Techno Science Supersite: Classes

Take a class and become an expert in your favorite topic or one you've always wanted to know about.

Classes: General & Science

Are your school's electives just not enough? Do you want classes that are more directly related to professional fields such as: information technology (IT), automotive technology, business management, animation, and more? Then you should look into Capital Center. The classes you take are considered part of your high school education, but you may also get college credit, and it just may open other doors (Bonus!).

Location: Aloha, OR
Ages: 11th & 12th Grades
Contact: Students apply through their home high schools. Students may also contact the CAPITAL Center directly for application forms and more information.

Saturday Academy

Take a class at Saturday Academy, and you may end up creating and showing off your own 3-D alien landscape, building and using your own ultrasound detector, or even processing and studying human chromosomes. Classes are held in various locations and are taught by local experts.

Is the Portland Metro Area too far to drive to? How about Saturday Academy in Corvallis, OR?

Location: Portland metro
Grades: 4th - 12th
Contact: Email info@saturdayacademy.org or call: 503-725-2344

Location: Corvallis
Contact: Email Nancy Wortman

Saturday Explorations

Are you not sure what to do on Saturdays after the cartoons are over and you're twiddling your thumbs wondering how you'll spend the day? Why not stretch your mind and do some hands-on labs or go out and study local streams. Sign up for Saturday Explorations and focus on one class for five Saturdays (it could be Science, Math, Art, or Literature related, or it could be learning another language like Japanese, Chinese, or French).

Location: Willamette University, Salem, OR
Grades: 5 – 8
Contact: Email Gaelen McAllister or call 503-370-6513

Southern Oregon University Youth Programs

Southern Oregon University must really like kids, because they have more programs going on than just about any other university. Of the many programs, they sponsor several enrichment camps for several age-groups and cultural backgrounds, workshops, assemblies, competitions, college courses for high schoolers, and more. Of the classes and workshops they offer related to science, the highlights are the summer youth programs, spring enrichment classes, and a wide variety of school programs, which includes school workshops (during and after school) and assembly presentations. There are other science related programs other than classes, it would be worth your time to explore the website on your own.

Ages: 4th - 12th Grade
Contact: Email Carol Jensen or call: (541) 552-6326

Super Saturday

Just when you thought you could bear winter no longer, along comes Super Saturday, the highlight of your weekends! All eager learners are invited to take up to three action-packed classes such as Wonderful Whales of the Ocean, Earthly Treasures (a class where you'll make fun projects from earth-friendly materials), Meet the Rock Stars (where you can investigate plate tectonics, weather a flood plain, and even re-create the Mt. St. Helens explosion), and more.

Ages: K - 5th Grade
Location: Eugene, OR
Contact: Email supers@oregon.uoregon.edu or call: (541) 346-1400

Western Adventures in Math and Science (WAMS)

Thanks to Western Oregon University and the generous folks at the National Science Foundation, you can take great science and math classes year round for just $20 a class. I could tell you how great these classes are, but the subjects speak for themselves. I'll just list a few to give you a sample: Math and Breaking Codes, DNA Lab Techniques, Volcanoes (and who doesn't love volcanoes?), and What You Don't See in the Water. Check out their web site, and find the perfect class for you.

Ages: 2nd - 12th Grades
Location: Monmouth, OR
Contact: Email Kelly Shipley or Sarah Boomer or call: (503) 838-8209

Science

AKA Science

A.K.A. Science is a fun and challenging after school science program for children in grades K-8. The program was developed and is owned by the Oregon Health Career Center . It uses structured yet playful hands-on activities to encourage observation of the world through exploration.

Ages: K-8
Location: Portland area schools
Contact

Email Sarah Andersen or call: (503)-682-1300 x102

OMSI Science Classes

Each of the OMSI Science classes is a weeklong adventure in science. These classes are run from June to August, and they offer a variety of hands-on opportunities from Forensic Science investigation to interactive animation creation using Flash. OMSI knows how to make Science learning fun.

Ages: 4 - 14
Location: Portland, OR
Contact: classes@omsi.edu or call (503) 797-4662

Student Watershed Research Project: SWRP

Work directly with scientists to collect, interpret, and communicate data on one of six subbasins of the Portland/Vancouver area. The work you do is vital to the managing of our water resources. Talk to your science teacher and see if you can get him or her to join in and get your class or club involved.

Ages: 8th - 12th Grades
Location: Portland/Vancouver
Contact: Email Torrey Lindbo or call: (503) 725-2343

Zoo Programs

No Techno Science Super Site would be complete without a link to the many programs at the Oregon Zoo. If you want to have a slumber party at the zoo (minus the pillow fights), do a zoosnooze overnight. If you'd rather just dispense with the bus or MAX trip, you could invite the zoo to your class (okay, maybe not the entire zoo). Or maybe you'd just like some resources on animal facts, in which case you can take a class at the zoo, or you could just look it up on their animal fact sheet web page.

Ages: All
Contact: Check out their Contact Page or call at 503-226-1561 ext. 0.

Upcoming Events

Linus Pauling Memorial Lectures : What Scientists Know and How They Know It Thursday, May 1st

Are scientific theories true because they correspond to reality? How can we know that they do, given that we have no access to reality except through experience, which scientists themselves tell us is profoundly different from the the way things "really" are?

If you can't get enough of science, and you want to be up on the latest scientific theories and debates, then you should check out the Linus Pauling Memorial Lecture Series.

OGPC: Oregon Game Project Challenge 1 May 17, 2008

Join your high school buddies and design a game for Oregon's first annual high school game programming competition. Teams of 3 to 7 students may participate by designing a game based on this year's theme of the science behind energy issues. Teams must design programs using Game Maker a free, PC-based game development tool.

OMSI Brainstorm Lecture Series: Unearthing China's Dragons – Tuesday, May 20

From Liaoning to Gansu, new dinosaur discoveries are changing the face of paleontology. We will look at some of these discoveries, where they were made, and why dinosaurs half-way around the world are important to the study of dinosaurs in North America.

Judy Sanders has worked in paleontology for 14 years as a fossil excavator in the western United States, Canada, and China, and currently works as a fossil preparator at the Utah Geological Survey under Dr. James Kirkland.

Held once a month in the OMSI Auditorium, OMSI's newest adult discussion series include presentations by experts followed by ample time for Q&A with the speakers and discussion with other participants.