Academic adventures for kids and teens in the San Francisco Bay Area
If I had to pick one experience that had a profound effect on my views of the world, I could say my life was changed by A.T.O.M. Science Club. —Liam, Student Read more testimonials
Adventures Through Open Minds Science Club (A.T.O.M. Science Club) conducts academic adventures for kids and teens in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A.T.O.M. Science Club provides a breadth of science education that is unique in the Bay Area—maybe even in the US—in both its scope and the appeal of its hands-on field trips organized in cooperation with leading science institutions such as UC Berkeley, NASA, and Stanford University.
The science club was built on the idea that students from kindergarten through high school can grasp the fundamentals of physics and chemistry. Understanding these basic concepts brings science alive in ways that spark a lifelong love of learning. Once exposed to the basics, members bring their newly acquired knowledge to life through the science club’s one-of-a-kind opportunities for interacting with leading scientists.
The two slide shows below feature the scientists we have met and some of the adventures club members have experienced.
Our classes are now offered ONLINE. References to in-person events are from previous years. We hope to be able to meet again in person soon!
Meet the scientists
We meet the people who make real science happen… well-known scientists and adventurers such as astronaut Buzz Aldrin (second person to walk on the moon), Marian Diamond, (neuroanatomist who studied Einstein’s brain) and physicist Pief Panofsky (founder of SLAC).
Club members meet eminent scientists and visit leading-edge facilities doing real-world science, gain first-hand experience with scientific processes, and personally experience the wonders of the universe. The success of the club’s tailor-made field trips results from the verbal and academic preparation we do to give club members and scientist common ground for a rich and fulfilling experience.
Read a testament to the effectiveness of the A.T.O.M. Science Club approach in a post-field trip report (PDF) by UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering Department students, taken directly from the UC Berkeley website on January 9, 2008.
See our adventures
From sleeping over with astronauts at NASA Ames Research Center to watch the LCROSS impact on the moon… to turning The Dish at Stanford… at A.T.O.M. Science Club, we get out into the world for REAL science adventures!
Adventures Through Open Minds Science Club 