Learning Style

I promised I would post this so students can determine their learning style to help improve study strategies.
It's hard to find any one good test, so here are a few and you can see what meshes with you.

Separates into 3 categories, pretty short, 9 questions:
http://homeworktips.about.com/library/quizzes/bl_lstylequiz1.htm

Multiple Intelligences (longer survey, divides into about 6 categories)

http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz

This may be the best mix of simple, not too terribly long, and has 4 learning styles with some tips you can click on afterward:
http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

If I find any better ones I will add them.


Study Skills
Here is a survey about study skills.  I really love this one because when you are done, it gives lots of ideas and resources on how to improve in specific ways based on what your answers indicate you may need to work on.
http://www.angelo.edu/dept/aadvising/study_skills/

Physiology Tutoring

I love physiology.  I have been telling myself that for almost a year now. :)  It began as a positive affirmation in order to do better on the weekly quizzes and tests.  But it has also become an absolute truth.  I love learning about the human body and how it works.

Please see the following posts that are tagged as Physiology:
http://biogeonerd.blogspot.com/search/label/physiology

I love getting to tutor the subject and hope to be able to flesh out and add more Physiology posts as I have time. (Time has been very scarce this semester, so hopefully I can do this more in the near future, perhaps over Christmas break.)  Thanks for visiting!  Please comment!

Free Choice Learning, Social Science, Exhibit Proposal

I am in the middle of putting together my exhibit proposal and my power point presentation for the final symposium on Friday and I had to take a quick break to geek out.

I'm going through all the data I collected by talking with people in the visitor center here, and I find myself feeling so excited!  I'm so loving this.  I think this kind of work is the perfect marriage of my passions for science, education, and psychology!  I get to think about how the brain works, how it learns, how people interact with things based on their beliefs and values, and also some sociology of how they do all this in the context of participating with their family, sharing their opinion with others, etc.  This is so cool!

I think I'm also really going to enjoy the research I'll be doing this fall with Dr. Heath Ogden.  We're going to do a study on how college Biology students learn and accept or reject evolution.  I'm super excited for this!  Once again, it's that marriage of science, education, psychology, and even some religion on that one.  Perfect.

I think the other wonderful thing about this project is that it's not just one of those research projects where you find some data and present it and you're done.  No, I got to collect the data, interpret it, and immediately apply it into an exhibit proposal that is catered to the wants and needs of people based on that data I collected!  It's data collection with an immediately applicable purpose!  And creating the exhibit proposal is just such a powerful thing.  To think that my work and ideas will be taken, tweaked and fleshed out, and made into an actual thing that people will use.  That's very exciting to me.  I wish I could be around for that tweaking and fleshing out process.  It would be so awesome to see a project like this all the way to the finish.

Having a blast!  Okay now back to work.

Week 9 of Internship: Only 1 left! Can't I stay 10 more?

I had another fantastic meeting this week with one of my mentors/ exhibit team, Shawn.  Nancee and Mark were both gone.  Shawn really liked what I've been coming up with and said that I've exceeded their expectations.  Naturally that made me feel really good.
He also mentioned the online Free Choice Learning master's degree OSU offers and said this is the type of project it involves, and that I'm doing work just as good as those students.  Shawn mentioned this program several weeks ago and it started the wheels turning in my head.  I'm sure it will stay on my radar as I finish my undergrad and start teaching.
Ever since the meeting I have been hard at work putting together the exhibit proposal.  I've never done anything quite like this, so it's challenging to find the right format and way of doing it.  I'm seeking feedback and advice on it from some folks, so that will help me get it pulled together these last few days.

Saturday was an awesome day working in the Visitor Center to cover for Brian who accidentally signed up for 18 straight days of work (covering for others who had covered for him).  Holy cow, I love the VC!  I got to work at the tide pools and I really love to talk to people and teach them about all the echinoderms especially in that tank.  I love to show off the sea cucumber guts, and point out the sea stars' madroporites.  Perfect for a biology geek like me.
I also got to do Ocean Quest (yay) which I also love...perfect for a geology geek like me. :)  (See why I love it here so much?)

To top it all off, right after Ocean Quest, I was invited by the wonderful Harrison and Kristen (the aquarists) to join them and Diana to feed all the animals, because the volunteer feeder called in sick.  How fun!  Somehow I missed the part of someone asking me if I wanted gloves, so I had stinky hands for a while.  But I didn't care.  It was a cool new experience.  I even got to use the giant pole to feed fish and anemones in the global tank. Sweet.  Something new every day!

