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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.
- 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
- 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)
$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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