IMAX Film Library for Field Trips
Through IMAX technology, journey to distant lands, outer space, the depths of the ocean or even through time without leaving your seat. Experience the immersive power of The Tech Museum's IMAX Dome Theater. See, hear and feel more with crystal clear images up to eight stories high and 13,000 watts of wrap-around digital surround sound.
Please refer to our calendar for regular showing IMAX films. If you are a group of 50 or more, the 10am and 11am time slots can be reserved with a film from our library of your choosing. 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. shows and IMAX films are based upon availability.
The IMAX Library Films
The following films are available to groups of 50 or more at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Hurricane on the Bayou
A powerfully moving large format film unlike any other, Hurricane on the Bayou carries students behind today's news headlines on a journey deep into the soul-stirring heart of Louisiana - before, during and after the unprecedented devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Unfolding against the poignant backdrop of the most costly natural disaster in America's history, MacGillivray Freeman's IMAX® cameras follow a group of four musicians, both legendary and rising, as they explore the electrifying culture of New Orleans: speed through the beautiful, alligator-filled bayous on airboats; recount their heart-wrenching, personal stories of Katrina; and most of all, bring the focus to the rapidly disappearing wetlands that are New Orleans' first line of defense against deadly storms. Vanishing at an astonishing rate of one acre every 38 minutes according to the U.S. Geological Survey, the wealth, cultural vitality and very future of New Orleans depend on the preservation of these wetlands.
California Content Standards: Grade 1: 3b, 3c; Grade 3: 1a, 1d, 3.0, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3.0, Grade 4: 3b, 5a, 5c; Grade 5: 3.0, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 4.0, 4a, 4b, 4c; Grade 6: 4d, 4e
Forces of Nature
There are nearly 500,000 earthquakes, over 1,000 tornadoes, and about 50 volcanoes erupting around the world each year. The science stories in Forces of Nature are augmented with computer graphics sequences designed to illustrate the inner workings of these forces.
Forces of Nature lets you experience what it's like when the ground shakes, mountains explode and the sky turns black and violent. Follow scientists on their groundbreaking quests to understand how these natural disasters are triggered. Learn what is being done to predict and prepare for these events — and minimize their destructive forces.
California Content Standards: Grade 4: 4, 5, 5a; Grade 5: 3, 3c; Grade 6: 1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 1g, 2, 2d, 3, 3a, 3c, 4, 4c, 4d, 4e; Grade 7: 4, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4f
Classes see Forces of Nature for FREE! |
Coral Reef Adventure
In Coral Reef Adventure follow the real-life expedition of ocean explorers and underwater filmmakers Howard and Michele Hall. The Halls guide us to the islands and sun-drenched waters of the South Pacific to document the health and beauty of coral reefs.
Visit reefs that are flourishing and see many interesting reef inhabitants. See how reef animals rely on each other in surprising ways. But sadly, also swim through vast stretches of bleached coral boneyards, and learn how our actions may cause these devastating results. Coral Reef Adventure highlights the growing global effort to understand, appreciate and protect our planet's coral reefs.
California Content Standards: Grade 4: 2a, 2b, 3a; Grade 6: 2a, 2c; Grade 7: 3e; Grade 8: 8; Grades 9-12 (Biology): 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e; (Earth Science): 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 7a, 7b
Everest
Everest is the dramatic true story of a team of climbers who found hope, strength and triumph in the wake of tragedy. Their successful ascent of Mount Everest just days after fellow mountaineers and friends died there is a compelling story about the human spirit and a mountain they love, respect and sometimes fear.
In Everest travel across creaking icefalls and gaping chasms, up dangerous, towering cliffs, through a harrowing rescue, and into the danger zone of oxygen-thin altitude. The film also reveals how this tallest mountain was formed and continues to evolve, how high altitude challenges a climber's physical and mental capabilities.
California Content Standards: Grade 6: 1, 1a, 1e, Grades 9-12 (Biology/ Life Science): 9, 9.a, 9.b, Grades 9-12 (Earth Science): 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 6c
Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West
With stunning aerial cinematography and meticulous recreations, Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West dramatizes the legendary early 19th-century expedition that crossed the uncharted North American West. Join a mission that tested their courage; an expedition that challenged their resolve; and a journey that shaped a nation.
Travel back 200 years in Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West to experience this monumental quest- to find a water passageway to the Pacific Ocean and describe for science the wonders of the West. Along with Meriwether Lewis & William Clark embark on the adventure, danger and beauty of the unmapped West.
California Content Standards: Grade 3: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3; Grade 5: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.8, 5.8.3; Grade 8: 8.6.1, 8.8, 8.8.2, 8.12.1, 8.12.2
Mystery of the Nile
Mystery of the Nile is a breathtaking cinematic adventure that takes you on an expedition down the world's greatest and most deadly river, the Blue Nile. For 114 days, a team of explorers face challenges as they make their way along all 3,260 miles of the river to become the first in history to complete a full descent of the Blue Nile from source to sea.
Audiences will feel like they are riding on the team's 16-foot rafts as they crash through the rapids in Ethiopia's remote desert canyons. They will feel the intense heat as the team traverses the desert plains of Sudan. Mystery of the Nile also explores lesser-known Nubian kingdoms- Sudan and Ethiopia.
