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E-Newsletter September E-News, 2007 Greetings, Science Factory Supporters! School is beginning, the leaves are falling, and with all of these changes comes a whole lot of Science Factory fun! Check out our fantastic new exhibit at the museum, watch a planetarium show, or catch some of the great special events planned. New classes for preschool and elementary school students begin this month, and there are new birthday party themes to make your celebration special. Read on to discover all of the things the Science Factory has in store for September. SEPTEMBER EVENTS: PLEASE NOTE: THE MUSEUM WILL BE CLOSED FOR ALL HOME DUCK FOOTBALL GAMES, SEPTEMBER 1, 15, 29. PLANETARIUM ONLY WILL BE CLOSED FOR CLEANING ON SEPTEMBER 16. - Fri 7 - TOT DISCOVERY DAY - Indian Summer, 10am-12 pm, Parents with 5 and under children ONLY - Sat 8 - FUN, 2, 3, 4 EXHIBIT OPENING-Members-Only Preview of the exhibit, 10 am-noon. Special activities in Exploration Station. Open to general public, 12 noon-4:00 pm. - Thurs 13 - SCIENCE PUB, 7:00-8:30 pm at LUNA, 30 E. Broadway, Eugene, FREE. - Tue 18 - UNITED WAY DAY OF CARING, Register with United Way, at 541-741-6000 ext. 104; to help paint exhibit area. - Thurs 27 - FAMILY NIGHT, 4:00-7:30 pm, Hands-on stations for the entire family! Light fare provided by NW Natural. IN THE MUSEUM  Exhibit Hall:Fun 2, 3, 4: all about a number of things - The Aztecs counted differently than we do today. Learn all about different number systems around the world, and put your measuring and counting skills into action! See how well you can differentiate between weights at the Weigh Out station, or play the Super Bowl game and graph your results. Exploring numbers is as easy as "Fun, 2, 3, 4!" Planetarium: The Planetarium returns to its normal weekend schedule this fall and will only be open during the week for group field trips and educational events. Again, the Planetarium will be closed on September 16 for cleaning. Up in the Sky Saturday - Sunday, 1 pm $4 for non-members, free for members Galaxies through September 30 Saturday - Sunday, 2 pm $4 for non-members, free for members THE NEWS SCOOP SPECIAL EVENTS HELD WITH EXHIBIT LAUNCH Whether it's measuring, graphing or estimating, our new Fun, 2,3,4 traveling math exhibition shows visitors the fun of applying math to everyday activities. Learn how to double your allowance, count like the Aztecs, or team up with a partner to take our time challenge. We will have a grand opening on September 8 at 10 AM for all Science Factory members with special activities and then we'll stay open late on September 27 for a special Family Night at the museum, with some great light fare provided generously by NW Natural and some special activities and games planned. We gratefully thank the Doyle and Donna Shepherd Foundation for generously providing funds to make this exhibit possible. TOT DISCOVERY DAY Tot Discovery Days are drop-in events on the first Friday of the month for preschoolers and their parents. The year will take tots through tunnels and towers, inside animal habitats, and over snow and ice! September's program, "Indian Summer", keeps summer going a little longer with fun crafts and activities on Friday, September 7 from 10 am-noon. It is free for members and $10 for nonmember parent/child combination, and each additional child is $2 each. REGISTER NOW FOR NEW FALL CLASSES BEGINNING IN OCTOBER Our science-based classes for preschool and elementary school students return this fall with lots of hands-on activities, museum exploration and science info that kids love! Magic School Bus Adventures are on Wednesdays for grades K-2, with great classes like kitchen chemistry, medieval catapults, and digestion science. We're excited to also offer a new series for older kids, grades 3-5, one Saturday per month: The Science Ed-ventures Club! Read on for a more detailed explanation. Check the "Classes" section of this website for more information, and get a discounted price by pre-registering your child! BIRTHDAY FUN WITH A SCIENCE TWIST We're always keeping things new and exciting here, so we've created new birthday party themes for the new school year. Put your party hat on and join us for a fun filled celebration! Standard Party Times: (special times available on request) Saturdays and Sundays 11:30am - 1:30pm or 2pm - 4pm Birthday parties include: Invitations, private party room, lots of time to play in the Science Factory, a totally cool hands-on science project and a special gift for the birthday child! NEW Hands-on Science Activity Themes for 2007-2008 Splash! Ages 