Liberty Science Center

Liberty Science Center

Our friendship with the LSC will promote three modes of delivering the STEM curriculum:

Laboratory Workshops at the Liberty Science Center

Extended Laboratory Workshops is a thematic program conducted at LSC lasting between one and two days for up to thirty students and their teachers. Participants immerse themselves in hands-on, project-based activities that combine the LSC’s resources (for example, exhibitions or films) with actual, facilitated classroom discussions. School teachers help facilitate these classroom sessions under the guidance of the Science Educator, maximizing the impact of each classroom session.  Extended Laboratory Workshops presents an opportunity for students to become immersed in the adventure of science learning by spending an extended period of time at Liberty Science Center, providing them enriching STEM experiences. Each Extended Laboratory Workshop supports standards-based classroom curricula and multiple learning styles and can be customized to fit specific educational needs. In addition to customization, this flexible method of delivery serves as a prime venue for focused discussion on available technical and scientific careers.

Electronic Field Trips

Electronic Field Trips (EFTs) are interactive lessons broadcast live from Liberty Science Center and delivered directly to students in school via videoconferencing technology. Two staff instructors lead each 45-60 minute session, providing personalized attention as students conduct their own specific experiments along with the instructor. EFTs align with classroom curricula and National Science Education Standards.

Live From

Liberty Science Center’s Live From™ Surgical Program is an award-winning series of programs that use videoconferencing to connect over 5,000 students each year to hospital surgical suites in order to watch live surgery – Cardiac Bypass, Neurosurgery, Kidney Transplant, Robotic Surgery and more. This onsite program offers students a unique opportunity to observe and interact with a real-life surgical team and experience the science of the surgical world. The Live From™ Surgical Program brings students inside a hospital surgical suite through videoconferencing in our Jennifer A. Chalsty Center. Students experience a variety of real-time, live surgeries including:

  • Cardiac Bypass: Morristown Medical Center
  • Students watch bypass surgery, performed using blood vessels, to improve coronary circulation. The program focuses on surgical procedure, risk factors for coronary artery disease, and careers in medicine
  • Neurosurgery: Overlook Hospital
  • Students discuss the anatomy of the brain and nervous system as they observe a surgical procedure which may include removal of brain tumors and vertebrae surgery
  • Kidney Transplant: St. Barnabas Hospital
  • Students watch removal of a healthy kidney from a donor and its transplantation to a recipient. The program focuses on surgery, kidney disease, careers in the field, and organ and tissue donation
  • Robotic Surgery: Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
  • Students watch robotic surgery with the DaVinci System™. The program focuses on new technological advances in the operating room and careers in health, medicine, materials, and engineering design
  • Total Knee Replacement: Jersey City Medical Center
  • The body’s largest joints, knees suffer from degeneration more frequently than many others. As the surgery progresses, students examine real surgical tools and equipment
  • Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery (pre-recorded): Morristown Medical Center
  • Appearing in person, Dr. Samara Friedman discusses pre-recorded surgeries which include the treatment of bone fractures, arthroscopic surgery of the shoulder or knee, etc.

Cameras and microphones allow students to see, hear and interact with an entire surgical team. For two hours, students are immersed in a one-of-a-kind learning experience that enhances their knowledge and understanding of anatomy and physiology, lifestyle choices that affect health, the diversity of careers in the medical field, and research and technological advances in health and medicine.

The program provides students with the ability to ask the surgical team questions, forming an educational experience that extends past the lessons of a theoretical classroom and straight into the applied science of an operating room. The videoconferencing format of the Live From™ Surgical Program brings resources and experiences from beyond the physical building directly to onsite audiences, opening a unique window into real-life situations that stimulates young minds and encourages personal discovery of the relevance of traditional academic studies.

STEMCivics students will have classes at the LSC at least one day per month. To maximize the travel time, teachers will have microphones on the buses and students will access their primary learning digital resource (e.g., Chromebook).