California Content Standards: Grade 4: 5, 5a, 5b, 5c; Grade 5: 3, 3d, 3e; Grade 6: 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d
- Educator Resources - http://www.nilefilm.com/guide.htm
Blue Planet
From the orbit of the U.S. space shuttle, where the curvature of the globe and the shape of its continents stand out sharply, Earth is revealed as a place of constant, even violent change. It is also delicate and fragile, unique in the solar system and possibly the entire universe. How did Earth begin? How is it changing, and what is mankind's role in these changes?
California Content Standards: Grade 4: 5a, 5b, 5c; Grade 5: 3b, 3c, 3d; Grade 6: 1a, 1b, 1c, 1e, 2a, 2b, 2d
Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure
Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure - be transported back to the late Cretaceous and accompany a team of paleontologists as they work to solve an 82 million year old mystery. Travel through the most dangerous oceans in history. Along the way, you'll encounter long-necked plesiosaurs, giant turtles, fierce sharks, and the most dangerous sea monster of all, the mosasaur. Discover exactly what happened to the most awe-inspiring creatures of all time.
California Content Standards: Grade 1: 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d; Grade 2: 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 3a, 3d, 3e; Grade 3: 3a, 3b, 3e; Grade 4: 2b, 3b, 5a, 5b, 5c
Adventures in Wild California
Take a virtual expedition that will send you careening down an icy mountain snowboarders; twirling above the clouds with skysurfers; swimming with otters; excavating a thirty-story tall Giant Sequoia and emerging from under the spray of one of California's biggest surfable waves.
California Content Standards: Kindergarten: 2a, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c; Grade 1: 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 3a, 3b, 3c; Grade 2: 1c, 1e, 2a, 2e, 3b, 3e; Grade 3: 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e
Under the Sea
Actor Jim Carrey is the narrator/tour guide for a stunning journey into the world's most beautiful and remote coral reefs. Be transported to some of the most exotic and isolated undersea locations on Earth, including Southern Australia, New Guinea and others in the Indo-Pacific region, and experience face-to-face encounters with some of the most mysterious and stunning creatures of the sea. It offers a uniquely inspirational and entertaining way to explore the impact that global climate change has had on ocean wilderness.
California Content Standards: Grade 2: 2.0; Grade 3: 3.0, Grade 4: 3.0, 3a, 3b, 3d; Grade 5: 3.0, 3a, 3b;Grade 6: 2c, 2d, 5.0, 5a; Grade 7: 3e; Grades 9-12: Ecology 6a, 6e, 6f, Earth Sciences 5.0, 5d
Destiny in Space - Limited Engagement
Destiny in Space gives viewers an exciting glimpse into the future of space exploration. Featuring giant-screen images of the space shuttle in orbit around the Earth and thrilling fly-overs of Mars and Venus, the film focuses on the dramatic partnership of humans and robots working in space. An IMAX® camera deployed via satellite provides rare views of the shuttle, in its entirety, orbiting 200 miles above Earth. Audiences are with the astronauts as they work in Spacelab and outside the shuttle in the hazardous vacuum of space, performing a spectacularly successful servicing mission of the Hubble Space Telescope.
California Content Standards: Grade 2: 3c, 3d, 3e; Grade 3: 4.0, 4a, 4c, 4d; Grade 5: 1h,5a, 5b, 5c; Grade 6: 1b, 1e, 2.0, 2d, 5.0, 5c, 5d, 5e, 6a, 6b; Grade 7: 4a, 4b, 4d; Grades 8: 4.0, 4a, 4b, 4d, 4e
Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun
A white-knuckle adventure that puts you in the front seat of some of the wildest rides ever created. Exploring the science and psychology behind our need for thrill seeking, the film traces the history of thrill rides, beginning with early roller coasters. It shows how the development of the motion simulator ride, first designed for the aerospace industry, has become one of the most exciting innovations in recent film history.
California Content Standards: Grade 2: 1.0, 1b, 1d; Grade 3: 1c; Grade 4: 1.0; Grade 6: 3a, 3c; Grade 7: 5a, 5b, 5c; Grade 8: 1.0, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 1e, 2.0, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2e, 2f, 2g: Grades 9-12: Physics 1.0, 1a, 1b, 1d, 1e, 1f, 1g, 2.0, 2c, 2e, 2f, 2g, 2h
Mummies: Secrets of the Pharoahs
Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs follows researchers and explorers as they piece together the archeological and genetic clues of Egyptian mummies. These relics of the past create a window into the fascinating and mysterious world of the pharaohs. In addition to increasing our understanding of the culture, religion, medicine, and daily life thousands of years ago, scientists today are reconstructing mummy DNA and deciphering ancient texts to gain insight into modern human genetics and advance medical treatments. To unwrap the secrets of the pharaohs is to perhaps glimpse the future of our own civilization.
Space Station
Transport your students two hundred miles above the Earth to the International Space Station. Space Station takes students to the heart of the action as the daring astronaut construction crews put together the largest and most complex structure ever assembled in space. Inside, you will float alongside the first people to inhabit the new station while they set up house, add new modules and perform scientific experiments, all while experiencing the thrill of life in zero-gravity.