3 and up Have fun with water as we splish and splash our way through many exciting activities. We will conduct soggy water experiments and you will be able to take home your own "ocean in a bottle." Groovy Geckos Ages 4 and up This birthday party is all about reptiles! We will discover amazing reptilian defenses and find out what it really takes to keep them moving. Meet our newest reptiles, Antony and Cleopatra, our Leopard Geckos, and feed our resident green iguana Renegade! Starstruck Birthday (11:30 - 1:30 party only) Ages 5 and up Visit the planetarium for one of our exciting solar shows. The 1pm show Up in the Sky is a great show for ages 5 and up. In this live show we'll learn about stars, constellations and planets, focusing on those which are visible in the night sky! The show is approximately 30 minutes long. Attract and Electrify Ages 5 and up Build circuits and experiment with magnets! Create a circuit that sings happy birthday, discover what it takes to make a magnet and watch objects float and fly as we investigate static electricity using a Van de Graaff generator. Extreme Experiments Ages 7 and up Put on your goggles and lab coats! We will conduct many experiments that are sure to amaze. We will watch experiments grow before our very eyes and discover how to make water defy gravity. Make your own potion as you test the reactivity of ordinary household items. The party package includes up to 12 kids. Adult chaperones are free! Additional children are $5 each and there is a maximum of 25 guests. Members $80, Non-members $95 Visit the Birthday Party section of the website for more information. SATURDAYS ARE NOW SCIENCE ED-VENTURES CLUB DAYS! We are boosting our weekend programs and are excited to announce a new set of classes for the upcoming year for grades 1-5: The Science Ed-ventures Club! One Saturday a month, come take part in an exciting, hands-on hour of science education. Parents are welcome to attend, and when you register for the class, you will also receive $2 off admission to the museum! Class rates are $8 for members/$10 for nonmembers. The first Science Ed-ventures Club will explore Superhero Science on October 20. For more information, visit the Classes section of the website http://www.sciencefactory.org/programs SEPTEMBER SCIENCE PUB PUTS YOU IN PHYSICS PARADISE! What is the Universe made of? If you answered "atoms," you are about 4 percent correct. Most of the Universe is "dark matter" and "dark energy". You can't taste it, smell it, feel it, or see it. But it's everywhere-even in the Science Pub at LUNA downtown on September 14 at 7 pm. We'll look at the micro-world of particle physics, the role of large particle colliders and how they connect to our understanding of cosmology. We'll discuss "dark matter" and "dark energy" at a level accessible to the general audience.  SPEAKER: Professor Jim Brau, "Particles, Energy, and Our Mysterious Universe." Brau is Knight Professor of Natural Science at the University of Oregon; Director, UO Center for High Energy Physics; and Co-Chair World-Wide Study for Future Linear Electron-Positron Colliders. The Science Pub is held every second Thursday of the month and is open to anyone and everyone. No RSVP is necessary. Presentation begins at 7:00 pm and will last around 90 minutes to two hours. The Science Pub is brought to you by OMSI, the University of Oregon, and the Science Factory. For more information, visit the Science Pub website. PLANETARIUM NEWS Summer visitors had the benefit of extended planetarium hours, thanks to Charli Sakari, a Whitman College student who received funding to do a work study as an assistant to our planetarium director. As she heads back to school, the planetarium is returning to regular weekend hours. The current shows are "Galaxies," which explores other galaxies as well as our own, the Milky Way, and what lies within them. "Up in the Sky" is aimed for younger viewers and is a great introduction to the night sky. Coming in October, "How Big, How Far?" will show viewers how astronomers measure distance and size in the universe, making connections to our Fun 2,3,4 math skills exhibit. MEMBERSHIP RATES WILL CHANGE IN JANUARY '08 - NOW IS THE TIME TO JOIN OR RENEW Membership in the museum will increase to $55 for a family of four (the current rate is $50). Keeping our services fresh and consistently offering new classes, camps, and museum improvements are important to us, and to make sure that the Science Factory meets the community's needs, we need additional funds. For non-members, now would be an excellent time to take advantage of the benefits of membership