Feeding Rock Fish in the global tank

Today was my final shift as a Working Waterfront Docent at Port Dock 1 where the Sea Lions hang out.  For those who don't know, Working Waterfront was started by a group of organizations in Newport including the Port, HMSC, the aquarium, local merchants, and a foundation that has been formed to raise money to repair and replace the docks.  They trained a bunch of volunteer docents and have someone stationed down there 10-4 every day.

Here I am at Port Dock 1 in my lovely red docent jacket :)

California Sea Lion at Port Dock 1 in Newport today

It's been a fun adventure.  Today I tried something new at the end of my shift and actually announced a Sea Lion talk and then spoke to the whole group for a few minutes about the sea lions.  I think it went well, and then it led into tons of questions from people.  People don't seem to always know that I'm there to answer questions.  If I were going to be doing another shift, I think I would do this Sea Lion talk about every 15 minutes for the constant flow of new visitors, or just whenever there is a big crowd of people.


So, all that happened just since Friday!  Monday through Thursday of this week was my final vacation with my kids.  We had a blast visiting Crater Lake then heading to Crescent City California to see the redwoods and explore the coast one last time including the stretch from Crescent City to Bandon.  Over this summer we have explored the Oregon Coast from the southern end up to Tillamook (we had planned to go all the way up but ran out of time on that trip).  We've also gone to the west-most point in the state (Cape Blanco Lighthouse), and gone as far east as the Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds.  Actually if you include the drive to get here from Utah, we've traveled the entire width of the state!  It has been a crazy fun time and I'm going to have a hard time leaving.
 

Wizard Island - here you can really see that it's a cinder cone

Pumice Rock (orange formation) and the colorful cliffs

"Phantom Ship" - an interesting ancient volcanic formation

Phantom Ship again with shimmering water

The Pinnacles- fossil fumaroles (volcanic gas vents)

More pinnacles

A newly created trail led to beautiful Plaikni Falls

The Fam

Redwood Tree in Crescent City, CA

So I actually didn't realize this was the final post for the internship folks... so I have to just say that this has been the most amazing experience, and I am grateful to have been a part of such a great program and to associate with amazing people.  Nancee, Shawn, Mark, McKenzie, Becca, Bill, Harrison, Kristen, the bookstore staff and all the VC volunteers, Chris Burns from Working Waterfronts, Eric and Sarah in Corvallis, and so many others, I can't name them all.  You have all made a huge impact on me and I will really miss being around such a dynamic crew.

I have also loved every chance I got to be around my fellow visitor center interns Brian, Diana, and Nick.  I hope we all stay in touch, I am excited to see what you all do in the future, cause you're so awesome!  Brian has so much knowledge and is so patient in sharing it with anyone.  I have picked his brain several times and he took the time to teach me the animals in the touch tank so I would feel more confident interpreting there.  Diana has that amazing announcer voice, and is so willing to jump in and help out and learn anything.  It's been fun to get to do stuff with her like learning to feed, and that unforgettable experience with Aurora the octopus!  Nick always makes me smile with his quirky and friendly personality.  Sometimes when I'm sick of being isolated in the library, I will visit the VC for some Nick-inspired laughs.  Thanks guys, it's been a blast!

Week 8 of Internship: Climate change exhibit interface

"Would you like to take a survey?"  Yes, I have said that very phrase or a variation of it many times this week.  I have talked to more than 50 people and received some good feedback for my exhibit.  I also began working on my exhibit proposal and visuals to go along with it.  This is so fun!  I love that I get to create this, and my proposal will be used to pitch the plan to whatever company they get to make the exhibit program.  How sweet is that?
So, the plan is to have a big touch table - here is what it looks like, from the ideum website:

You can't see very well from that picture but people can grab photos or whatever, resize and move them around and place them wherever they want.  Very cool technology.  Here is a video done here at Hatfield- it has a lot of narration about Free Choice Learning, so if you're not interested in that, just scroll over to the parts that show visitors using the table, so you can see how cool it is.



So, here are the various transformations the interface has gone through:

Stage 1: My initial messy drawing to get my thoughts on paper and make sure I was on the same page with the exhibit team.  At this point I thought we would just have a simple touch screen kiosk.

Stage 2: Mock-up made by Allison the graphic designer, using stage 1 as a guide.  I showed this to people as I interviewed them so they'd have an idea of what the heck I was talking about.

Stage 3: My own digital version I'm currently working on, now more in sync with the awesomeness of the touch table.  The final version will go into my exhibit proposal.

