Science / Medicine : Summer Classes: A Chance to Explore

Summer classes can often be long and dull for students. However, many local museums and organizations will be offering classes this summer that involve activities ranging from hands-on investigations of museum artifacts to field trips on marine research vessels. Class sizes are limited in most cases.

Some of the local offerings include:

“Science at the Seashore” begins a fifth year of marine science workshops at the Cabrillo Marine Museum in San Pedro on Monday. One-week and one-day classes will be held for students in grades 1 through 12 throughout the summer. Activities include tide pool explorations, study of animals in the museum’s wet lab and an introduction to oceanography for high school students. Call (213) 548-7563.

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in Exposition Park will hold natural science workshops for children from kindergarten through sixth grade in three separate four-day sessions beginning July 11. Children can learn about plants, insects, fossils and a variety of other areas by observing and working with materials from the museum’s collections. Call (213) 744-3342.

Children ages 6 through 14 will be able to explore the grounds of the Los Angeles State and County Arboretum in Arcadia in a new program designed to give children firsthand knowledge of plants, animals and the environment. Following in-class experiments and discussion, students will adjourn to the grounds of the arboretum to investigate the topic of the day. The three five-day sessions begin Monday. Call (818) 446-8251, Ext. 49.

The Los Angeles Zoo in Griffith Park will sponsor “Zoo Camps” this summer for children ages 10 and 11, beginning Aug. 7. The one-week sessions will introduce children to wildlife from around the world and include behind-the-scenes tours of a special animal exhibit. Call (213) 664-1100.

The California Museum of Science and Industry in Exposition Park will offer 38 science workshop classes this summer, including courses in beginning rocketry, physics and the weather. The five-day workshops, many bilingual, run June 27 through Aug. 14. Call (213) 744-7440.

High school students can earn high school or college credits through the UCLA Extension Summer Program for Secondary School Students beginning Monday. In addition to classroom time at UCLA, students can take advantage of field trips such as a snorkeling expedition to La Jolla or a trip on the research vessel RV-Sea Watch. Call (213) 825-4191.

Expanded summer hours--1-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday--begin Tuesday at the Kidspace Museum in Pasadena. June workshops include marine science, botany, the human skeletal system and a marine biology field trip aboard the research ship Vantuna. Call (818) 449-9144.

The San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands will offer more than 25 science classes beginning July 11. Marine science and astronomy classes include trips to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego and a family camp-out to see the Perseid meteor shower. Call (714) 798-8570.