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Visitors add drops of copper sulfate solution onto a steel nail. They observe the nail change color from silver to brown as the copper plates onto the nail.

Visitors test solutions of water, sugar, salt, and hydrochloric acid and the solids salt and sugar. They clip leads from the hand generator to wires immersed in each substance.

Visitors prepare six solutions combining vinegar and ammonia that range incrementally from acid (all vinegar) to base (all ammonia).

This activity (on page 2) explores how sensing is part of robotics. Learners try tying their shoes with different constraints.

Visitors observe three beakers. One beaker contains an egg immersed in vinegar. Visitors observe carbon dioxide gas escaping from the shell as the calcium carbonate reacts with the vinegar.

In this activity (on page 2) about fingerprint analysis, learners use graphite from a pencil and scotch tape to capture their fingerprints.

Visitors mix urea with water in one flask and mix calcium chloride with water in another flask. They observe that the urea flask gets cold and the calcium chloride flask gets hot.

Visitors observe a bottle with a balloon attached around the mouth. The bottle contains a solution of yeast, sugar, and water.

Make a copy of the first stethoscope with only a cardboard tube! René Laennec invented the first stethoscope in 1819 using an actual paper tube!

Visitors mix water and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in a large flask. They then add citric acid to the mixture and stopper the flask. The resulting reaction creates carbon dioxide gas.

Visitors separate a mixture of pebbles, salt crystals, and wood shavings by adding water and pouring the mixture through a strainer.

Learners create an Incan counting device called a quipu (pronounced kee-poo).

Visitors use heat to shrink samples of polystyrene. They compare samples from containers that were shaped in different ways during manufacturing.

Visitors incrementally increase the amount of iodate in three different test tubes containing the same amount of a starch solution.

Learners experiment with a commercially available liquid-crystal coaster. They warm the material with their hands for varying lengths of time and observe the changing colors that result.

In this activity (page 2 of PDF), learners play with a lens and a piece of paper to focus an image on the paper. Learners look at different things, and see how the lenses affect the image.

In this hands-on activity, learners use heat to shrink samples of polystyrene plastic (#6 recycle code). Learners compare the size and shape of the plastic pieces before and after shrinking.

Learners experiment with a piece of Silly Putty® by stretching, bouncing, and snapping it. They then create flubber, a similar substance, by mixing diluted glue and a solution of sodium borate.

In this activity, leaners explore building techniques by recreating the story of The Three Little Pigs.

This is written as a display, but can easily be adapted to a hands-on activity. Learners observe and shake containers of shiny liquids.