Pacific Science Center Foundation

Filing Period

Jul 1, 2010 to Jun 30, 2011

Signed

Nov 14, 2011

Return Version

2010v3.4

Gross Receipts

$30,775,838

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Education: a) washington state laser- is a public/private partnership using a collaborative model for catalyzing and sustaining science education reform at the school, district, region and state level. As a public/private partnership effort, washington state laser is an "opt in" program that provides financial, professional development, and technical assistance to individual classrooms, schools, school districts and to consortia of school districts, called laser alliances. The program is co-led by pacific science center and battelle and includes among its partners the washington state office of superintendent of public instruction, educational service districts and lead washington school districts.b) portal to the public- as part of our broad portal to the public initiative, pacific science center creates and hosts events that bring scientists and the general public together. These events put a human face on the research happening at the universities, government agencies and companies that are right in our own backyard. Through collaborations with such institutions as the university of washington and the national oceanic and atmospheric administration (noaa), pacific science center has hosted: 1) large-scale events such as polar science weekend, life sciences research weekend, paws-on science weekend, 2) monthly small scale scientist spotlight events and 3) offsite events such as three monthly science cafes that connect scientists with members of the community in their own neighborhoods. Through the initiative, the science center has also developed an exhibit area highlighting current research and which will change content several times per year. The portal to the public initiative is funded by diverse sources including the national science foundation, national institutes of health, institute of museum and library services, national aeronautics and space exploration, and metlife foundation.

Activity 3

Pacific science center operates the mercer slough environmental education center in collaboration with the city of bellevue, who owns the buildings and land. Located on a 320-acre wetland in the heart of urban bellevue, the mercer slough environmental education center (mseec) hosts field trips, sleepovers, camps, expeditions, internships, parties and public outreach programs, all with a common purpose: to plant seeds of wonder and curiosity about the environment that will have a lifelong impact. Here, children and families explore the network of trails, waterways and wildlife and then return to the mseec to study the science behind what they've seen. Science on wheels- each year, science on wheels travels throughout the state to bring fun, informal experiences with science to schools, fairs, and community events. Using vans filled with exhibits and demonstration materials, science on wheels teachers present programs on a wide range of topics, including geology, physics, math, astronomy, anatomy, agriculture, and engineering. The program is especially important for those communities who are geographically isolated and are without access to museums, universities and science centers, so they can experience science in a lively format not available in the classroom.acceso a la ciencia- acceso a la ciencia is designed to increase the involvement of latino students, parents and families in science and informal science education. The program recruits latino teens from across eastern washington and gives them the opportunity to be advocates for science in their communities. At fairs, schools and community centers, the interns set up and interpret bilingual exhibits and perform engaging bilingual science shows, allowing for hands-on science education to reach a new audience. Funded by a national science foundation grant, the program is a unique collaboration between different community resources: pacific science center, yakima valley/tri-cities mesa, radio kdna, and washington state university tri-cities.discovery corps- pacific science center's discovery corps program works to inspire teens (ages 14-18) to consider a career in science by giving them the opportunity to learn and work at our museum. In addition to fulfilling 100 hours of service on our museum floor, the teens have the opportunity to move up through a defined career ladder, and participate in field trips, lectures, fun social events and workshops on topics ranging from job and life skills to college preparedness. Paid internships are also available which are designed specifically for the program. The majority of teens in discovery corps are from backgrounds traditionally underserved in the sciences.lectures- pacific science center hosts lectures by authors, scientists and leaders both from our region and around the world. Past lecturers have included james d. Watson, the co-discoverer of dna, and former king county executive ron sims.science on a sphere - a gift from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration (noaa), this is a room-sized, global display system that uses computers and projectors to display data sets onto a six-foot diameter sphere, similar to a giant animated globe. These data sets allow us to explain complex environmental processes to our guests in a way that is simultaneously interactive and captivating. The elevated sphere features dynamic animated images of earth's atmosphere, oceans, hurricane paths, animal migration patterns, global warming trends, atmospheric co2 levels and more. Organized through playlists, similar to an mp3 player, the system also has the capacity for live demonstrations and special programming options. Planetarium- pacific science center's planetarium now boasts a new state-of-the-art projection system created by zeiss optics. The digital projectors allow science center staff to present up-to-the minute nasa photographs, research and movies. In addition, the new projector allows guests to view five times as many stars. T

Filer

EIN

91-0750867