The University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History travels across Oregon reaching communities of all sizes to offer hands-on learning.
Courtesy of the Museum of Natural and Cultural History
The University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History has hit the road this summer offering hands-on learning through its Oregon Rocks! program, which teaches kids and families about geology.
The organization is traveling throughout the state and visiting places like Paisley, Malin and Condon.
“The big idea is getting programming out into communities, access to youth and families that are living in either small communities or far away from cultural institutions like museums or educational programming and don’t have access to those easily,” said Mia Jackson, the education manager for the museum.
The museum stops in Portland and Salem too, but it emphasizes visits to Oregon communities removed from the I-5 corridor.
“By going out into communities and making the information and the experiences more approachable and friendly and being in a trusted public space like a public library,” she said, “just makes it that much more comfortable for people to approach it and to get involved and to see themselves as somebody that can be interested and learn about these subjects.”
Oregon Rocks! includes miniature experiments and sand art. The program helps kids learn about rock cycles and erosion.
The organization also offers Museum Adventures which is an exhibit that travels throughout the state without museum staff. Libraries can host the display for about a month and then send it off to the next library. “Oregon’s Dino-Story” is currently visiting Newport and is heading to La Grande soon.
Museum educators travel across the state teaching kids and families about science.
courtesy of the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History
For events like Oregon Rocks!, some visits have more than 200 people participating. And in other places, that number is closer to 5 or 10 people, Jackson said.
“It really comes down to people being engaged and interested and excited,” she said. “I have a big commitment to family education. So for me, the success is seeing the parents and the kids learning together.”
Chick here to learn more about where the museum is headed next.
Jackson spoke to “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller about the programs. Listen to the full conversation: