups and educators in mind. The Gifted and Talented Education portion of the Science Education Center of California was created to provide the individual attention students need to be successful in mastering the increasingly rigorous curriculum of the classroom. We have decided to specialize in the following areas so that we can fully develop the specialized needs of some of our most talented students.

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Laboratory Based Education

The Science Education Center of California will bring the same enriching programs offered through the Science Museum on Wheels directly into your home or community facility. The following laboratory activities are available in both the physical and life sciences for the K-8 level. The traveling Natural History Museum Collection is also available for viewing through our gifted and talented outreach program.

Physical Science Activities and Presentations:

  • Density activity
  • Heat conductivity -- Metallic Vs non-metallic materials
  • Solid-Gas Phase Change laboratory
  • Magnet and magnetic field activities
  • Buoyancy laboratory
  • Oxidation of Iron -- Outdoor demonstration

Life Science Activities and Presentations:

  • Yeast and sugar: Dormant Vs active life (Outdoor laboratory)
  • Natural Vs artificial surfaces
  • Ammonite Math and Patterns in Nature

Traveling Natural History Museum Collection:
Examples of museum items that will be available for viewing, touching and discussion are petrified trees, giant ammonites, large gold and copper specimens, meteorites (an 85 pound specimen is in the collection) and a host of well-crystallized minerals that form the basis of gemstones. Many of the museum items on the web site will be available for viewing both at community facilities and individual homes. Additional museum quality items that are not on the web site will also be available during presentations. For a detailed description of some of the museum specimens, click onto the minerals, fossils and gems sections and have a look.

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Visitation Fee (By County)

(A maximum of 35 people can be accommodated in each presentation)
$150 (Orange County)
$175 (Western Riverside and San Bernardino counties)
$175 (Los Angeles County (South of the San Gabriel Mountains)
$200 (San Diego County)
$225 (Antelope Valley and Mojave Desert)
$250 (Ventura, Santa Barbara, Imperial and Kern Counties)
$300 (Las Vegas and Phoenix metro areas)
All other locations (Call for quote)

The visitation fee is designed to cover the transportation costs for each presentation and the time cost of spending an entire day at a given home or community facility. The laboratory fees are modest and parents will only be charged the out of pocket expenses for any materials used. These modest lab fees are listed at the end of each presentation activity and include the costs for items such as sugar, yeast, inexpensive containers, dry ice, balloons, etc. that are consumed during the course of the presentation. The total fee for a home or community visit is the visitation fee plus the cost of any materials consumed on site. We should mention that a number of labs do not have any fee at all, since the materials used are owned by the Science Education Center of California and are not consumed in any laboratory setting. Material fees generally run about $50. Unused materials (extra sugar, yeast balloons, containers, etc.) are given to parents for future use.

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How many presentations can be scheduled in a home visit

The Science Education Center of California can make up to 5 one-hour presentations in a home or community facility and can accommodate up to 35 people in each presentation. This format is ideal for birthday science shows and other special events that are held in a household or community facility.

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Field Trip Based Enrichment

The Science Education Center of California is proud to offer our 2004 summer field trip for gifted and talented students. This trip is offered to all people of all ages and comes with supplemental gifted and talented assignments for parents who want that added enrichment for their children. The 2004 summer field trip is an 11-day, 2,000-mile adventure combining science, travel and natural history all in one.

As in our classroom presentations, we stress the educational component of our adventures in a small group setting. The small group sizes provide children with an excellent one-on-one educational experience in both the physical and life sciences. Parents can choose the level of academic rigor in the assignments for their child so that their individual needs are targeted. Adults (accompanying children) can pass on the assignments and just enjoy the geological wonders during the 7 – state tour. Detailed information on all activities planned during the 2004 summer field trip as well as trip departure times can be found in the Field Trips and Vacations section of our web site.

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Visiting the Science Education Center

There is no charge to visit the Science Education Center in Orange County. We have a wide range of materials to look at and purchase and also offer any enrichment activity found in the science museum on wheels for children at the K-8 level. These activities are designed to provide a one-on-one educational experience in both the physical and life sciences. The fee for in-house gifted and talented education is rather modest. We charge $25/hour for working with a single student and $15/hour for each student when 2 – 4 students are taught at the same time. We can be reached through the Contact Us portion of the website and look forward to addressing the individual academic needs of the community.

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