Visit Us

School Visits

The Science Learning Center is no longer accepting school visit requests. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you have additional questions about scheduling a future visit, please email us at science.center@csulb.edu.

A typical school visit to the Science Learning Center (SLC) involves an activity led by our staff, and free exploration time for students to explore the exhibits around the SLC. The field trip can be adjusted to fit you desired timeframe, but generally activities will last between 30-45 minutes and free exploration is 10-15 minutes. Specific timeframes can be discussed when a field trip request is submitted.

Activities

The SLC can accommodate one class at a time, up to 30 students. If you are planning to bring more students than that, you may be asked to split the students into multiple groups, visiting the SLC at different times in a rotation.

Below is a list of activities you choose from when visiting the Science Learning Center on a school visit. You will indicate your desired activity on the visit request.

Critter Investigations

1st Grade +, up to 30 students per session

Students will have the opportunity to observe and study different invertebrates (critters), identifying their unique characteristics and behaviors. Older students will also identify researchable questions related to the critters, then plan and carry out an investigation to attempt to answer their question.

Animal Skull Investigations

2nd Grade +, up to 30 students per session

Students will have the opportunity to observe an unknown animal skull. Students will try to identify different parts of the skull that correspond to four different categories: Vision, Eating, Hearing, and Smell. Using this information, students will attempt to answer questions about the animal, providing evidence for each, and ultimately make a final, educated guess to identify the animal based on all of the evidence they collected. This program is adapted based on grade level.

Engineering Challenge

3rd Grade +, up to 30 students per session

Students will be immersed in the Engineering Design Process (EDP) by being challenged with building a tower using only index cards and limited amount of tape that meets certain weight requirements (e.g., supports a prey animal (stuffed animal) to protect it from predator. Students will be tasked with planning, building, testing, and improving their tower working in groups of 2-4. Steps of the EDP will be highlighted. This program is adapted based on grade level.

For CSULB Faculty, Staff, and Students

We welcome campus faculty, staff, and students to come visit the Science Learning Center to see what we are about! Please contact us via science.center@csulb.edu to make an appointment.