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LEARN NC, a program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
School of Education,
finds the most innovative and successful practices in K–12 education and makes them available to the teachers
and students of North Carolina — and the world.
Catawba Science Center
Hickory, NC (http://www.catawbascience.org/)
Resource summary
- Appropriate grades: K–12
- Subjects: science (biology and life science, meteorology, natural history, physics and physical science)
- Fees: Individual teachers are charged between $25 and $40. Districts or schools pay around $300 an hour for a minimum number of participants with an additional charge for more participants.
More from LEARN NC
More on the web
- It's a crash test, Dummy This lesson begins with an Internet exploration of how air bags in cars were developed to solve a very practical problem: saving lives in automobile accidents. It also examines some of the safety issues surrounding air bags.
- The Physics Classroom A physics tutorial for introductory physics which uses easy-to-understand language and graphs for beginning physics students.
- Earth Today: A Digital View of our Dynamic Planet On online exhibit that briefly covers such topics as Earth's atmosphere, geosphere, earthquakes, and global cloud cover.
- American Field Guide A collection of online videos that explore many aspects of America's wilderness from animals to earth and space to public policy.
Tools
Legal
This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.
Catawba Science Center is a hands-on science and technology museum located in the Arts & Science Center on the SALT Block in downtown Hickory. Three-levels of exhibit areas include an outdoor science courtyard, Energy Avenue, Preschool ExploreIt, EarthWatch Center and the Naturalist Center, which houses a number of live animals ranging from a Pink-toed Tarantula to a baby alligator, named "Swampie." Catawba Science Center features traveling and blockbuster exhibits throughout the year. For a current exhibit schedule, visit http://www.catawbascience.org. CSC also offers homeschool classes and an annual Summer Fun science camp program for children age 4 to 12.
Hours of Operation: Tuesday - Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. Exhibits are closed to the public on Mondays. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for youth (3 to 18), $3 for seniors (62 and over) and free for children under 3. Admission is free for CSC members. Call (828) 322-8169 for more information.
Professional development offerings
The Center provides professional development to K-12 science teachers and homeschool parents through several different sessions, each offered once a year for one year.
The goal of the Center's workshops is to increase teacher comfort with the process of science inquiry.
- Workshops typically serve fewer than 20 educators per session.
- Content is tailored to the needs of the requesting school system. Offerings are based on theory, classroom strategies and subject matter content.
- Sessions offered are a combination of lecture and processing activities with time to process the learning with other participants.
- Follow-up activities include an optional evaluation of the professional development session.
- If materials are provided there is sometimes a materials charge on top of session fees.