A folder opened - upon touching a file, an animation would show the file opening and spilling the contents on the workspace to end up kind of like this:

I'll spare you the details of the survey because I need to get back to work!  I banked a couple days off and I'm taking my kids on our final trip of the summer this week, so that leaves me with only 9 more work days- eek!  Have to use my time very wisely.

California Sea Lions

California Sea Lion in Newport, Oregon

Tomorrow I get to do my first shift as a bay front docent!  There are some California Sea Lions who hang out below one of the docks at the bay here, so the powers that be (which includes many organizations here in Newport) decided to put a docent there to interpret for people.  (In case you're not in on museum lingo-  as I wasn't until somewhat recently- a docent is a person who interprets, and interpreting in this sense is basically talking to people and teaching them stuff in an informal learning setting.)

I will actually need to interpret to people about many things in addition to the sea lions.  We had a great training on Tuesday that also covered seals, whales, seabirds, boats, fishing, and what goes on with the port here.  But, since people go there to see the sea lions I figured I better know them really well, so I've been spending the day learning more about them.  So here ya go!

Awesome fact sheet about California Sea Lions by Dolphin Research Center.  Much information in this post is paraphrased from there.

California Sea Lions
Live from SE Alaska to central Mexico
Population of about 350,000
Swim with their front flippers and steer with the back

National Geographic

Anatomy

• Males- larger, up to 10 feet long and 1,000 pounds.  Have a sagittal crest on their heads when about 10 years old, dark chocolate brown color
• Females- up to 6 feet long and 220 pounds, light brown color
• External pinnate ears.  The family name means "little ears"
• Sacral vertebrae are not fused, making them extremely flexible
• Eyes - they have a tapedum lucidum (reflective material in the retina which helps them see in the dark - same as with cats and many other animals)
• Eyes - also have a nictitating membrane which is the "third eyelid" that blinks horizontally and is a protector for the eye.  Some marine mammals and fish (ie sharks) have this to protect them while in the water.  For the sea lion, however, it serves to clear away sand and debris when on land.
• Teeth- they have 34-38 teeth which are used for tearing prey but not chewing (they swallow their food whole)
• Nostrils- Naturally remain closed.  Muscle action is required to open them.
• Inner ear- have cavernous tissue inside which scientists think may help them hear better when in deep water
• They have toenails!  I had no idea.  There are 3 nails on each back flipper.

I can't copy it but this is a really cool picture on flicker of a sea lion scratiching its head and you can see the nails and it also shows the incredible flexibility.


Physiology

• Amazing blood shunting ability - they can control where their blood goes in the body which is very helpful for thermo-regulation and oxygen conservation.
• They conserve oxygen really well so they can dive (which they can do for 8-15 minutes).  Their lungs are only about the same size as ours.  But they can shunt blood away from non-vital organs to allow the oxygen to be where it needs to be.  They also have myoglobin which binds oxygen and is an extra storage in the muscles.
• Blubber- serves as insulation, buoyancy, protection from injury, and food and water storage.  Males who fast through the mating season get all the water they need from the breakdown of the blubber they have built up.

Behavior

• Distinctive bark - if you hear the sea lion bark, it's a California sea lion.
• Eat 5-8% of their body weight per day (15-35 pounds of food).
• Swim 11-25 miles per hour
• Live about 20 years
• "Shark imitation" - putting flipper up out of the water is to regulate their temperature.  They can shunt blood to the flipper, getting more blood closer to the body's surface where heat can easily escape.

California Sea Lion in Yaquina Bay, Newport, sticking up its pectoral flipper

 

Reproduction

• Breeding season is about June- July, and stars just a couple weeks after the females give birth
• Males stake out a territory for breeding season.  The oldest, biggest, and strongest males are able to hold the territory.  If there is a dispute, the males go through some ritualistic displays to try to scare the other one off.  They will also bluff and charge, but try to avoid bloodshed if they can.
• Males bulk up before hand, eating as much as they can, then live off the blubber layer.  The longer they can hold out without eating, the more chance they'll get to mate with a female (or many females).  They have harems of an average of 16 females.
• Females can move in and out of male territories freely
• Females can delay implantation of the embryo up to 3 months after mating, then they are pregnant for about 9 months.  The poor cows (yes that's what they are called, and males are bulls) are only not pregnant for about a month out of the year.
• Nursing- as if the pregnancy thing weren't enough, the females nurse their one pup for at least 5 months and up to a year.  Pregnant and nursing...pretty much all the time.

