B.A.T.S. at the CA Academy!

8.17.13-BEETS-CAS_IMG_2204CommunityGrows BEETS (Band of Environmentally Educated and Employable Teens) participated in Teen Science Night at the CA Academy of Science on Friday, August 16, 2013. Teen Science Night was a night of non-stop science exploration, DJs, dancing, games and food organized by Bay Area Teen Science (B.A.T.S.) The B.A.T.S. collaborative, which includes youth from the Oakland Zoo, Chabot Space Science Center, Exploratorium, UC Berkeley Space Science Laboratory, and the Academy of Sciences provided hands-on experiences and other science related programming for teens from across the Bay Area. Through presentations and activities, collaborating organizations and the Academy’s Youth Programs highlighted youth involvement in the scientific community. The goal of this event was to provide a safe environment to allow youth from various backgrounds to learn, share, and discover science.
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Melissa Tang, our new CommunityGrows BEETS Program Manager, was especially happy to show off the CA Academy to our BEETS, as this was where she previously worked as Assistant Manager for the Careers in Science Youth Program. Many of the youth in her CA Academy Program were leading the evening’s activities and events. She had lots of reunions and kudos for all the youth.
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One of the highlights of the night for our BEETS was the Earthquake exhibit and planetarium show. This exhibit explored the seismic science that has shaped Earth’s evolution and continues to impact our lives today. The Shake House was especially exciting, as it transported the teens back in time to see, hear and feel two earthquakes and experience the sustained tremors of the city’s two biggest quakes, the 6.9–magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake and the 7.9–magnitude Great San Francisco quake of 1906. The teens entered a simulated dining room of a classic Victorian-era home with a window view of San Francisco’s famed “Painted Ladies” houses of Alamo Square. Then the lights went out and there was shaking everywhere. Fifteen seconds of shaking seemed like eternity! Very scary and jolting (no pun intended)! The teens really had to hold on. They could imagine books flying off the shelves, glass breaking and everything turning upside down. Most of them had never experienced an earthquake and were impressed by the magnitude and destruction it could wield.

Then off to explore the rest of the Academy. ..”Winding up a living 4-story rainforest, where dripping water set the beat for a symphony of croaking frogs and chirping birds, they meet chameleons from Madagascar, climbed into the tree-tops of Costa Rica to find free-flying birds and butterflies, and then descended into the Amazonian flooded forest, walking beneath the catfish and arapaima that swam overhead.” The rest of the evening they spent exploring other areas of the Academy, and enjoyed music from the DJs and games and food. A great night was had by all! Go Science! Go B.A.T.S.!
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