VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!! The Delta Science Center is looking for volunteers this summer. Activities including working at various festivals and fairs helping to spread the word about the Delta Science Center. Fundraisers and Grant writers needed to help the Delta Science Center raise much needed funds during the summer. Sat., June 22 & 29 Transplanting experimental rice field from nursery to larger fields. No experience necessary.
For more info on volunteering |
Pictures: Proclamation given to the Delta Science Center from the City of Oakley during the March 12 City Council Meeting. Vice Mayor Randy Pope hands a proclamation to Delta Science Center, executive director Roni Gehlke and Board President Dr. Michael Painter.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013—Clean water is necessary to our survival and teaching children the value to keeping our Delta clean and safe for not only drinking, but also for the environment and wildlife around us, is one of the main goals of the Delta Science Center. That is why the DSC is working with other organizations around the world and participating in the World Water Monitoring Challenge on March 22.
The program gives students the chance to learn about the importance to clean water by allowing them to test the local waterways around them. On March 22, 2013, which has been proclaimed to be World Water Monitoring Day in Oakley by the City of Oakley, fifth graders throughout Oakley are invited to come to Big Break Regional Shoreline Park where water testing will be completed on the San Joaquin River.
Since school will be out on Spring Break during this time, students are welcome to come on their own to the park to do the testing. This program is specific to the date of March 22, so we could not postpone the testing until school comes back in session.
An easy-to-use test kit enables everyone from children to adults to sample local water bodies for a core set of water quality parameters including temperature, pH (acidity), turbidity (clarity) and dissolved oxygen (DO).
After testing all of the results will be added to an international database that will list students test results from rivers and waterways throughout the world so that others might compare the results.
World Water Monitoring Challenge (WWMC) is designed primarily as an education and awareness raising activity to bring communities closer to their local water bodies. The data collected through WWMC activities can provide an annual glance at local water quality, and gives community groups, students, citizens, scouting groups and others the basic skills needed to participate in more formal citizen monitoring programs.
This event is being hosted by the Delta Science Center and East Bay Regional Park District from 10 a.m. to noon.
For more information see the Delta Science Center website at www.deltasciencecenter.org. Additional information about WWMC can be found online at www.MonitorWater.org.
Each year the Delta Science Center puts together a calendar that features information and facts that relate to the 5th grade school curriculum. The calendar also features full color pictures from local photographers who have donated their art to be used in the calendar. At this time the DSC is currently delivering the calendars, free of charge, to 5th graders from Martinez to Discovery Bay and Rio Vista to Clarksburg. A total of approximately 7,100 students in all.
The full color format of a calendar gives students a chance to see the beauty of the Delta, while the information covered on each month gives a brief description of areas of study from wind power and how it relates to the Delta, to mercury levels in the Delta left over from the Gold Rush Days, to information about the Zooplankton that live in the Delta water. There are also three vocabulary words each month related to the topic of the month. A new feature to this year's calendar DSC is the added Delta endangered species section with a full color picture and species details.
Delivered along with the calendar was information on the Teacher Resource Guide and how teachers can further educate their students on the Delta. Each month the DSC will post learning assignments on this website that correspond with the information in the Delta. The guide comes with a reading and writing assignment related to the subject. Vocabulary and spelling words, history lessons, science projects and even a game or two. Each month a new subject will be posted. They are easily downloaded and printed for the students to use. All of the Guide's chapters are part of the school's standards and benchmarks program and designed with the help of elementary school teachers and other education sources.
Delta Science Center wins Dow Chemical grant for in-classroom programs
The Delta Science Center received a $5,000 grant from Dow Chemical of Pittsburg to help pay for materials needed to bring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the classroom. The Delta Science Center has developed a program where they will bring Delta fish, plankton, plants and other species into the classroom. The program also includes Delta water sampling and testing. The grant will be used to pay for microscopes and plankton nets. In-Classroom programs will begin again in January 2013. Teachers who would like the DSC to come to their classrooms can e-mail rgehlke@deltasciencecenter.com . Classroom programs are available free of charge and are set on a first come-first served basis.Big Break Visitor Center on the Delta opens at Big Break Regional Shoreline Park in Oakley
November 2012—It has been more than 15 years in the making for East Bay Regional Park District to finally cut the ribbon on the 5,000 square foot building at the Big Break Regional Shoreline Park. The building boost a science classroom/lab, conference room and an area where future displays featuring the Sacrament0-San Joaquin Delta.
There have been lots of questions about when the Delta Science Center (DSC) will begin hosting classroom tours on site. Right now the DSC is waiting for the East Bay Regional Park District open the park for tours. The display area within the new building has not completed construction. Once that area is complete the District will open the building up for our use. This will probably take place sometime in the Spring of 2013. Once the DSC hears that we are open to hold dates we will post information and inform local schools.






