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 Hackworth 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.
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
ARABIA
The giant-screen film, ARABIA, is a thought-provoking learning adventure about a land steeped in myth and mystery. In the film unfolds the story of an extreme desert environment that, through its people's thirst for knowledge, the riches of global trade and a deep devotion to faith, has become one of the most powerful, yet least understood, regions on Earth today. Audiences will ride the dunes with a camel caravan, dive into the treasure-laden Red Sea, explore the ruins of a towering lost city, hurtle back into the Islamic golden age of invention, join three million Muslims on the hajj pilgrimage, and get to know the young Arabians transforming tomorrow's world. The result is a surprising and illuminating journey that not only unveils an oft-hidden world full of discovery, but also serves as a bridge between two cultures that have long misunderstood one another.
California Content Standards: Grade 3: 3., 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e (Science), 3.1 (History-SS); Grade 4: 3a, 4, 5, 5a, 5c (Science); Grade 5: 3., 3a, 4, 4a, 4c (Science), 1, 2, 3 (History-SS);Grade 6: 1, 1a, 2, 4, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 5e, 6, 6a, 6b, 6c (Science), 1, 2, 3, 6.2 (History-SS); Grade 7: 4, 4a, 4c, 4d, 4e, (Science) 1, 2, 3, 7.2.1, 7.2.2, 7.2.5, 7.2.6 (History-SS); Grade 8: 1, 2, 3, (History-SS); Grades 9-12: 6, 6a, 6e, 6g (Biology); 3, 5, 5a, 5f, 6, 6a, 6c (Earth Science); 1, 3, 4, (History-SS).
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
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
Grand Canyon: River at Risk
Join us for an exciting white-water adventure down the Colorado River. Led by river advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and author Wade Davis learn about about this historic river and the global water issues that threaten it. As Kennedy and Davis guide their crew though the twists and turns of the Colorado River, they also explore the complex issues and offer real solutions for this and other rivers at risk.
Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk is your chance to enjoy a spectacular adventure alongside Kennedy, Davis, their daughters, and Shan Watahomigie, the first Native American to become a National Park Ranger and river guide. Narrated by Robert Redford; music by the Dave Matthews Band.
California Content Standards: Grade 3: 3.2 Grade 4: 5,a,b,c Grade 5: 3 a,d Grade 6: 2a,b, Grade 7: 4a,
Hubble
Experience the gripping story – full of hope, crushing disappointment, dazzling ingenuity, bravery, and triumph – in Hubble. Journey through distant galaxies to explore the grandeur and mysteries of our celestial surroundings, and accompany space-walking astronauts as they attempt some of the most difficult and important tasks in the history of NASA.
California Content Standards: Grade 3: 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e, Grade 5: 5a, 5b, 5c, Grade 6: 4a, 4b, Grade 7: 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e, 6f, 6g, Grade 8: 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e
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
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
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
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