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Build Your Own Wind Turbine
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Learners construct an electricity-generating wind turbine out of a plastic bottle.

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?

Building a Basic Series Circuit
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This activity was designed for blind learners, but all types of learners can use it to build and examine a basic electrical circuit.

Laser Lissajous: PVC Version
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In this activity, learners use a laser pointer and two small rotating mirrors to create a variety of fascinating patterns, which can be easily and dramatically projected on a wall or screen.

Plugged in to CO2
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In this activity, learners investigate various appliances and electronics, discovering how much energy each uses and how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is released to produce that energy.

Kinetic Sculpture: Program the Pico Cricket to Make Your Art Light Up or Spin
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Use a Pico Cricket (micro-controller) to animate your art! You can program a Pico Cricket to make your art spin, light up, or make music.

Electric Paddle Boat
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In this activity, learners build an electric two-paddle boat using paint paddles, plastic knives, and empty water bottles.

Creepy Crawlers
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Trick your family and friends with this creepy crawler that moves up and down. In this activity, learners construct a circuit and motor device that will move a homemade spider in a spooky way.

Conductivity Meter
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In this activity, learners build a simple qualitative conductivity tester with a battery, bulb and foil.

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.

Robot Body Language
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In this robotics activity, learners find ways to express emotions and feelings using only body movements, not facial expressions.

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.

Gel Electrophoresis
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In this activity, learners simulate the process of DNA fingerprinting by using electricity to separate colored dyes.

Human Battery
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Learners place their hands on different metals and use an ammeter to monitor the flow of electricity from one metal to another.

Smart Domino Tricks
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In this activity, you take regular dominoes, and turn them into conductive switches that can turn on a LEGO RCX block or Pico Cricket (micro controller). LEGO RCX block or Pico Cricket is required.

Circuit Board
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Learners make a circuit board that has questions and answers. When the correct answer is chosen for a question, a circuit is completed and a light illuminates.

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.

Musical Sculpting Machine: Squeeze Play-Doh to Make Music
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Play-Doh is conductive! Use the semiconductive qualities of Play-Doh to make your own squeezable instrument. Pico Cricket is required.

Build a Bubble Circuit
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In this engineering design challenge, learners make a bubble maze that allows bubbles to move through a series of “on” and “off” switches.

Fruit Xylophone: Fruit Salad Instrument of the Future!
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This is a perfect summertime lunch activity! Pico Cricket is required (micro controller). First, get a bunch of cut up fruit, line them up, then plug a piece of fruit with a Pico Cricket sensor clip.