Orlando Science Center
Orlando Science Center (OSC) has a varied education program for students involved in field trip experiences. They cater for students from Kindergarten through to Year 12 and are even able to provide lessons for pre-kindergarten students upon request. The science laboratories were spacious and well lit. Laboratory lessons are each taught in a series of workstations, where students work mostly independently in small groups and move from activity to activity. This is different from science centers visited previously. Each work station has very clearly explained instructions, elementary school student instruction includes photos and pictures to assist them with understanding.
All workshops and activities are closely aligned to state standards. Teachers are able to access pre and post visit activities online, to ensure students are able to make the most of their OSC experience. Teachers in Australia may be able to use these lessons and activities as ideas for teaching specific topics.
The K-8 workshops and pre/post activities have been linked across the curriculum for elementary (primary) schoolteachers. This enables science to be linked through other key learning areas, including mathematics, English and art.
The OSC caters for a huge 7 surrounding counties.
The OSC offers a huge number of summer camps, which range in length from weeks to single day activities. All summer camps are day camps only, students who are attending longer camps must have private accommodation.
Teachers are able to bring their students to the OSC overnight, by sleeping in the hallways of the science center. Dinner and breakfast is included in the overnight package.
OSC has an amazing number of offsite programs on offer. These include outreach workshops, shows and science night activities. The science night program provides schools with the opportunity to host a community based science evening where OSC facilitates a variety of science workstations aimed at engaging students and parents in science. The host school needs only to provide volunteers to assist at workstations. The volunteers are provided with instruction cards, one side is for the students, the other for volunteers.
Included in this experience are “passports” sheets of paper that students have signed by each workstation facilitator once they have engaged in and completed the science activity at that station. Students who complete all workstations are able to have their name put into a competition to be drawn at the end of the evening. Other reward ideas may be to provide students who complete all tasks with a small piece of scientific equipment.
At the conclusion of the evening parents are able to access online science activities to complete at home with their children. Some of these activities may also be useful classroom ideas. Each of the activities can be accessed through the family night flyers and all include website resources for further information and engagement. Go to this site and then access each of the Family Night Flyers for the Take Home Activity files.
All workshops and outreach programs are described and can be accessed at:
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