Personally, I’m not interested in saving daylight. Some astronomers claim DST stands for darkness-squandering time, not daylight-saving time. We’ll just have to wait longer to see the stars each night. Fortunately, there are plenty of daytime and nighttime activities for people at Chabot Space & Science Center this spring.
There’s still time to sign up for Chabot’s science Saturday workshop for girls this month which features green model studio design. Girls in grades six to eight will design and build their own dream house using ecological materials. The Saturday workshop begins on Saturday. Sign up on our Web site at  or call the box office at 510-336-7373.
The three-day workshop is $165 or $150 for members and participants will take home their personally designed model. The last workshop in the series will be “Cars and Engines.” Check our Web site for more details.
Speaking of green things, Chabot is surrounded by the beautiful Redwood Regional Park. It’s a great place to enjoy a spring day. Roberts Park, right next to Chabot, has one of the area’s best play structures for kids. It also has great trails and picnic spots under shaded redwood trees. After playing in the park, wander over to Chabot for a snack and relax watching a planetarium or MegaDome show. During spring break week (March 24-28), we’ve expanded our hours and will be open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Celebrate Sun and Earth Day on March 29. Chabot’s interactive activities will focus on the sun, Earth and explore the special relationship between these two celestial bodies. Experience daytime solar telescope viewing, demonstrations of sun and Earth sciences, and special showings of the film, “Solarmax.” Activities are free with general admission.
Have you ever seen Saturn through a telescope? If you have, it probably left an impression. Saturn is a breathtaking sight in a telescope. Memories of looking at the “ringed planet” can last a lifetime. Saturn is in perfect position in the sky for observation right now. Hopefully, the cloudy weather is behind us and we’ll be viewing Saturn and other cosmic targets in our large telescopes at Chabot.
One of our telescopes is celebrating a birthday this year. Our stunning telescope “Leah” was first gazed through in 1883. An estimated 10,000 people looked at Halley’s comet through this telescope in 1910. Originally housed in downtown Oakland, Anthony Chabot himself donated it to the city of Oakland. See a part of history at Chabot and see through a part of history every weekend as our telescopes are open to the public Friday and Saturday nights. Save the date of June 21 for our 125th anniversary public celebration.
It’s not even spring yet, but it’s not too early to sign up your kids for Chabot’s Summer Space Explorers Camps. Weeklong full-day and half-day camps run July 7 through Aug. 15 and utilize the entire Science Center. Camp themes range from kitchen science, to dinosaurs, to astronaut training. See our Web site for a full description and age ranges. Members receive a discount on camps, birthday parties and facility rentals. Become a member on our Web site, , in person or on the phone by calling 510-336-7392. Check our Web site for information on all our events and see you up at Chabot!