Listed below is a brief description of each middle school (Grades 6-8) in-person field triip being offered at the Howard B. Owens Science Center. Field trip descriptions are listed by first semester and second semester including the grade level(s) and brief summary.
Grades 6-8—Skywatchers of PGCPS (Planetarium): This banded program for grades 5–8 reviews key astronomy concepts, including moon phases (6th grade), eclipses (8th grade), seasons (7th grade), and how the stars’ positions change with the seasons (5th grade). Test your knowledge and deepen your understanding in the immersive environment of the planetarium—an experience no textbook can match!
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Grade 6—Simply Shocking! Exploring Electrically Charged Phenomenon: Simply Shocking! In this incredibly fun program, visiting sixth grade students will help the Owens Science Center instructor investigate why people get shocked, what static electricity is, that electrostatic fields do indeed exist, how objects get charged and how to avoid getting shocked!
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Grade 6—The Untouchables: Sixth graders engage in exploring the activity of objects based on 'untouchable forces' observed in SCIENCE! Your students manipulate forces as they interact with metals, generators, water and even light, followed by planning and carrying out an investigation with cars to explain why the distance outcome occurred.
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Grade 7—Cyber Escape Room: Become a junior cyber agent! Students work in teams to inspect passwords, decode ciphers, analyze phishing emails, and more — to unlock an escape room lockbox. Along the way, they learn real cybersecurity skills and explore exciting careers in tech.
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Grade 7—Changing Weather: Visiting 7th grade students will learn how to identify High or Low observed weather phenomenon and collect and analyze field data to make evidenced based predictions of how weather changes can be predicted by monitoring Barometric air pressure.
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Grades 6 & 8—Newton’s Rocket Launchers: Students explore Newton’s laws as they apply them to various things including space rockets. Next, students will put on their engineering hats and build and launch their very own straw rockets.
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Grade 6—CoDrone Mini Unbalanced Forces of Flight: Code that Flies: Sixth Grade students will enjoy exploring Newton’s Laws of Motion, Forces of Flight and unbalanced forces coding mini drones through Howard B. Owens Science Center Flight Challenges.
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Grades 6-8—Skywatchers of PGCPS (Planetarium): This banded program for grades 5–8 reviews key astronomy concepts, including moon phases (6th grade), eclipses (8th grade), seasons (7th grade), and how the stars’ positions change with the seasons (5th grade). Test your knowledge and deepen your understanding in the immersive environment of the planetarium—an experience no textbook can match!
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Grade 7—Mix It Up! Chemistry in Action: Students will explore chemical reactions, conservation of mass, exothermic and endothermic reactions, and reaction rates. They will perform hands-on experiments, record observations, and use mathematical skills to analyze results.
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Grade 8—Mission Decode: Step into the role of a secret agent and explore how science, math, and technology are used to keep information safe! In this interactive field trip, students will decode messages, build ciphers, and discover how cryptology protects our digital world.
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