The Discovery Museum does and will continue to create a new generation of budding scientists and energy literate youth. We accomplish this by pairing excellent curriculum with physical experiences designed to move the student beyond simple acquisition of information to application, synthesis, and evaluation of that information. This critical-thinking process is a key foundational skill necessary for success in science classes at all grade levels, and is critical to developing an informed citizenry. 

Learning about the science of alternate current electricity is much more engaging when you are standing inside an actual AC power plant (the Powerhouse building). Similarly, learning photosynthesis from a life-sized tree (the eTree exhibit) with leaves that mimic solar panels, or learning about Earth Science, energy, climate, and our relationship to the environment by manipulating data connected to a 3-D globe (the Magic Planet exhibit) is more engaging and more memorable for students of all ages. These are but a few examples of the unique experiences that the Discovery Museum will provide as a context for expanding young SUIT minds — and engage them in science.

New Colorado Academic Science Standards covered at the Museum include:

1. Apply an understanding that energy exists in various forms, and its transformation and conservation occur in processes that are predictable and measurable.
2. Analyze the relationship between structure and function in living systems at a variety of organizational levels, and recognize livings systems’ dependence on natural selection.
3. Describe how humans are dependent on the diversity of resources provided by the Earth and sun.
4. Observe, explain, and predict natural phenomena governed by Newton's laws of motion, acknowledging the limitations of their application to very small or very fast objects.
5. Apply an understanding of atomic and molecular structure to explain the properties of matter, and predict outcomes of chemical and nuclear reactions.
6. Describe and interpret how the Earth's geologic history and place in space are relevant to our understanding of the processes that have shaped our planet.