CALIFORNIA
Heritage Education Programs
The Heritage Education Programs runs field trips and classroom programs for grades four and up. At the Archaeology Adventure field trip program, students excavate in simulated archaeological sites at Apple Valley, Redlands, and Yucaipa. Visit the programs' Web site at: www.HeritageEdu.com or call (866) 277-8340. (This program is featured in dig's November 2003 issue.)
Albinger Museum
The Albinger Museum in Ventura has artifacts that have been found on the site of this archaeological museum. They reveal 3,500 years and five different cultures. The museum is open daily. For more information call: 805-648-5823, or visit: www.ventura.com/points_of_interest/archeosite/
Archaeology Month is in May and events take place throughout the state. For details, check the Society for California Archaeology Web site, www.scahome.org.
The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art
The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana hosts a number of archaeological programs for children grades 3-6. For more information call: 714-480-1522, or visit its Web site at: http://www.bowers.org/
The Lawrence Hall of Science
The Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley, offers exhibits, after-school classes, summer camps, and educational programs. Call: 510-642-5132, or visit its Web site at:www.lhs.berkeley.edu.
The Skirball Cultural Center
The Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles offers an Archaeology Program called Dig It! Archaeology Adventures on Sundays from 1:30-3:00 p.m., which is free with museum admission. The center also offers an archaeology summer camp for ages 6-12. This year's theme is Ancient Greece. Call: 310-440-4500, or visit its Web site at: www.skirball.org.
The San Diego Museum of Man
A visit to the San Diego Museum of Man is a unique journey through time and place. The Education Department offers year-round school tours and classes on topics related to archaeology, Egyptology, and physical and cultural anthropology. Exciting summer school classes, scout programs, and family days are offered. The Children's Discovery Center offers a fun way to learn about life and death in ancient Egypt through interactive displays and a mock archaeological field camp. For more information, contact the museum's Education Department at: 619-239-2001, or visit its Web site at:www.museumofman.org.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has a host of community outreach programs, monthly lectures, and classes for both adults and children. Children's educational programs such as Adventures in Nature are offered, and the museum houses an interactive Discovery Center and Insect Zoo, where children can learn first-hand about natural science and history.
The museum is open seven days a week. Admission is $2 for children 5 to 12, $6.50 for children 13 to 17, and free for children five and under. Adult admission is $9. Call: 213-763-DINO, or visit its Web site at: www.nhm.org.
Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits
The Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits opened its famous "Pit 91", where the annual excavation of Ice Age fossils takes place. Visitors can watch from a special observation area as paleontologists and volunteers recover bones from beasts, such as saber-toothed cats and dire wolves, that died in the sticky asphalt deposits 28,000 years ago.
During excavation season, July 1 to Sept. 10, the Pit 91 Visitors Observation Station in Hancock Park is open free to the public Wednesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information call: 323-934-PAGE (7243), or visit its Web site at: www.tarpits.org.
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