Solids, Liquids, and Gases

Grades TK-6

What happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar in a gigantic test tube…and then try to contain it? What sub-zero substance has the ability to shrink an inflated balloon down to nothing, or even make a plant as delicate as glass? What is dry-ice and what does it do?! Discover the answer to these questions, and more, through the phase-changing, mind-bending world of solids, liquids, and gases!

Shocking Nature of Wildfires

Grades K-8

Have you ever experienced a thunderstorm? Do you know how fires burn? Join us to learn more about how charges can impact the world around us through several bright and explosive demonstrations. Spark an interest in electricity and fire safety in this spectacular show!

Motion Commotion

Grades TK/K

Students explore the ups and downs of force and motion through playful investigations with balls and creative building materials. They experiment with how to use the materials to make a ball move, and they become familiar with the engineering design process as they design, build, test, and revise structures to solve a design challenge.

Make it Move

Grades 1-2

Students engage in problem solving as they make inventions using simple hydraulic systems. They think like engineers as they design, build, test, and redesign their models. Open-ended investigations with specialized materials and tools focus students on cause and effect relationships and inspire them to create innovative solutions.

Slime

Grades 1-2

Is slime a solid, a liquid, or something in between? Students consider the differences between these states of matter and discuss their properties, creating a working definition. The young chemists measure and mix liquids, categorize the slimy results, and get to take their colorful concoctions home.

Linkages and Moving Toys

Grades 1-2

Students engage in problem-solving as they explore linkages in this hands-on engineering design activity. They design and build moving toys using two-dimensional mechanical linkages and test them for performance.

Engineering w/Hydraulics

Grades 3-5 & 6-8

Students are introduced to engineering and properties of fluids as they envision and build a hydraulic contraption. This experience focuses on students’ defining problems, designing and evaluating solutions, and assessing, discussing, and redesigning their creations.

Squid: The Inside Story

Grades 3-5 & 6-8

How do squid swim? Catch prey? Eat? Reproduce? Is ink a means to escape predators? These are just some of the questions students will come up with when they observe squid swimming, eating, and reproducing. Through external explorations, observations, and dissection of a fresh squid, students will find evidence to answer their own questions and explain the functions of various structures they find on and in their squid.

Circuit Solutions

Grades 3-5 & 6-8

There’s a heat wave, and the cooling fans of Hot Town Elementary School aren’t working very well. Is there a way to make the fans run better to keep the school cool? Through exploration and investigations with circuits, students in this workshop design a solution to wire the building more effectively to transfer energy from its source to fans throughout the school.

Linkage Lab

Grades 3-5 & 6-8

Students are introduced to engineering as they explore the role of force and motion in designing mechanisms that move in specific ways. Using two dimensional mechanical linkages they create mechanisms with different inputs and outputs, then use what they have learned to design their own.

Dry Ice Investigations

Grades 3-5 & 6-8

“Why does it do that? What would happen if…?” Dry ice inspires students to create their own questions and investigations in this frosty, foggy, and bubbly workshop.

Build, Engineer, Invent!

Grades K-8

Step into the shoes of an engineer as you Build, Engineer, and Invent! This hands-on design challenge experience brings out the engineer in everyone. Explore building in two and three dimensions while discovering the design properties involved in constructing sturdy structures, bridges, roller coasters, and more! We bring the building materials; you supply the creativity!

Phenomenal Physics

Grades 1-8

Welcome to the world of phenomenal physics! In this lab, you will be introduced to the forces of physics – the basic principles that govern our physical world. As a physicist, you will observe, ask, and experiment on topics ranging from electricity and magnetism to sound and fluid dynamics. What will you discover about these forces?