at the present low cost, and we encourage all current members to renew before costs rise. Membership at the Science Factory not only lowers your family's admission and camp costs, but gives you free entry to hundreds of museums around the country. CAMPS CAPTIVATED "Keep up the great work! Nice experiences for all ages with material not covered in school that is critical to children's learning," Summer Camp Evaluation, 2007 Along with warmer weather, the summer months brought droves of kids to the museum for a wide variety of summer camps and we're thrilled that feedback was once again extremely positive. Fossils, anatomy, chemistry and computers were some of the subjects of our 54 camp sessions, with fun activities, experiments and crafts for every age group. Guest speakers of all kinds visited camps to share their knowledge and give a real life perspective on the subjects that campers were learning. We hope to see campers not only next summer, but at the Science Factory all year long! As always, parent and camper evaluations are helping us improve camps for next summer. With over 100 camp evaluations counted, we rated a 9 out of 10 on overall experience for campers here. We're pretty proud to see our efforts so warmly received. Based on feedback, we will be looking into starting camps at an earlier time next summer for working parents, as our after-care program proved to be quite successful. We welcome any additional comments or suggestions about camp that you may have. A special thank you to the following who made summer camps possible: Teachers: Keith Barger, Meghan Briggs, Christine Gentile, Kelly Hogue, Kristin Parker, Sarah Prater-Eichner, Charli Sakari, Marcy Seltzer, Jen Shelton, Yael Shultz, Randy Sullivan, Lisa Zluticky. Volunteers: Ashlin Aronin, Rosie Chavez, Helen Emory, Nathaniel Fleming, Lauren Graebner, Helen Hanson, Rachel Hoar, Jania Loredo, Anne Mansfield, Dillon Miles, Sofia Nahknikian-Weintraub, Somin Park, Josh Ripley, David Robinson, Zach Schneider-Lynch, Molly Thompson, Aaron Poppie,. Kristen Eliason, Amy Burke, Carlos Larson, Kyle Gribbin, Erik Jenson Guest Speakers: Thomas Boyd, photojournalist at the Register-Guard,Mary Briggs, portrait photographer, Moderne Briggs Studio, Joseph Calbreath, chief meteorologist at KMTR, Tom Draggoo, Carter & Carter Financial , John Femal, EWEB, Satya Mason, Leopard Lizard hobbyist, Mary McCoy, disaster readiness, Rob Mutch, nature photographer, Dr. John H. Postlethwait, U-O Professor of Biology, Corwin and Beth Scott, Oregon Herpetological Society, Steve Shallenberger, Scrap Happy, Donna Wilson, Scrapbooking 4 Ewe, Officer Karl, Eugene Police Department, American Red Cross volunteers, Don Lown, birdhouse building. And a special, special round of applause to Jen Shelton, Science Factory Educator, who worked tirelessly and consistently to deliver our largest program to date. We look forward to seeing you again next year for a great summer full of science and surprises! SUMMER VIDEO CAMP CREATION NOW ON YouTube! Check out the work of our talented budding videographers from our On the Air summer camp led by instructor Sarah Prater Eichner. Watch the "On the Air" video THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS AND DONORS Generous donations from our business sponsors and individuals like you are critical to sustaining the museum and we are sincerely thankful for your support. This month we would like to thank the following new and renewing Science Factory supporters: Wal-Mart, Liberty Bank, Ron Rodriguez, Market of Choice, Scrapbooking 4 Ewe, Scrap Happy, Pepsi-Cola Bottling of Eugene, John and Ruth Bascom, Donna Carter, Jack O'Donnell, Jean and Jae Kim Also continued thanks to the following sponsors: PARTNERING SPONSORS - $10,000+ Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation McKenzie Commercial Slocum Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine SELCO Community Credit Union The Chambers Family Foundation INSPIRE LEVEL SPONSOR - $5000 - $9,999 Doyle & Donna Shepherd Foundation Triton Electric Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation Woodard Family Foundation EXCITE LEVEL SPONSOR - $1,000 - $4,999 Advance Cabinet Designs ATEZ, Inc. Bi-Mart, Inc. Bi-Mart Value Added Program Chuck Bailey Architect, AIA Consolidated Electrical Country Coach Eugene Elks & Lodge #357 Eugene Water and Electric Board Gale Roberts Construction Invitrogen-Molecular Probes Jerry's Home Improvement KVAL-TV K. Ridley Technology Corporation Liberty Bank Northwest Natural OnPoint Community Credit Union Singer Foundation Symantec Corporation Timber Products, Inc. Thompson Landscape