Student STEM Itinerary

Here in the Sacramento region, we have several higher learning STEM facilities where students and families can visit to learn and grow in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. This sample 4-day itinerary showcases the wide variety of STEM offerings that tie back into Sacramento’s rich history as well as touch upon our vibrant future.

Driving times based on starting and ending at the California State Capitol in downtown Sacramento.

SAMPLE 4-DAY ITINERARY

DAY 1
Total driving time: 80 minutes

Bohart Museum of Entomology: Located on the University of California, Davis campus, the Bohart houses the seventh largest insect collection in the world and serves as an active work area as well as a museum where students and researchers spend their days studying over 7 million terrestrial and freshwater arthropods.

UC Davis Wildlife & Fish Biology Museum: With over 50,000 specimens of 5,000 tissues, the museum’s collection includes thousands of fish, bird, mammal, amphibian, and reptile specimens. A guided tour can provide an overview of the collection, an explanation of different ways they prepare specimens and the importance of maintaining collections for scientific research.

California Agriculture Museum: Follow the history of agricultural innovation dating back to the Gold Rush era. Visitors will hear local storytellers tell the tale of farm to fork, stroll through galleries that showcase harvesters, combines, trucks and other farm equipment, experience a blacksmith shop and learn at the Kids Corner.

Farm at Cal Expo: Tours give insight on what it takes to grow and produce healthy food. Students will see actual crops including a functioning greenhouse. They will participate in five learning stations: Grow It, See It, Save It, Plant It, and Taste It. The tour also includes Science of Seeds, a hands-on area where children learn about carpology, the study of seeds and fruit.

DAY 2
Total driving time: 120 minutes

Gold Bug Park: The Gold Bug Mine is a major historical and geological attraction and an excellent example of hard rock gold mining. Learn about quartz, gold, and other interesting geologic formations. 

Nimbus Fish Hatchery: Fall marks the return of powerful Chinook salmon and the opening of the fish ladder. Winter brings sleek steelhead trout. Throughout the year you can explore the exhibits of the visitor center, stroll the River Discovery Trail, or feed the young fish at Nimbus or the adjacent American River Trout Hatchery.

Sacramento Splash: This nonprofit organization is dedicated to helping children understand the natural world around them through education and outdoor exploration. Take a tour of 50,000- to 200,000-year-old vernal pools, rare wetland ecosystems that give visitors a glimpse of hundreds of plant and animal species unique to California over thousands of years.

DAY 3
Total driving time: 85 minutes

California State Railroad Museum: The museum houses 19 steam locomotives chronicling the development of steam technology. Current exhibits include Without Words, an interactive display of communication tools used by the railroads, Fast Tracks: The World of High-Speed Rail and A Shift in Power: a hands-on learning experience designed to introduce prototype STEM learning centers in historic settings.

Aerospace Museum of California: The exhibit hall features aviation and aerospace exhibits, a 4-acre air park featuring over 50 historic aircraft and a flight simulator. Fly without ever leaving the ground and learn how astronauts work in space or fly high and explore the history of flight.

Roseville Utility Exploration Center: Education programs such as Electron Flow, Elements of Waste, H2Own and Keepin’ It Clean combine a guided discovery of the exhibit hall with a hands-on science activity in the technology laboratory.

iFly: Their STEM program uses a state-of-the-art vertical wind tunnel to inspire and educate students. Trained and reviewed STEM educators will guide your students through an interactive presentation, demos in the wind tunnel and grade-appropriate lab activities.

DAY 4
Total driving time: 65 minutes

Powerhouse Science Center – Discovery Campus: The hands-on labs, workshops and program focus on providing opportunities for mastering disciplinary core ideas and Science and Engineering Practices. Experience the Challenger Learning Center and catch a show at the planetarium.

Effie Yeaw Sacramento Nature Center: Students will engage in discovery while experiencing an up-close and personal encounter with one of the live resident animals, touring the interactive museum and joining a naturalist to explore the Nature Preserve.

EA Capitol Games: Visit the Sacramento offices where the most popular Star Wars mobile game is produced. Students can learn what it takes to become a programmer, graphic designer or any of the other jobs in the video game industry.

Golden 1 Center: Take a tour of the first indoor sports venue to earn LEED Platinum designation. Explore and learn about the building’s architecture and technology. The WiFi at Golden 1 Center is over 17,000 times faster than the average home Internet connection.