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Showing results 1 to 13 of 13
Fan Cart
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If a sailboat is stranded because there is no wind, is it possible to set up a fan on deck and blow wind into the sail to make the boat move?
Aluminum-Air Battery: Foiled again!
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Construct a simple battery that's able to power a small light or motor out of foil, salt water, and charcoal. A helpful video, produced by the Exploratorium, guides you along on this activity.
Cup Speaker
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Make your own speaker with a magnet, wire, and paper cup! If you have a radio with a headphone plug and an old pair of headphones, this is a great tinkering activity.
Make a Speaker: A Coil, a Magnet, and Thou
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Make your own simple speaker so you can listen to your favorite radio station. Just wind a coil, attach it to a piece of cardboard or Styrofoam, hold a magnet nearby, and listen.
Stripped-down Motor
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In this activity, you'll make an electric motor--a simple version of the electric motors found in toys, tools, and appliances everywhere.
Glowing Pickle
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In this activity, high voltage is applied across a pickle to emit a yellow glow. This activity should only be conducted by skilled adults and is best suited as a demonstration.
Short Circuit
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In this activity about electricity, learners explore what happens when you blow a fuse.
Motor Effect
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In this activity about electricity and magnetism, learners examine what happens when a magnet exerts a force on a current-carrying wire.
Glow Up
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In this activity, learners explore chemiluminescence and fluorescence. Learners examine 3 different solutions in regular light, in the dark with added bleach solution, and under a black light.
Cake by Conduction
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In this demonstration, cook a cake using the heat produced when the cake batter conducts an electric current.
Simple Spinner
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In this activity, learners create a tiny electric, motorized dancer. Learners use the interactions of magnetism and electric current to make a wire spin, while displaying the Lorentz Force in action.
Penny Battery
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In this activity, learners light an LED with five cents. Learners use two different metals and some sour, salty water to create a cheap battery.
Jitterbug
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This activity explores the concept of center of gravity by having learners build a Jitterbug--a motorized toy that seems to dance--using a recycled CD and a DC motor.