Get ready for an eye-opening fun and informative journey beginning this month as the California Surf Museum explores the many surprising connections between science, its applications, and the advancement of modern surfing. Funded by a City of Oceanside COVID-19 Nonprofit Grant, this new multi-media exhibit is designed to engage all visitors, regardless of their familiarity with surfing.
Carefully curated to comply with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) and the California Next Generation Science Standards, this new exhibit is also an appropriate learning tool for students from elementary school through high school and beyond.
This entertaining and educational display highlights wave energy, tides, types of surf breaks and conditions as well as custodianship of our oceans, explained through a series of charts, diagrams, photographs, art, and the use of video monitors. By blending history and science, the display covers a wide variety of information designed to engage all visitors.
“While modern science is forever looking for explanations of what goes on in the natural world, modern day surfers have been at the ready to apply this knowledge where they can in advancing in the art of riding waves,” says Jim Kempton, President of the California Surf Museum’s Board of Directors in making the announcement. “As early as the mid-1940s, California surfing trailblazer Bob Simmons, a former Cal Tech student, was consulting hydrographic coastal navigation charts to discover formally unknown surf sites. He also was applying technological advances found in a Navy, MIT-led, World War II study intended to improve the speed and maneuverability of military boats in launching a revolutionary new phase in surfboard design and materials. I believe this beautifully realized, important new exhibit explores this surfing/science connection in a way that will enlighten and entertain all museum visitors. We are proud to present it.”
Kim Dwinell, author of a book on the same subject titled The Science of Surfing, says “I think it’s super important to remember that WE are part of nature. When we surf, we intersect with the physics and energy that starts as a storm out at sea, is sculpted into a wave from the shape of the underwater floor of our beach, and is influenced by the phase of the moon. Acknowledging and understanding this keeps us connected to our planet in a very primal and healthy way.”
To attend the opening from 5:00-7:00 p.m. on May 15th, please RSVP to 760-805-0751. For planned scheduled field trip visits during museum operating hours (10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) teachers will receive (prior to their visit) a Teacher/Student Packet about the exhibit which includes background notes, lesson plan formats with activities, and a copy of Dwinell’s book, The Science of Surfing. Each student will also receive memorable artifacts related to the exhibit. Please make field trip reservations at surfmuseum.org & education & field trip request.
About the California Surf Museum
The California Surf Museum was founded in 1986 and has been in operation for over three decades serving tens of thousands of annual visitors from over 40 nations around the globe. With a permanent collection which chronicles the history of surfboards and wave-riding, the museum also offers many revolving exhibits each year. In its current museum-quality space, it has acquired a rare set of archives and collections gathered over more than 30 years, comprising one of the world’s richest troves of surfing history.
The California Surf Museum serves as an international repository and resource center on the lifestyle sport of surfing by capturing, preserving, and chronicling its art, culture and heritage for the education and enjoyment of current and future generations. The California Surf Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located at 312 Pier View Way, Oceanside, CA 92054; phone (760) 721-6876 or email csm@surfmuseum.org.
Please visit the website at surfmuseum.org. Open daily 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; closed major holidays and for special events.
