CuriOdyssey is a science museum and zoo in San Mateo,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

containing animals and interactive science exhibits. CuriOdyssey is home to nearly 100 rescued animals, most native to California, that cannot survive in the wild. CuriOdyssey's exhibits include a science playground where kids play with scientific phenomena. CuriOdyssey is a member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) and the

Association of Zoos and Aquariums The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA), is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aqu ...

(AZA). CuriOdyssey also participates in th
Museums for All
program, offering free admission and reduced-cost membership to qualifying families.

History

CuriOdyssey was formerly Coyote Point Museum for Environmental Education, and Coyote Point Museum. Located at 1651 Coyote Point Drive in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

, it is part of the Coyote Point Recreation Area, which overlooks the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

. The museum was founded in 1954 as the San Mateo County Junior Museum and was housed in a

Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated galvanized steel with a semi-circular cross-section. The design was developed in the United States based on the Nissen hut introduced by the British during World War I. Hund ...

on the point. It was renamed "Coyote Point Museum for Environmental Education" in 1974, and the main museum building opened in 1981. In 1991, the museum opened its wildlife exhibits to show live animals that represented the ecosystems of San Mateo County. In July 2006, the museum made its $745,000 deficit public. In August, it announced the organization was considering two proposals to save the museum: one from "Campaign to Save Coyote Point Museum," and the other from the "11th Hour Project," which proposed to scrap the museum and build an education centre for global warming. In 30 days, the Campaign to Save Coyote Point Museum raised $540,247 in pledges from 776 donors, with an additional pledge from the TomKat Foundation of $500,000 over four years. In September 2006, they officially took over management of the museum. Rachel Meyer, formerly executive director of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo and Chief Curator of Exhibits at the Exploratorium, was named the new executive director of CuriOdyssey (then Coyote Point Museum) on March 19, 2007. With Meyer's arrival, the organization re-oriented to focus on young children, offering them direct, life-charting experiences with science and nature. On January 15, 2011, Coyote Point Museum officially unveiled its new name, CuriOdyssey. CuriOdyssey installed two public art installations in 2013. The first, designed by Eric Maschwitz and mounted on the exterior of the building, consists of more than 200 pinwheels, illustrating the wind currents at Coyote Point. The second, created by Mark Brest van Kempen, consists of more than 100 weather vanes.

Exhibits

The museum delivers education programs, science exhibits, and wildlife viewing and interactions to give young visitors an introduction to the sciences and natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area. * Science Exhibits – 50+ hands-on science exhibits designed specifically for young visitors invite children and families to explore and experiment with natural phenomena including gravity, light, perception, lift and more. * Wildlife Habitats and Animal Ambassadors – 20 naturalistic habitats house nearly 100 non-releasable animals native to California, including a

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

, a river otter,

Virginia opossum The Virginia opossum (''Didelphis virginiana''), also known as the North American opossum, is a member of the opossum family found from southern Canada to northern Costa Rica, making it the northernmost marsupial in the world and the only marsup ...

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

gray fox The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener (biology), congener, the diminutive island fox ...

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

s, owls, western toad, turkey vultures,

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

s and others. Visitors can wind through a tunnel that lets them see into dens and interior enclosures, and then walk back around the outside to see how the animals live in the wild. Weekend wildlife presentations introduce individuals to the 50 additional Animal Ambassadors that keepers present for young visitors to see and (sometimes) touch. These education animals include birds of prey, snakes, a

blue-tongued skink Blue-tongued skinks comprise the Australasian genus ''Tiliqua'', which contains some of the largest members of the skink family (biology), family (Scincidae). They are commonly called blue-tongued lizards or simply blue-tongues or blueys in Aust ...

and much else. * Aviary – walk-through facility that houses over a dozen non-releasable, native California birds. * Gardens – of primarily native plants including a

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

garden and

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

habitat.

Education

The museum offers a range of hands-on programs designed for school and group educators in the sciences, as well as programs for the general public that help visitors explore, discover, and interact with nature and natural phenomena. The CuriOdyssey Mobile Museum and Animal Ambassadors regularly visit public parks as well as schools and other sites by special arrangement.

Gallery

File:CuriOdyssey Indoor Science Exhibits.jpg, CuriOdyssey Indoor Science Exhibits File:I'm here, I'll check it out. (25812242043).jpg, Entrance to CuriOdyssey File:Colorful CuriOdyssey science exhibits.jpg, Colorful Science for Kids

References

External links

* {{authority control Zoos in California Museums in San Mateo County, California Museums established in 1954 Nature centers in California Natural history museums in California San Mateo, California