Partners in Science

Talcott Mountain Science Center, Avon, CT

The Talcott Mountain Science Center, located at the very top of Talcott Mountain in Avon, CT is a lab and research facility that offers workshops to school groups. Although the Center offers programs in virtually area of the 2004 CT Core Science Curriculum Framework, the Center is best known for its meteorology facilities, planetarium, and observatory. Upon arriving at the Center, students will visit the 18 foot sundial and see the “World’s Largest Visible Solar System Model”. Using the sundial as their scale model of the sun, students can look out over the Farmington Valley and, using familiar landmarks, visualize the scaled distances to the planets.

Then, if the students are focusing on meteorology, they will collect data using state-of-the art equipment in the meteorology lab and produce weather forecasts. Demonstrations and building models of weather related phenomena round out the exploration.

In workshops focusing on astronomy, students will use either the planetarium or observatory to explore the solar system, collecting data, taking photos, building models, or performing many other hands-on activities.

The focus of all of Talcott Mountain Science Center’s programming is on having the students perform authentic scientific inquiry in a lab setting using professional equipment. These field studies usually are part of a three-part program with pre- and post-lab classroom activities.

The staff is continually updating the museum’s programs and will also develop programs to fit the needs of individual schools. This list is not intended to be a complete listing. For complete descriptions and more information visit their website: www.tmsc.org

Teacher Preparation:

The Center staff will visit the individual classroom for the pre- and post-visit activities. No specific teacher preparation is required. The Center does offer a variety of teacher workshops and other programming open to all teachers to either help the teachers prepare for their study or increase their scientific knowledge in general.

To view aligned field trips at the Talcott Mountain Science Center, visit our Science Framework Resources Database