Company Twin Rivers Plumbing YellowBook USA ENGAGE LEVEL SPONSOR - $500 - $999 Albertson's, Inc. Autohaus Barnes & Noble Booksellers Benny Bartell Co. Bryan Matthews Painting Carter & Carter Financial Central Print Clear Channel Communications Commuter Solutions Cumulus Media Dari-Mart Stores, Inc. Dynea USA Eugene Active 20/30 Club FedEx Kinko's First Tech Credit Union Forrest Paint Company Gibson Steel Hats Off, Inc. Lithia Chrysler Dodge of Eugene Oregon Community Credit Union Oregon Medical Labs Pacific Continental Bank PacificSource HealthPlans Printwear of Oregon The Register-Guard Royal Refuse Service, Inc. Sanipac Smart Ways to School The Secret Garden Bed & Breakfast W.L. S. Spencer Foundation Yujin Trollhouse BUSINESS DONORS Associated Students of Lane County Albertsons, Inc. Chevron Texaco Chuck Bailey Dynamic Learning Co., LLC Emerald Empire Kiwanis Club Eugene Fire Fighters Association Forefront Designs Kingsford Manufacturing Company Kiwanis International Kurt Albrecht, AIA Lane County Medical Society Monaco Coach Corporation Nearby Nature Norwest Safety Oldfield's Appliance Roaring Rapids Pizza Sanipac Synthes (USA) The Top Shop TTC Communications United Way of Lane County West Coast Bank Willamette Resources & Educational Network SPEAKING OF DONATING... Our website has now been upgraded to allow for online donations to the Science Factory. Simply click and pledge! The museum's programs and activities are strictly supported by your admissions, memberships, program funds and donations. As a non-profit, we are constantly working to improve and deliver our services. With increasing patronage, we are swimming upstream to meet your needs. Please consider donating today to support quality children's educational programs, exhibits, planetarium and more! HELLO/GOODBYES Transitions are occurring at the museum. Long-time Board member Jack O'Donnell has decided to turn in his years of service for a better job! He is volunteering at the museum almost daily to assist us in our efforts to improve our services. We'll miss Jack on the Board, but are quite thrilled to see him here every day. The museum welcomes two new Board members: Julie Arendt, CPA, Partner, Isler & Company; Dee Etzwiler, Associate Adjunct Professor, University of Oregon School of Architecture In addition, the Science Factory welcomes Jennifer Bell as its new Marketing Director. Jen comes to us from the University of Oregon School of Journalism where she has worked as a Development Officer. She has over 13 years of advertising and marketing experience both in Eugene and in the Bay Area. Jen has worked on behalf of the museum on a volunteer basis for over two years. Kristin Anderson will be transitioning from our Volunteer Coordinator and Instructor to Director of Education. Stephanie Barber has joined the museum as our Visitor Services Assistant. Stephanie is a teacher, graduate student at the University of Oregon and has recently moved to our area after working at a children's museum in Virginia. We welcome Stephanie and her wonderful smile to the very hectic station at the front desk We are thrilled to have these new and talented staff members joining the Science Factory team. WISH LIST OF EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES Do you have any of the following items just gathering dust in your garage and taking up space? If you do, we could put them to good use to improve our activities and facility. --sturdy ladders --vacuum cleaner --adjustable office chairs --conference table and chairs --commercial garbage can for outdoor use --pavilion tent --anti-virus computer software Please contact us at the museum if you would like to donate these or other materials. VOLUNTEERS OF THE MONTH Amelia Reising is working with the Science Factory through LCC's Graphic Intern program and she is a gift. Multi-talented, creative and incredibly hard working, Amelia has spun her magic by creating new bulletin boards, enhancing the walls in the Tot Spot, creating chalk art for our train exhibit and more! We are lucky to have found Amelia and hope that even after her internship is over, she will continue to volunteer with us! Gay Check also volunteered this month to assist in Duck parking registrations for the museum. Gay is a previous employee of the museum who believes in its mission enough to keep on volunteering. We so appreciate her returning to the museum to assist with this very important program on behalf of the museum. AND OTHER IMPORTANT VOLUNTEERS: Robin Carol for assisting with newsletter; Jack Carol, Graham Cameron, Wendell Gray, Ray Hull, John Anderson, Rick Allen, Bob