A Family Guide to Science
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AAAS Tampa - ENG booklet 5/5/03 9:35 PM Page 1 Science. It's Everywhere. A Family Guide to Science > Tampa, FL Provided by the Partnership for Science Literacy, organized as a public service by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This initiative is funded by the National Science Foundation. Oxford University Press graciously donated the printing for this booklet. AAAS Tampa - ENG booklet 5/5/03 9:35 PM Page 2 Look for chances to find the everyday science that is around your family as you: ■ cook a meal Want ■ take care of pets ■ observe insects ■ look after plants and watch to be them grow ■ make paper airplanes or models ■ and much, much more! amazed? Exploring science around the home lets children Science is a source of wonder, excitement, kn o w how important science really is while they and fascination for all children. learn from the most important people in their li v es: you. For more ideas about science activities Exploring, experimenting, and thinking about you can do at home, visit the web site below. the world around them gives them skills that last a lifetime Ð skills all children should have, regardless of their career plans. Best of all, science is all around your family at home, in the community, and at school. So share the excitement of discovery with your children. You'll be amazed at the difference you can make. Science around your home. The best thing about exploring science with your family is that you can do it anywhere Ð even at home. Think about how many of your daily activities involve science Ð and how Science in the much your children can learn when you share community. these experiences with them. Science centers, parks, zoos, and museums are unique and exciting places for children to learn and develop positive attitudes about science. 2 www.Science Everywhere.org 3 AAAS Tampa - ENG booklet 5/5/03 9:35 PM Page 4 to know and be able to do in science at each grade level. You don’t need to be an expert in science or in education to take an active role. Simply by taking an interest, you can help ensure that your children get the most out of their science programs at school. In today’s world, science education is important for every child, especially yours! For more ideas about how you can be involved in your child’s science education, visit the web site below. These and other community-based science resources allow children of all ages to learn at their own pace through fun, interactive exhibits and activities about everything from dinosaurs and the human body to weather and the solar system. Visiting these science places can make a great family outing, and many offer special days with free admission. Please go to the web site below to learn more about the opportunities available in your community. Science at school. The right kind of science education focuses on important ideas and skills, not trivial details. It involves exploration, discovery, and problem solving, not just memorizing facts. At its best, science education helps children to understand their world and how it works. It gets them involved in all kinds Learn More: of active learning, from collecting and sorting 1 888 737 2061 or click on to measuring, observing, analyzing, and discussing. ww w .Sc i e n c e E very w h e r e.o r g Families can help make sure their children are See Opportunities for Science getting a good science education by talking to > > > their children ’s teachers, asking them questions in Your Area about when and how science is being taught, and finding out what their children are expected 4 www.Science Everywhere.org 5 AAAS Tampa - ENG booklet 5/5/03 9:35 PM Page 6 LETTUCE LAKE PARK Nature Web Site: www.floridaconservation.org/viewing/ sites/site-wc12.html Family Try-Its! Telephone: 813.987.6204 Address: Fletcher Ave. ■ Color hunt. Find something in nature for each color in Hillsborough County, FL the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo Admission: $1 per vehicle and violet. LOWRY PARK ZOO ■ Go to a park. Count the birds, lizards, and squirrels. Compare numbers at different parks. Web Site: www.lowryparkzoo.com Telephone: 813.935.8552 ■ Crumble a cookie on and near an antpile. Watch the Address: 1101 West Sligh Ave. frenzy. (Watch your toes !) Tampa, FL 33604-5958 ■ Use your body. Find things in nature that match the Admission: $9.50- adults, $8.50- seniors (50+), size or shape of your body parts: (1) a flower the size of $5.95- children 3-11, children 2 and under free your hand or (2) a leaf shaped like your ear. MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY ■ Listen to