2008 Discovery Series Overnight Family Adventures:
Locations and Dates

Please join us for these unique overnight programs specially arranged for CTY students and their families. See below for registration information.

Location

International Spy Museum: Washington, DC
The Museum doors have been locked for the night, but behind the shadows a group of exclusive recruits stand ready to begin a night of top-secret spy training. Perfect your alias and cover-story, check in at “Border Patrol," and prepare for a night of intrigue and adventure. Your mission begins with taking a secret identity and gathering intelligence using real spy skills. During the night, you will transform yourself through disguise; make and break secret codes; interrogate real spies; and hunt for a mole in your ranks! Meanwhile, the adults will be busy with their own super-clandestine mission, the details of which are too sensitive to reveal. As day breaks, enemy agents will be exposed in a dramatic finale. Recruits will reclaim their real identities, and this exciting mission will be accomplished!

Registration for both the February and September programs has reached maximum capacity and is closed.

Saturday,
February 9 –
Sunday,
February 10

and

Saturday,
September 27 –
Sunday,
September 28

Oregon Zoo: Portland, OR
Tour the zoo grounds at night and see big cats, sea lions, elephants, giraffes, crocodiles and more! Go behind-the-scenes of the giraffe house for an eye-to-eye encounter. Get up-close with insects and reptiles at a live presentation that might include hissing cockroaches, lizards, or snakes. Go behind-the-scenes of the hospital and commissary which is the food distribution center for all the animals. Learn about wildlife during a private, behind-the-scenes visit with live show animals that might include a falcon, eagle, or kinkajou. Make an "enrichment toy" and watch what the animal does with it. Enjoy this fun, educational experience of getting to see animals under the cloak of darkness, one of their liveliest times. This program includes a pizza dinner, snack, and light breakfast.

Saturday,
March 1 –
Sunday,
March 2

Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University: New Haven, CT
Consider the origins of life in this marvelous adventure! After an evening full of engaging workshops and discoveries, you’ll sleep among the prehistoric in the Great Hall of the Dinosaurs. Whether you are involved in a behind-the-scenes look at the ornithology, herpetology, or paleontology collections; learning how fossil preparators extract dinosaur bones from the surrounding matrix; meeting Yale scientists to learn how their research is helping answer questions about the evolutionary history of the planet; or participating in a challenging game, you are sure to have an amazing overnight experience!

Registration for this program has reached maximum capacity and is closed.

Saturday,
April 5 –
Sunday,
April 6

National Aquarium in Baltimore: Baltimore, MD
Coral reefs, vibrant fish, exotic creatures, and a jungle journey await you on this overnight adventure! Travel from Maryland ponds to South American rain forests to the Australian Northern Territory as you explore the Aquarium’s galleries after dark. See beyond the exhibits in a behind-the-scenes tour, participate in educational activities, and sleep with the rays and fish snoozing nearby. Awaken to a trip through the rain forest to view birds eating their breakfast. This program includes a pizza dinner, snack, and light breakfast.

Registration for both the April and September programs has reached maximum capacity and is closed.

Saturday,
April 12 –
Sunday,
April 13

and

Saturday,
September 13 –
Sunday,
September 14

USS Constellation: Baltimore, MD
Live the life of a nineteenth-century sailor! Upon boarding the ship, male and female students become “ship’s boys” and parents become “landsmen.” You will “learn the ropes” by developing a familiarity with the basics of life aboard a man-of-war, such as: bracing the yard, turning the capstan, and drilling with guns of the broadside battery. The evening program will also explore the recreational activities of sailors. Morning activities allow students to continue to experience some of the work that was required of sailors, which also helps in the maintenance of the historic ship. Participants will be sleeping in vessel hammocks; you will need to bring your own pillow and blanket. An evening and morning meal, reflecting the common foods of the time, will be provided.

Registration for this program has reached maximum capacity and is closed.

Saturday,
April 19 –
Sunday,
April 20

NYU School of Medicine Department of Environmental Medicine and Sterling Forest State Park: Tuxedo, NY
Don a lab coat and become a scientist for a day...and a night! Planned activities include: conducting a DNA experiment under the guidance of a leading Genetic Toxicologist; extracting DNA from plants with common kitchen items; determining how clean the air we breathe is; and finding and growing bacteria from the world around us. Also, take a pond walk and a mine tour with an experienced park ranger who will help you identify the many different species of aquatic life plus the abundant variety of plants, animals, and birds in the forest. This dynamic program will leave you in awe and wanting to know more! It includes a pizza dinner, snack, and light breakfast.

Registration for this program has reached maximum capacity and is closed.

Maritime Museum of San Diego: San Diego, CA
Relive the experiences of 1870 immigrants as you sign aboard as a sailor on the Star of India and take an imaginary journey from England to the United States. Check-in begins at 2:30 p.m., followed by a program full of shipboard activities, which might include hoisting barrels and sails, riding a boatswain's chair, standing watch, and helping cook meals. Through role-playing and cooperative learning, this voyage will challenge you intellectually, physically, and emotionally. In the morning, sailors will leave the decks of Star of India and board the Californian, the official State of California tall ship, where participants use teamwork to take the ship out for a sail on San Diego Bay. Dinner on Saturday night, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday are included. The program ends at 12:00 p.m.

Registration for this program has reached maximum capacity and is closed.

Chabot Space & Science Center: Oakland, CA
Discover your place in the universe during this activity-packed overnight adventure! Learn about the individual planets of our Solar System; investigate what makes up a comet; and hold in your hand a meteorite formed billions of years ago in space. After viewing the state-of-the-art, Ask Jeeves Planetarium Show, go outside and discover for yourself the constellations and celestial objects of the night sky during a private observing session on one of the largest telescopes in the country. In the morning, you’ll become an astronaut on a two-hour, simulated Mars Mission. Science becomes fun at Chabot, an innovative learning center that focuses on the interrelationships of all sciences and where you will discover how to shape your future through science! This program will begin around 3:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and end at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. It includes a pizza dinner, snack, and light breakfast.

Registration for this program has reached maximum capacity and is closed.

Saturday,
June 7 –
Sunday,
June 8

Living Classrooms Foundation at Douglass-Myers Maritime Museum: Baltimore, MD
Can you lift a 40 lb. barrel? Caulk a ship? Steam-bend wood? Or sail a traditional Bay vessel? Experience all these activities and more when you join us for an overnight adventure at the Frederick Douglass - Isaac Myers Maritime Park and Museum. Prepare to lose yourself in time as you work in a 19^th century shipyard and take part in the skilled jobs that built our country's wooden sailing ships. Your adventure will conclude with an exploration of the Patapsco River aboard one of Living Classrooms Foundation’s Chesapeake Bay vessels. While aboard, you will learn about the boat’s contributions to Bay history while participating in the hands-on operation of the ship.

Saturday,
September 6 –
Sunday,
September 7