Whew, I did most of that from memory.  At least I will know a good deal about the main attraction tomorrow.  The rest of the information will come with more time, practice, and study.

If you found this useful in any way or have any suggestions please leave a comment by clicking the small comments link! :)  Thanks!

Tide Pool Touch Tank - Echinoderms

I've had a few opportunities lately to work in the visitor center at Hatfield Marine Science Center where I'm interning and it's a lot of fun!  But I feel that I don't know as much as I should about all the animals.  People like to hear interesting things about each of the creatures.  The VC has a book with one page about each animal.  Most, but not all, include some interesting "fun facts" which are the things people want to hear.  So I hope to do a bit of research and find more fun facts about each.  I'll try to site sources for things.  If it says HMSC for the source, it's from the fact sheets in the volunteer binder.

Phylum Echinodermata (Echinoderms)

Class Asteroidea

First, a word on sea stars in general.  I found this site (A Snail's Odyssey), which is amazing!  I have sited it frequently here, and will probably continue to use it, so please check it out if you want to learn about shallow-water benthic/ marine invertebrates (aka mainly tide pool creatures) of the west coast of North America.

Spiny pink star (Pisaster brevispinus)

Reef.org

• Has a raised, hump-like central disk (Reef.org)
• Lives below the low tide mark, which is why they are unfamiliar to tide poolers (HMSC)
• Largest 5-armed sea star in the world (Snail's Odyssey)
• Has pedicellariae (see explanation below)- little clusters of pincers to ward off predators (Snail's Odyssey)
• When a sunflower star predator comes along, most sea stars will run away, but the spiny pink star will stand its ground, relying on its pedicellariae to defend itself (Snail's Odyssey)

 ______________________________________________

Pedicellariae

Side bar (even though it's not on the side): An explanation of pedicellariae (cause I had no idea what they are).  This is taken from a most excellent explanation on Snail's Odyssey, which I will summarize here.  To save me from having to link every single thing: *All pictures, videos, and summarized info is from Snail's Odyssey.

Pedicellariae are small pincer-like jaws used for defense and found on skin surfaces of sea stars, mostly from the order Forcipulatida.  Members of this order found at the HMSC touch tank and explained here in this post are the Spiny pink star, Rainbow star, Ochre star, and False ochre star.

Purple clusters of open pedicellariae

Watch a video of a pedicellaria biting the end of a pin

Pedicellariae of the Velcro Star

 

One species, the aptly named Velcro star (Stylasterias forreri), has a sophisticated system of pedicellariae which is quite fascinating.  The clusters of pedicellariae around a spine are drawn up when stimulated and this species actually uses this system in the acquisition of small fish to eat!

 

As you can see, these are pretty serious little structures.  Below, you can see a diagram of the muscles involved in the action of these jaws. 

Watch an animation of a pedicellaria cluster elevating and opening (Snail's Odyssey)

 ______________________________________________

Rainbow star (Orthasterias koehleri)

Rainbow star in normal state (Snail's Odyssey)

Rainbow star with spines erected in response to an
unknown disturbance.  The pedicellariae are also extended
in tufts around each spine, which accentuates the spiny
appearance of this individual

• Has pedicellariae (explained above)
• Has prominent calcerous spines

Leather star (Dermasterius imbricata)

Leather star at HMSC

• Have a garlic or sulfurous odor
• Soft corduroy appearance is from their skin gills
• Usually swallows prey whole and digests internally

Bat star (Patiria miniata)

Bat star at HMSC

Ochre star (Pisaster ochraceus)

• Has pedicellariae (explained above)
• Orange and purple varieties
• Can last longest of any sea star out of water - up to 50 hours in shade or under moist algae
  (HMSC)

False ochre star (Evasterias troschelii)

• Has pedicellariae (explained above)
  

Dwarf brittle star (Amphipolis squamata)

Daisy brittle star (Ophiopholis aculeata)

California sea cucumber (Parastichopus californicus)

Purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus)

red sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus franciscanus)

Week 6 of Internship: The word at the VC

This week I got to talk to people out in the Visitor Center and get their opinions a little bit.  I had them choose what case study they would want to learn more about, from a set of 14 pictures.  (Species affected by global warming).

