Search Results
Showing results 1 to 20 of 38
Electrical Fleas
Source Institutions
In this activity about electricity, learners explore how static electricity can make electric "fleas" jump up and down. Learners use a piece of wool cloth or fur to charge a sheet of acrylic plastic.
CD Spinner
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners create a simple “top” from a CD, marble and bottle cap, and use it as a spinning platform for a variety of illusion-generating patterns.
Take It From The Top: How Does This Stack Up?
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore center of gravity, or balance point, of stacked blocks.
Bubble Tray
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners use simple materials to create giant bubbles.
Descartes' Diver
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore how changes in fluid pressure affect the buoyancy of a Cartesian diver inside a plastic soda bottle.
Cylindrical Mirror
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners create a cylindrical mirror to see themselves as others see them.
Seismic Slinky!
Source Institutions
Did you know that a Slinky makes a handy model of earthquake waves?
Water Sphere Lens
Source Institutions
In this activity about light and refraction, learners make a lens and magnifying glass by filling a bowl with water.
Eddy Currents
Source Institutions
In this activity related to magnetism and electricity, learners discover that a magnet falls more slowly through a metallic tube than it does through a nonmetallic tube.
Aluminum-Air Battery: Foiled again!
Source Institutions
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.
Cool Hot Rod
Source Institutions
If you have access to a copper metal tube, this activity does a great job demonstrating what happens to matter when it's heated or cooled. This activity requires some lab equipment.
Cup Speaker
Source Institutions
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.
Ambiguous Cube
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners construct a three-dimensional ambiguous cube to explore visual illusions and how our brains interpret or misinterpret information.
Short Circuit
Source Institutions
In this activity about electricity, learners explore what happens when you blow a fuse.
Up Periscope!
Source Institutions
This activity provides instructions for building a mirrored tube--a smaller and simpler version of a submarine's periscope--that lets you see around corners and over walls.
Bird in the Cage
Source Institutions
In this activity about afterimages, learners explore what happens when receptor cells called cones in your eye's retina get tired.
Height Sight
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners build a tool called an inclinometer that can find the height of any distant object, from a tree to the North Star.
Go With the Flow
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners will observe laminar and turbulent flow of water using only a plastic bottle, liquid hand soap, food coloring and water.
File Card Bridges
Source Institutions
With two stacks of books and a few rolls of pennies, build two kinds of bridges--a beam span and an arch span--and see how much weight each of them can hold.
Make Your Own Rain Stick
Source Institutions
This activity provides step-by-step instructions on how to build a rain stick, a musical instrument originating in South America.