Arizona

Arizona (ⁱ/ɛrɪˈzoʊnə/; /ærɪˈzoʊnə/) (Navajo: Hoozdo Hahoodzo; O'odham: Alĭ ṣonak) is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and of the Mountain West states. It is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, and one point in common with the southwestern corner of Colorado. Arizona's border with Mexico is 389 miles (626 km) long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California.

Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states to be admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912. It was previously part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain before being passed down to independent Mexico and later ceded to the United States after the Mexican–American War. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase.

Science center

Science centers or science centres are science museums that emphasize a hands-on approach, featuring interactive exhibits that encourage visitors to experiment and explore.

The first science center was Urania founded in Berlin in 1888 . The Academy of Science of Saint Louis (founded in 1856) created the Saint Louis Museum of Science and Natural History in 1959 (Saint Louis Science Center), but generally science centers are a product of the 1960s and later. In the United Kingdom, many of them were founded as Millennium projects, with funding from the National Lotteries Fund.

The first "science center" in the United States was the Science Center of Pinellas County, founded in 1959. The Pacific Science Center (one of the first large organizations to call itself a "science center" rather than a museum) opened in a Seattle World's Fair building in 1962. The Smithsonian Institution invited visitors into a new Discovery Room in its National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, where they could touch and handle formerly off-limits specimens. In 1969, Oppenheimer's Exploratorium opened in San Francisco, California, and the Ontario Science Centre opened near Toronto, Canada. By the early 1970s, COSI Columbus, then known as the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio, had run its first "camp-in."

Arizona Science Center

Arizona Science Center is focused on inspiring, educating, and entertaining people about science. The Center is located in Heritage and Science Park in the heart of downtown Phoenix. Home to over 350 permanent hands-on exhibits, the Center is able to provide their 400,000 annual visitors with interactive experiences. Aside from the permanent exhibitions, Arizona Science Center has featured a number of nationally traveling exhibitions. Along with daily demonstrations throughout the Center, the Center provides shows in the Dorrance Planetarium and in the new, five-story, giant screen IMAX Theater. This non-profit corporation provides special educational programs and science activities for visitors of all ages including, summer science camp, Adult’s Night Out, thematic events, Stroller Science pre-school programs, and the Science on Wheels outreach program.

History

Arizona Science Center, formerly the Arizona Museum of Science & Technology, was conceived in 1980 as a pilot science center by the Junior League of Phoenix. Incorporated as a private, non-profit corporation in 1982, the Science Center opened its doors to the public in 1984 as a small 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) storefront exhibition space located in the parking garage level of the downtown Phoenix Hyatt. The Science Center’s first year of operation saw more than 87,000 visitors. Some of the original hands-on exhibits are still found in the Center today.