Pictures on a white board for visitors to choose from

I wrote down what everyone said and came up with some interesting trends, such as how the majority of women in their 20's and 30's as well as school age girls chose the emperor penguin over the rest.  This wasn't a huge surprise given the options.
So the next round, I removed the penguin and turtle to force a harder choice, so many in that age group switched to the next most familiar and cute creature: the clown fish.  As my fellow intern Nick puts it, they're only interested in "charismatic mega fauna".  :)
However, there was a very large number of people who chose things that were more local and meaningful to them personally.  My favorite comment I found funny was, "I chose Dungeness Crab because I like to eat them.  And I'm interested in keeping that going." :)
The two most surprising comments were from gentlemen who were roughly age 60 to 70.  This demographic is kind of stereotyped as being very skeptical of climate change.  One chose phytoplankton and said, "they are basic foodstuff.  They're at the bottom  of the food chain, so that has effects all the way up."  The other chose algae and said, "some people don't believe [climate change] and think it's 'business as usual', but I don't think so.  Algae will probably be one of the first affected."  Wooohoo!  You go dudes!

So my next challenge is figuring out how to do the rest of my formative evaluations to determine if people will tell a story and what media they want to help with that, as well as getting a more clear picture of what my final product (exhibit proposal) will look like.

I also got to work in the visitor center this week for a day and a half to help out.  That was fun.  I hung out at the touch tank for the first time and learned more about the animals there.  Hoping to do that again soon.  Here are a few pictures.  Sorry some of them are a bit blurry.  One of these days I swear I'll get a decent camera.  Hopefully before I'm 80.

Hatfield Marine Science Center tide pool touch tanks

variety of invertebrates in the touch tank

Giant green sea anemones, orange cup coral,
strawberry anemones, coralline algae

FYI on the above picture, the strawberry anemones are the tiny red ones dotting the rocks to right of the top anemone.  The coralline algae are the crusted pink stuff toward the top and also in circles around the bottom anemone.

Rock scallop

Sea stars galore, red sea urchin,
and sea cucumber (the long orange creature to the left of the urchin)

Leather star- very soft

Common Murre Disturbance

Monday night I had the pleasure of volunteering to help out with murre research.  Actually I was interpreting to the public while the others watched them through the scopes, and when there weren't people there to talk to I took lots of pictures and watched the excitement through binoculars.  I love getting to talk to people so that was fun, although I felt bad that I was often asked questions I didn't have the answer to since I was completely new to murres (aside from the one introduction I had to them my first week, on June 20th's blog post at the bottom.)
Apparently I chose the most exciting time to come.  There was a constant string of disturbances the entire time I was there.  A disturbance was explained to me as an event where a larger bird comes in and scares murres away and sometimes tries to eat them (as in when a bald eagle will come to eat an adult, the others scatter, and sea gulls come in and snatch up all the eggs).  At this point the chicks had all hatched but were too small to fledge (leave the colony).
Instead of bald eagles though, it was juvenille California Brown Pelicans causing all the trouble that night (and could be still happening, which if it does, the rocks may be cleared by the end of the week).

The Pelicans came in and went through this infuriating (to me) routine of flapping their wings to scare away the adult murres, and at this point many of the chicks fell down to the water. All they seemed to be after was to steal whatever fish the parents had brought to feed their chick. When the murres got scared they would drop it and the pelican would eat it. Sometimes the pelicans would eat small chicks, and sea gulls being the opportunists they are rushed in to eat many chicks with the parents scared away. The pelicans were also seen swallowing a chick then spitting it back out then swallowing again and repeating until the chick was dead. I don’t know what the pelicans got out of this since they didn’t eat these chicks.

Juvenile California Brown Pelicans and Sea Gulls severely thinned out the Common Murre colony

The colony was thinned to a fraction of its original size that night. It was sad to watch. I also went down to the beach the next day and saw many dead chicks washed up. Apparently hundreds of them were further down on the beach.

Global Warming's Six Americas

If you need a quick overview, see the video on this post.  Click to view info and resources appropriate for the audience.  (Under construction)

Alarmed

Concerned

Cautious

Unconcerned

Doubtful

Dismissive

Info on local (Pacific North West) impacts of global warming


Some personal thoughts:
Climate change can be scary.  Many museums, zoos, aquariums, etc. shy away from the topic because it feels so doom and gloom.  However, I feel that shying away from it only adds fuel to the idea that scientists aren't in general agreement on the topic, which is false.  Also, having a timid approach with it I believe could also fuel that as well.  I don't think we should be afraid of having a bold stance about it.  The evidence is becoming more and more obvious (take the current heat wave for example) to everyone and I think the message is going to be more accepted. And I think it's a crucial message to get out.
Birch Aquarium in San Diego has an awesome exhibit on global warming.  Here are a couple videos about it:

Click here for another one that shows the science behind the exhibit


More general info:
NASA's key indicators of climate change: http://climate.nasa.gov/keyIndicators/

Science Center Spree

ASTC is the Association of Science-Technology Centers.  They have a passport program in which if you buy a membership at any of their participating centers, you can have free entry into all the others (with a couple restrictions- click here to learn about it if you're interested in getting one).

