Intel Museum, Santa Clara
Museum address:
Intel Museum
2200 Mission College Boulevard
Santa Clara, CA 95054
408-765-0503
Museum Site: http://www.intel.com/about/companyinfo/museum/index.htm
Type Of Museum:
Science, Hardware, Chip design
About Museum:
The Intel Museum is located in the Robert Noyce Building at Intel’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California—the heart of Silicon Valley. Admission and parking both are free. The museum, usually is open during business hours in weekdays, see the site for more details. The museum was started in the early 1980’s as an internal project at Intel to record its history. It opened to the public in 1992, later being expanded in 1999 to triple its size and add a store. It has exhibits about how semiconductor chip technology works, both as self-paced exhibits and by reservation as grade-school educational programs
Students learn about Intel microprocessor history, silicon chip design, and chip fabrication. Museum staff guide students through the complex world of silicon technology to help them understand how Intel is changing the way we live, work, and play. Interactive exhibits encourage students to explore concepts in a fun and educational manner. School and youth turs are offered.
Hands on Classes offered:
- Binary Beading (grade 2): Gives an understanding of how computers store information. Students use beads to represent the on and off state of a switch, patterning their initials into keychains using “binary code.”
- Who Done It? (grade 3): Maximizes the use of “The Scientific Method” with hypothesis, data collection, data analysis, and conclusion. By using ohm meters, students solve a mystery that requires them to examine “clues” and measure electrical resistance to determine “who done it?”
- Schematics, Switches, and Circuits (grades 4 to 5): Offers an understanding of electrical circuits by letting students work with wires, batteries, bulbs, and switches. Students decode basic schematics to build simple circuits and much more.
- Garbage In, Garbage Out (grades 6 to 12): Creates student teams that focus on group problem-solving and writing instruction sets for putting together a puzzle ball
Visit:
Self-paced visits are always welcome. Drop-in requests for guided tours will be accommodated, if possible. However, advanced reservation is recommended.
Museum maps are offered in Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. Guided group tours are offered daily by advanced reservation. School and youth group field trips can request tours geared for specific grade curriculums.
Resources:
Museum FAQ: http://www.intel.com/museum/faq.htm
Online Exhibits: http://www.intel.com/about/companyinfo/museum/exhibits/index.htm