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This document and all Chabot Space & Science Center news releases may be found online at www.chabotspace.org under Press room.

Special Arbor Day / Earth Day Events at Chabot

Friday, April 25 – "Columbia" Memorial Tree Planting

Saturday, April 26 – "Particulates Matter!" – A Bay Area Air Quality Study

10 April 2003 – Oakland, CA: In two days full of memory and environmental awareness, Oakland's Chabot Space & Science Center will honor the earth and the heroes that soar above it. On "Arbor Day", Friday, April 25th, a Memorial Grove to honor the astronauts of the space shuttle "Columbia" will be planted near Chabot's main entrance. The following day, Saturday, April 26th, Chabot will sponsor a full day of environmentally related activities that include "Particulates Matter!"— a study of the Bay Area's air in a project co-sponsored by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

"A living memorial is the perfect way to honor our fallen astronauts and also, show how we honor the earth they served so well," said Chabot Executive Director Alexandra Barnett. The "Columbia" Memorial Planting, sponsored in part by the City of Oakland, will begin at 11:30am and include remarks by Barnett, representatives from the US Forest Service, NASA, the Israeli Consulate, and the Oakland City Council. Children from the Ecology Club at Joaquin Miller Elementary School will help plant the seven ‘Prairie Fire' Flowering Crabapple trees. This year marks the 20th anniversary that the City of Oakland has been recognized as an official "Tree City USA" by the National Arbor Day Association and celebrates Arbor Day on the last Friday in April. Additional information on National Arbor Day activities can be found at www.arborday.org.

"Earth Day" activities on April 26th will include: learning about the tools scientists use to study Earth's climate; building weather monitoring station instruments; racing solar cars; cooking with solar energy; examining creatures in a pond sample; viewing a worm composting system in action; making insect rubbings to take home; building projects out of recycled materials and viewing images of Earth from space. Community partners for the day's event include Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Friends of Sausal Creek, Mills College Botanical restoration Society, Articulation: Where Art Joins Science, and the Oakland Public Library.

Additionally, Chabot visitors will be invited to take part in a Bay Area-wide study of small particle air pollutants. They will be able to make a small particulate sampling kit to take home and bring back to Chabot later to examine the sample under a microscope. This study is in partnership with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

"Participating in our "Particulates Matter!" activity is not only a simple way to show children that particles are in the air we breathe, it's an activity that teaches what's polluting our air and ways individuals can help prevent it," said Luna Salaver, Bay Area Air Quality Management District Public Information Officer.

Currently on display at Chabot is "The World in Our Hands: Earth Images from River of Words", an unparalleled collection of children's art and poetry from the annual "River of Words®" contest, which explores the theme of watersheds, the environment, and planet Earth. The exhibit runs through June 1st.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Chabot Space & Science Center opened to the public on August 19, 2000. It is an innovative teaching and learning center focusing on astronomy and the inter-relationships of all the sciences. Its telescope and observatory complex, domed-screen Tien MegaDome Theater, Ask Jeeves Planetarium, exhibits and natural park setting are a place where students, teachers and the public can imagine, understand and learn to shape their future. Set amid thirteen trail-laced acres in Joaquin Miller Park, with glorious views of San Francisco Bay and the Oakland foothills, the $76-million complex offers a hands-on celebration of sights, sounds, and science.

Chabot Space & Science Center is the continuation and expansion of Oakland, California's public Chabot Observatory that has served San Francisco Bay Area schools and citizens with astronomy and science education programs for 117 years. The institution began in 1883 as the Oakland Observatory, through a gift from Anthony Chabot to the City of Oakland. The original Oakland Observatory was located in downtown Oakland, and provided public telescope viewing for the community. For decades, it served as the official timekeeping station for the entire Bay Area, measuring time with its transit telescope.

Chabot Space & Science Center is located at 10000 Skyline Blvd. in Oakland's Joaquin Miller Park. Open Tuesday-Sunday. General Admission is $8.00. Adults/$5.50 Youth and Senior. Children under 3 are admitted free; Students with ID receive a $1.00 discount. Admission to the Ask Jeeves Planetarium and Tien MegaDome Theater is extra. General admission to the galleries is FREE on the first Wednesday of each month (with an additional charge for Planetarium and Theater). Tickets may be purchased at the door, or by calling (510) 336-7373. Advance tickets are available on-line at www.ticketweb.com.

For more information, call (510) 336-7300, or visit www.chabotspace.org.