Kingsbury, for helping install Fun 2,3,4; Ken Check for picking up new exhibits from Minds in Motion, Patty Shemkus for volunteering to chair an ad-hoc networking committee, Saul Wold, for helping crack the lock on our new computer kiosk, Mia Jackson for assistance with new exhibits, Ed Gerdes for assistance with Duck parking, Don Lown for writing the Oregon Family article, Kevin Burgess for assisting with grant application, Phil Means for assistance with Duck parking, Elks Club for assisting with grass mowing. SCIENCE WEB SITE OF THE MONTH http://www.brainpop.com/science The study of heredity was pioneered by 19th century scientist Gregor Mendel, who used short and tall pea plants to study different traits. Impress your friends with facts like these, and learn about science topics of all kinds, from the electromagnetic spectrum to natural disasters to eclipses! Cool graphics and animated movies make information easier to understand. Brainpop also has Arts, Health, and Social Studies sections if you just can't get enough trivia and fun facts! NEW MEMBERS More and more visitors are realizing the value of a membership to the Science Factory, and we now have 1151 members. We welcome the following members who joined our museum family in August. Young An and Won Lee, Lisa Anderson, Scott Arundel and Erin Bartelds, Melissa and Nick Askew, Patrick Berg, Molly and Chuck Broch, Rosalind and Mark Carrier, Douglas Chmiel, Charles Cleveland, April and Tim Cosgrove, Natalie and Adao Jose(A.J.)Cunha, Dixie Devita and Dan Osborne, Angie and Ted Donahue, Jamie and John Edwards, Laura Mary Evans, Brian and Nanette Eylar, Jay and Amy Fox, Victoria Gotchy, Collette Hall, Sandra and Robert Harland, Randy and Shaun Herman, David Hyde, Michael and Joni Ingman, Heidi and Ian Jarman, Karen Jeffries, Joe Karcher, Paul Keller, Brandy Kozisek-Evans and Larry Jones, Michael Lamb, Jade Laudette of Laudette Construction, Ken and Bethanne Loge, Connie and Darrell Madsen, Gena and Don McGuire, Jeanne and Terry Oakes, Cathy and Richard Onaitis, Gina and Michael Peebles, Kadie and Chris Pitner, Shannon Powell and Kevin Bineham, Mindy and Greg Scott, Monika Settlemyer and Bob Spencer, Amy and Jeff Singer, Tina Steward and Alan Blanke, Joe Stone, Shane Thomsen, Jacob Truzynski, Matthew and Jennifer Tyndall, David Van Dreische and Melissa Hackathorn, Rachelle and John Villano, Jack Watson and Richard Turnbow, Jacqui and Ron Whisler, John and Keina Wolf, Richard J. Young. COMING IN OCTOBER - Sat 6 - SPUTNIK'S 50TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION: Build and launch water bottle rockets to celebrate the start of the space race. Activity is free with admission to the museum, 12 noon- 4:00 pm - Fri 12 - TEACHER INSERVICE DAY WORKSHOP: 1, 2, 3, Fun Teacher workshop at the museum - Fri 26 - HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZAS: A non-scary Halloween event for preschoolers with crafts, costume contest and science labs will be from 10 am-noon, and then the spooky stuff begins! From 5 pm-8 pm, families can tour the haunted woods, test their strength with the pumpkin catapult, and watch the mad scientist's science demonstrations. Prizes and contests will highlight the event as well. Each Event: Members $10/family; Non-members $15/family (family up to four children), $2 each additional child. - All Month Long- NEW PLANETARIUM SHOW: "How Big, How Far?" explores how astronomers measure distance up in space. How do we know how big the Sun is? How do we know how far the moon is? Learn the answers to these questions and more, next month. NEW EXHIBIT: LA-BALL-A-TORY: The bright colorful La-ball-a-tory provides plenty of action and education by exploring the physics behind simple machines through exhibits that use balls. Experiment and learn through components, such as the Bernoulli Blower, a spin table, the bicycle wheel gyroscope, a raceway tube that sends balls around the room using air pressure, and a station to build and race a model car. Science Factory Children's Museum & Planetarium is an Oregon non-profit whose mission is to "engage, excite, and inspire children to explore science, technology and humanity." Science Factory is located south of Autzen Stadium in Alton Baker Park at 2300 Leo Harris Parkway . Hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 12 - 4 PM. First Friday of each month, open to accompanied preschoolers age 5 and under only, 10 AM - 12 Noon. Planetarium shows are at 1 and 2 PM, every Saturday and Sunday. Call 682-7888 for more information or visit our website at www.sciencefactory.org |
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