Are you headed to a science center soon? Science centers and museums provide an excellent opportunity for families to make their own field trips. Your field trip destination could be a science and technology center or science museum, or a nature center, aquarium, planetarium, zoo, botanical garden, space theater, natural history museum, or children's museum.

To make the most of your visit, plan ahead by looking into special events and seeing what each center has to offer. Talk to your children about what interests them. But don't worry - you don't need to know all the answers or be an "expert," because each center has knowledgeable staff who will be happy to guide you through.

Interested in more? Check out these additional resources!

• Tips for Exploring a Science Center
  http://www.astc.org/members/tips.htm
  The Association of Science and Technology Centers, an organization of more than 550 members in 43 countries, offers excellent suggestions for how parents can make the most of their visit to a science museum.
• Museums + Learning: A Guide for Family Visits
  http://www.ed.gov/pubs/Museum/
  This online booklet from the U.S. Department of Education provides information on activities for families to do before, during, and after a museum visit.