The Lawrence Hall of Science
The public science center of the University of California, Berkeley.
Wednesday–Sunday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Animal Discovery Zone 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
We’ll bring our science programs to you.
We partner with school districts to support science learning. We offer district-wide elementary, middle, and high school programs, either virtually or in-person.
We collaborate with a range of partners to innovate in science education. Together, we go further.
Search
Have you ever wondered what the future of energy looks like? In this program you will explore exciting real-world applications of solar energy while you will design and build solar-powered gadgets, from sun-charged solar cars to water fountains. In team-based hands-on design challenges, you will investigate electrical circuitry, discuss real world energy challenges, and hear from STEM professionals about their work and how it’s shaping our future. You will become familiar with the iterative design process and deepen your knowledge and understanding of the sustainable power of solar energy. Teens end the week by identifying a real-world challenge and designing and building a solar solution. Parents are invited at 4 p.m. on the last day to see and hear teens share their projects and receive their U.C. Berkeley certificate of completion.
Your days begin with gathering on campus and signing in to your respective program tracks. From there you head to your respective lab spaces and form an opening circle to frame the day, including a quick social check-in and content-related invitation to learning. Each day you get to engage in STEM-related explorations and investigations, sometimes in pairs and sometimes in small groups. You do things such as design, build, test, and improve prototypes of solar cars, and solar water fountains. Use engineering concepts, solar energy, and electrical circuitry to solve challenges. Midday, you take time to eat lunch on campus and enjoy some social downtime with peers in your track and other STEM tracks. In the afternoons, the investigations continue, as well as tours of UC Berkeley campus and hearing from STEM professionals about their work in sustainable technology and how they are solving real-world energy problems. Your STEM track content wraps up with a closing circle around 3:30 p.m. Afterward, you gather together for additional unique career pathway programming in mixed groups. This can include a U.C. Berkeley campus tour, a current student panel and Q&A, and other personal or professional development workshops. Programming concludes at 5 p.m. If you opt for the residential track, you will stay on campus for dinner and evening activities— both involving social and college preparedness—and then sleep in the U.C. Berkeley dorms.