We are Open!

School Year Begins

On Tuesday, August 18, we opened our gates.  This year, we are excited to continue to make improvements and develop new curriculum for the students of the Los Angeles Unified School District.  With the implementation of the Next Generations Science Standards just around the corner, we want to make sure all of our programs are more inquiry-based, support engineering and science practices, and take advantage of opportunities to support Common Core Literacy and Math Standards.

Hours of Operation: 800 am to 4:30 pm.  Monday through Friday.
Call (310) 832-7573 if you have any questions.

Last Saturday Work Day of the School Year

The school year is coming to a close.  Saturday, May 2nd is our last 

opportunity for a community clean up day.  

Please join us as we make one last big push to clean up the gardens, 

grounds, and animal pens before summer.  

Saturday, May 2nd, 8:00 am to 12:00 pm

It may be warm, so bring a hat, lots of water, and gloves if you have them.  

Hope to see you here.

Get Rooted!

Gardening & Horticulture Workshop - March 5, 2015

The gardening and horticulture monthly workshop - Get Rooted! - , led by master gardener Lara Hughey,  was full of incredible gardening tips and tricks.  This month's topic was "Planting Seasonal Vegetables", and Lara provided participants with an informational talk about how to plan and prep the garden for spring and summer.  

Like all of our monthly meetings, we began with a tasting from the Harvest of the Month, courtesy of the Nutrition Education & Obesity Prevention (N.E.O.P.) led by Scott Perry.

Presenter Lara Hughey shared many gardening tips so every one was able to learn something.

Participants learned about how to select garden sites, soil prep, lighting, how to choose what to grow, companion planting, and so much more.

Whether it was how deep to plant tomatoes or how to increase acidity in soil for extra yummy blueberries, we all gained gardening know-how.


the hands on portion of the workshop included sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings.  We all planted.  Participants were then able to take every plant they transplanted back to their own school garden.


The workshop ended with N.E.O.P. providing garden appropriate gifts and supplies that were raffled off by Scott Perry.  Plus Lara gave away seeds and transplants were provided by the Science Center.

All LAUSD teachers are invited to our monthly gardening and horticulture workshop, Get Rooted!.  We meet the first Thursday of the month from 4:00 pm to 6:00.  We have lots of resources to give away and everyone takes home something for the garden.  Plus, network with other gardening teachers from multiple grade levels to share the work we do at the school site.

For more information, click here;  Get Rooted! - Gardening Workshop

New Promotional Video for Field Trips

Watch our new video! Girl Scout Troop 2405, created a spectacular infomercial to promote field trips to the science center.  This silver award project was completed by Ava Council, Jenna Osborne, Gia Rubalcava, and Anne Marie Spralja.  Take a look and see what a wonderful job the girls did.

Click on the picture of the bus to the left to see some of our field trip options.  

Busiest October Ever!

Not like last year...

Fall is normally a quiet time at the Science Center.  Schools are adjusting to the new classes and students are getting to know their teachers.  Field trips are often the last thing on anyone's mind this time of year.  But not this fall.  This month was a whirlwind.  The Harbor Community Benefit Foundation provided funding for buses for many local schools for free field trips to the Science Center.

Starting with the Open House on October 2nd, the Science Center has been a very busy place.  Then, October 4th we hosted another successful community clean up day.  Thanks to all of our volunteers, trees were trimmed, gardens were weeded, and seeds were harvested.  Also on October 4th was the first LAUSD Indian Education Family Day.  Participants were enthralled and entertained by a native american story teller and listened attentively to a native american speaker on history and folklore.  And that was just the first week of the month!

We kicked off the second week of October with Johnston CDS students taking their High school exit exams on October 7th and 8th.  We wished them all great success and hope their hard work has paid off. Bandini elementary came for the Jr. Farmer's and Desert Dweller's tours on October 10th, followed by a girl scout troop of local middle school girls trying to earn their silver award.

Week three in October began with almost 60 3rd graders from Bandini elementary school on October 13th.  Followed by an amazing group of volunteers from Santa Monica college on October 14th.  We especially want to thank them for purchasing a new guava tree for the fruit orchard.  October 15th and 16th we hosted over 100 3rd graders from Leland elementary school.  October 17th Gulf elementary students came to explore the gardens and interact with the animals. The week ended on October 18th, with an Eagle Scout project completing new garden boxes for us to grow California Native Sage plants.



Week four was just as busy.  October 21st and 23rd we hosted over 100 3rd and 4th grade students from South Shores elementary and October 22nd and 24th we hosted 96 kindergarten and 2nd grade students from Point Fermin.   Students felt cotton growing right on the tree, tasted kale, sorrel, fennel, and chard.  They even found out they like stevia because it really does taste a lot like sugar.  Plus, on October 23 the Tongva Language class was held here and the first ESC South  Science Cadre meeting, a teacher workshop, was attended by 17 elementary school teachers.

The month ended with 1st graders from park Western elementary on October 29th, and Gulf elementary with 2nd graders on October 30th.  Students got the opportunity to feed the chickens and the goats while learning about what animals eat.  They especially enjoyed the taste of fresh picked cucumber.

Finally, we ended the month on October 31st with a special treat for our very special sulcata tortoise.

We can't wait to see what November brings...

Open House 2014

1st Annual Open House was a Huge Success

Overall curb appeal has dramatically improved as well as all of the animal
enclosures and structures through funding by the Harbor Community Benefit
Foundation and the impressive work of Beacon House.

They came...

On October 2nd, we hosted our first annual Open House.  It went amazingly well despite temperatures soaring to nearly 100 degrees.  In attendance were LAUSD teachers and  administrators, LAUSD facilities partners such as DWP, MWD, Republic, LA Sanitation, Environmental Larning Center, and LAUSD nutrition education.   Lakeshore Learning donated learning materials for teachers and Banneker-Doyle CTC sold gift items made by students and shared information about their programs. Friends and neighbors from the community attended and we even had help from local girl scouts.  Representatives from the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation (HCBF) also attended and saw first hand how their foundation's amazing support has contributed to the improvements and upgrades to the site.Also in attendance were representatives from the offices of Board Member Vladovich and board Member Zimmer.

Front ponds reconstructed by
Johnston CDS Horticulture students

 They saw...

Classrooms were open and everyone was encouraged to take a look around the site to see what the Science Center has to offer the students of  Los Angeles Unified.  The animal enclosures are freshly repaired and painted and new garden art and exhibits are open.

With new field trip options available in outdoor education, students have new opportunities to learn about animals, gardening, nature, and ecology.  Teachers and administrators were avle to see exactly what the students would explore when they book a field trip at the Science Center.  Field trip options such as the Jr. Farmers tour, Desert Dwellers Exploration, and the Jr. Recyclers Exploration were explained during tours allowing teachers to better align field trips with classroom standards. 

They were impressed...

Built by Beacon House and generously funded by
the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation

For many visitors who hadn't been here for a while, there were many incredible changes. Many positive statements were made.  "Wow, this place looks great!" "I can't believe how much has happened in just one year!"  Susan Tanberg, an administrator over the science branch wrote, "It looks great. I was so impressed with all that you have done."

So if you haven't stopped by, come see how we've improved!