CA Academy of Sciences Homeschool Day!

Join us for the next Homeschool Day!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010
9:30 am - 5:00 pm

Join us on this special day of presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on programs, when we invite homeschooling families to explore the Academy at reduced admission prices.

Download and print the FAQ and Registration Guide, which includes everything you need for planning your experience and reserving a spot for your family.

The information in this packet is also published in the Teachers' Lounge, where you can post comments or questions helpful to anyone in the homeschool community.

Registration by phone begins Tuesday, August 10, 2010.

Don't hesitate to forward this message along to others!

Admission for homeschool families within San Francisco:
Two adults and their children aged 4-17 may attend for free.

Admission for homeschool families outside San Francisco:
Two adults and their children aged 4-17 may attend for only $4.95 per person.

Note: Children aged 0-3 always receive free admission to the museum. Tickets for additional adult chaperones may be reserved at general admission prices ($24.95 for adults; $19.95 for college students and seniors).

As always, the price of admission includes access to all of our exhibits!
*Rainforest Dome
*Living Roof
*Kimball Natural History Museum
*Steinhart Aquarium


Program Schedule

Planetarium Shows:
Every hour on the half-hour, visitors will leave our planet to take a Journey to the Stars. Just pick up free passes from the Planetarium kiosk for the show time of your choosing.

Public Presentations:
Watch a penguin feeding, meet our albino alligator, get up close with live raptors, dive into the coral reef, and explore extreme life. Question and answer sessions follow many presentations.

Docent-led Discovery:
Depart on an impromptu tour, touch real specimens, watch as comets and volcanoes are constructed, touch a tidepool creature, and be on the lookout for live animal ambassadors.

Hands-on Programs:
Dissect an owl pellet, build a dollhouse using sustainable design principles, learn about the process of natural selection with real specimens, or challenge yourself with waste and water relays.

At the Naturalist Center:
Receive one-on-one help from Academy naturalists, visit with other families, or attend a Specimen Spotlight talk. Also, come here to collect a prize for completing a scavenger hunt!

Scavenger Hunts:
Print a museum worksheet at home and complete it with your family within the exhibits. See the FAQ for a helpful list, or browse the activity database.

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Meet your relatives in Extreme Mammals

Exhibition ends September 12, 2010, so we scheduled Homeschool Day accordingly!

Featuring spectacular fossils and other specimens from the Museum’s collections, vivid reconstructions, and live animals, this exhibition examines the ancestry and evolution of numerous species, ranging from huge to tiny, from speedy to sloth-like, and displays animals with oversized claws, fangs, snouts, and horns.

Through the use of dynamic media displays, hands-on activities, touchable fossils, taxidermy specimens, and live tree shrews, the exhibition will highlight distinctive mammalian qualities and illuminate the shared ancestry that unites these diverse creatures.

Extreme Mammals is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, in collaboration with the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada; and Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Photo: © AMNH/D. Finnin

Visit the exhibit website here.