the music of nature. Use what you see to Web Site: www.mosi.org make your own nature noises. Whistle with a blade of Telephone: 813.987.6100 grass or drum with a stick or two. Address: 4801 E. Fowler Ave. Tampa, FL 33617 Admission: $14.95- adults, $12.95- seniors (60+), Visit These! $10.95- children 2-12, children under 2 free ALAFIA RIVER STATE PARK SIERRA CLUB Web Site: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/parks/district4/ Web Site: www.florida.sierraclub.org/tampabay alafiariver/index.asp Telephone: 813.253.3555 Telephone: 813.672.5132 Address: P.O. Box 1948 Address: 14502 CR 39 S Tampa, FL 33601-1948 Lithia, FL 33547 Admission: Meetings free; Annual dues to join Admission: $2-4 per vehicle TAMPA PARKS DEPARTMENT HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION Web Site: www.tampagov.net/dept_Parks SERVICE, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Telephone: 813.931.2121 (VARIOUS NATURE ACTIVITIES) Address: 7525 North Blvd. Web Site: Hillsborough.extension.ufl.edu Tampa, FL 33604 Admission: cost per vehicle for each park HILLSBOROUGH RIVER STATE PARK Web Site: www.dep.state.fl.us/parks/district4/ UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA BOTANICAL GARDENS hillsboroughriver/index.asp Web Site: www.cas.usf.edu/garden/index.htm Telephone: 813.987.6771 Telephone: 813.974.2329 Address: 3900 Commonwealth Blvd. Address: 4202 E. Fowler Ave., SCA 238 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Tampa, FL 33620 Admission: $2-4 per vehicle Admission: free FLORIDA AQUARIUM Web Site: www.flaquarium.net Telephone: 813.273.4015 Address: 701 Channelside Drive Tampa, FL 33602 Admission: $15.00- adults, $12.00- seniors (50+), $10.00- children 6 www.Science Everywhere.org 7 AAAS Tampa - ENG booklet 5/5/03 9:35 PM Page 8 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA ENGINEERING EXPO Technologies Web Site: www.org.eng.usf.edu/expo Telephone: 813.974.3780 Family Try-Its! Address: 4202 E. Fowler Ave. ENB 118 Tampa, FL 33620-5350 ■ Take apart an old telephone or radio and see Admission: free what’s inside. ■ Invent a video game based on your family.Write the story line and draw your characters. How do you win? It’s out of this ■ Make an invention. Use recycled material from around your house to build a machine that ties your shoes, world. brushes your teeth, or butters some bread. Family Try-Its! ■ Robots of today can build cars, help the police, or ■ Make your own constellation. Draw dots on a blank even cut your grass. What do you think the robots of tomorrow will do? paper. Have your child connect the dots to make a picture. Together, make a story to tell how the picture ■ Find all the computers in your home. Here’s a hint: got into the sky. computer chips are in most electronic devices, including ■ At 8 pm, go outside and note where the moon is in remote controls, coffee makers, and cellular phones. the sky. Do this nightly for two weeks. How does the Visit These! moon change and move over the two weeks? ■ Watch a sunrise and a sunset. Where is the sun at GREATER TAMPA BAY PC USER GROUP these times? Web Site: www.gtbpcug.org Telephone: 813.689.7892 ■ Stars that don’t twinkle are planets. Go outside and Address: P.O. Box 501 see if you can find any planets. (Hint: Look towards Brandon, FL 33509-0501 eastern skies.) Admission: Meetings free; Annual dues to join ■ Design a rocket to go to Mars. What does it look like? What will you take with you? Who will go on the trip? SUNCOAST LINUX USER GROUP Web Site: www.suncoastlug.org/meetings.html Visit These! Admission: free to join M.A.R.S. (MUSEUM ASTRONOMICAL MOSI ROBOTICS CLUB RESOURCE SOCIETY) Web Site: www.mosi.org Web Site: www.members.aol.com/MARSAstro Telephone: 813.987.6100 Admission: free to join Address: 4801 E. Fowler Ave. Tampa, FL 33617 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY’S Admission: $5.00 per meeting MONTHLY SKY WATCH TAMPA PC USER’S GROUP Web Site: www.mosi.org Web Site: www.tpcug.org Telephone: 813.987.6100 Telephone: 813.689.7892 Address: 4801 E. Fowler Ave. Address: P.O. Box 501 Tampa, FL 33617 Brandon, FL 33509-0501 Admission: Free Admission: Meetings free; Annual dues to join 8 www.Science Everywhere.org 9 AAAS Tampa - ENG booklet 5/5/03 9:35 PM Page 10 ■ Choose three animals and make one new animal Rocks, fossils, by combining the best parts of each. Where will your new creature live? What does it eat? How does it and gems defend itself? ■ Watch a group of animals. How do they act? Do they Family Try-Its! act the same as a group of humans? Are there ■ Walk the beaches looking for sharks teeth and similarities between humans and animals? sea shells. Keep a collection.