So, I bought a membership from Pacific Science Center and we took advantage of that and 3 other centers in the past 5 days.

Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum

McMinnville, Oregon

When I first saw this on the list I didn't think much of it except that it was probably a bit too far off I-5 to be worth the trip.  Boy was I wrong.  I pulled up their website and found that they have the actual Spruce Goose on display!  Yes the actual thing built by Howard Hughes.

Spruce Goose @ Evergreen Aviation Museum
Notice the tiny people standing below the nose

 And more surprises were in store- a water park.  Are you kidding me?  A water park at an aviation museum?  This place looks dang awesome with a wave pool, water slides, and a water science museum.  We didn't go to this part because it was an extra cost, but I would love to go there some day, it looks like a blast.  Very out of the box and an excellent attraction that probably puts McMinnville on the map.

The aviation museum and the Spruce Goose...all I can say is- wow.  Wow!  That thing is HUGE.  My jaw was dropped open most of the time and I was happy to get to go inside and we even paid a little extra to go up into the cockpit.  Amazing.

8 Huge propellers powered this giant

Tail of the Spruce Goose

Yup, it's actually made out of wood!  View inside passenger area

The cockpit - notice the tube on the back of the pilot's chair on the left - this was the special ventilation system for Howard Hughes.  Hepa filters were based on his invention.  We got to sit in these chairs and imagine what it would have been like to fly the old girl.

Spruce Goose Cockpit

Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum - If you're ever in the vicinity it's worth the detour.  And it's really not that big of a detour anyway, just a different route.  (Click to visit their website.)

Pacific Science Center

Seattle, Washington

(Click to go to Pacific Science Center website.)  I remember this place when my family went several years ago when I was a teen.  I had vivid memories of the cool water guns outside, the giant furniture, and the exhibits that explore the senses.  Those things were still there and we got to explore some music exhibits, space, ...  They have an exhibit of King Tut that I'm sure must be fabulous but it would have been an extra $40 for myself and my two boys, so we passed on that.  We did get to see a movie To the Arctic which was fantastic- it's the story of a mother polar bear and her two cubs.  Very beautiful 40 minute 3D IMAX film.

My big splurge that I justified as a birthday present to myself was They Might Be Giants "Here Comes Science" CD and DVD together for $35.  I thought that was a pretty killer deal.  The kids already know the songs by heart.

OMSI

Portland, Oregon

When I was remembering my long ago visits to Pacific Science Center and OMSI I thought that Pacific Science Center would be the better one.  I was wrong again.  I think OMSI was way better.  (Click for OMSI's website.)  They had a great exhibit on natural disasters that went through earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and volcanoes.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  They had a computer program where you could "create a volcano" by setting high or low gases and high or low silicon in the lava, and by adjusting those two settings you can create the 4 types of volcanoes (shield, cinder cone, stratovalcano, and lava dome).

Exhibits on life science and earth science thoroughly geeked me out and the kids loved the sand and water table in the earth science lab.  They also have a "science playground" meant for ages 6 and under that is pretty sweet.

Then we went into an awesome physics exhibit- many machines, laws of motion, etc. being explored here.  And one very cool feature was the inventor's ball room where you can hook up pipes and valves to create new pathways for blue foam balls to catapult around the enclosed room.  Major coolness factor.  There are also Chemistry, Physics and I think one other lab off of this area but they were closed by the time we got there.  The center stays open later- 7:00- which is great, but the labs close at 5 or 5:30.

There is also a submarine tour that I didn't find out about until 15 minutes to close.  It does cost extra though so we might not have done it anyway.  They have an actual sub in the river next to the center so it could be pretty neat.

A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village

Salem, Oregon 

Another surprising find.  They have 3 houses and then a huge outdoor play area with a maze, giant chess board, mammoth skeleton, and more.  In the houses were exhibit rooms such as the China room, China room, fossil room, and my favorite - the bubble room.  This is a place I think I will take the kids to anytime we have to pass through Salem or even close because it's a great way to kill a few hours and very educational stuff disguised as wicked awesome fun.  (Click for the website.)