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Why is the Sky Purple?
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This simple hands-on activity demonstrates why the sky appears blue on a sunny day and red during sunrise and sunset.
Light Bulb Challenge
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In this activity, learners explore the difference between compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs and traditional incandescent bulbs.
Give and Take
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In this activity, learners explore liquid crystals, light and temperature. Using a postcard made of temperature-sensitive liquid crystal material, learners monitor temperature changes.
Luminescence
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In this two-part activity about luminescence, learners explore the chemistry that happens inside glow sticks and other light producing reactions.
Convection Current
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In this activity, learners make their own heat waves in an aquarium.
Hot Spot
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In this activity, learners explore the invisible infrared radiation from an electric heater.
Liquid Crystals Interact with Light!
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In this two-part activity, learners explore the properties of liquid crystals, which are responsible for why mood rings change color.
How does the Atmosphere keep the Earth Warmer?
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In this activity, learners simulate the energy transfer between the earth and space by using the light from a desk lamp desk lamp with an incandescent bulb and a stack of glass plates.
Terrestrial Hi-Lo Hunt
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In this outdoor activity, learners search for the warmest and coolest, windiest and calmest, wettest and driest, and brightest and darkest spots in an area.
Sensory Hi-Lo Hunt
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In this outdoor activity, learners use only their senses to to find the extremes of several environmental variables or physical factors: wind, temperature, light, slope and moisture.
Wintergreen
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In this outdoor, winter activity, learners find living green plants under the snow and determine the light and temperature conditions around the plants.
Solar Energy
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In this activity (page 11 of PDF), learners compare the air pressure within a dark and a light bottle both heated by the sun, and discover that solar energy can be collected and stored in many ways
Safe in the Sun
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In this activity on page 13 of the PDF, use a special plastic card that has been painted with a chemical that changes color when it is in UV light.
Exploring Earth: Investigating Clouds
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“Exploring Earth: Investigating Clouds” is a hands-on activity in which visitors create a cloud in a bottle and explore it with laser light.
Cook Food Using the Sun
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Learners build a solar oven from a cardboard pizza box, aluminum foil and plastic. Learners can use their oven to cook S'mores or other food in the sun.
Glow Fast, Glow Slow: Alter the Rate of a Reaction!
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Learners investigate one factor affecting reaction rates: temperature. In a darkened room, two identical lightsticks are placed in water -- one in hot water and one in cold water.
Can You "See" Thermal Radiation?
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Use this hands-on activity to demonstrate infrared and thermal radiation.
Heat Speeds Up Reactions
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In this activity, learners investigate the effect of heat on a reaction.
What Causes Wind?
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In this sunny day experiment, learners measure and compare how quickly light and dark colored materials absorb heat.
What does Color have to do with Cooling?
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In this demonstration/experiment, learners discover that different colors and materials (metals, fabrics, paints) radiate different amounts of energy and therefore, cool at different rates.