allisnow

hmmm...aquarium? beach?

well... forest? lake? over here the university has special "kids programs" to give sort of an introduction to higher academics. maybe you have something like that as well?

So a science themed trip that isn't a museum?

- archaelogical dig
- rock platform by the sea (rock pools, erosion, underwater fauna, etc.)
- sand dunes at the beach (dune erosion, grasses, etc.)
- hydro-electric power plant
- dam

How's that for starters?

If I were you, I'd check out any local parks (usually state or national, but you live in a pretty urban area, so maybe even local) that have an interpretive program and call them. Garden of the Gods is a city-owned and run park in Colorado Springs, and it has a huge interpretive program. You may have some place similar near you - usually a large park. For older kids, you might even be able to visit the Golden Gate Bridge and talk with an engineer that works on it. Most touristy type places have some sort of educational programming, and often they can tailor the content to your kids (which is what you want). You are near the ocean, relatively, so is there a wildlife sanctuary you can visit? Or someplace that does marine wildlife rescue and rehabilitation? How about a planetarium? Or a university with a giant telescope? Earthquakes - I know you have a government organization that studies them near you. They probably do tours and presentations. And it's probably a museum, but there's bound to be some sort of historical place about earthquakes near you, given where you live, and they should be able to give a presentation on the science of earthquakes. Then there's farms and ranches - organic farming is a form of science all its own, especially if they use -ah, what's the term - bugs and bug diseases that eat the bad bugs instead of insecticides, and you may find a farm or ranch that is using very forward-looking practices just by asking around. Need more ideas?

:: casts mind back to elementary school ::

Botanical garden/conservatory. Farm. Zoo/aquarium.

Any kind of manufacturing or packaging or bottling plant, especially if you can see cool processes other than just stuff running along conveyors (although most kids think those are pretty cool anyway) -- I have vivid memories of a fourth grade field trip to the Wedgwood glass factory, and seeing both automated manufacturing and hand blowing.

Planetarium/observatory (probably falls into the "museum" category, tho).

Ummmmm... I'm blanking, but I'm sure there's more...

How about farms or dairies or places food (like cheese) is made. This may be too old for the kids except the 7th and 8th graders, but my most memorable field trip (besides the Exploratorium) was to a facility where they actually did genetic engineering. They showed us lots of computer simulations of DNA and stuff.

To a pond... to look at the plant life and animal life.

They've taken the kids to the Shore here to the nature center.

In fact nature centers within parks. You have a lot of national parks around your area.

Go to a construction zone to learn about how they build. Steel girders, etc.

How about a farm to learn about farm animals or how things grow. They do that in the fall here and have hayrides and learn about how pumpkins grow.

Enough ideas? :) Something new that others haven't mentioned?

Umm...

The Delta
An orchard or farm
The Lindsey Museum is too far isn't it? Um, the ASPCA.

mmhm, planetarium, zoo, park, the beach, water treatment plant, cave, nature trail, the dump (hey, there is science there, keeping the icky stuff from getting out)

got a tall/cool building? the science involved in building a sky scraper or in making the subway (geology is good)