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Evolution in Plane Sight
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In this activity, learners model directed evolution by making paper fly. Learners construct and fly paper airplanes.
Non-Round Rollers
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Wheels aren't the only things that can "roll" objects that are placed on top of it. Make non-intuitive shapes from cutouts and a compass to demonstrate this.
Paper Bridges
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In this activity, learners build bridges using paper and explore how much weight each bridge design can support.
Straws and Pins
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In this activity, learners build bridges and cantilevers in a series of "building out" challenges with straws and pins.
Motor Effect
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See what force a magnet has on a wire that has current running through it: will it push it, pull it, or will nothing happen? This is the foundation of a simple electric motor.
Pendulum Snake
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In this physics activity, learners assemble and/or investigate a pendulum "snake." Several large steel hex-nuts are suspended on strings of successively increasing length to form a series of pendulums
Clay Beams and Columns
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In this activity, learners make or use pre-made clay beams to scale and proportion. Specifically, they discover that when you scale up proportionally (i.e.
Coffee-Can Cuíca
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Make a cuíca (“kwee-ka”), a traditional Brazilian musical instrument that originated in Africa. Played primarily in Brazil, now you can play it at home, too, with this Exploratorium produced activity.
Falling Rhythm
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Listen to the beat of gravity. By taking two strings with weights tied to them at different, yet uniform intervals, you can hear the uniformity (and rhythm) of gravity's accelerating pull.
Make Your Own Rainstick
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In this activity, leaners build their very own rainsticks, an instrument filled with pebbles and seeds that create sounds like falling rain. Save costs by using material found around the home.
Garden Poles
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In this activity, learners build large-scale structures and cantilevers in a series of "building out" challenges with garden poles and tape.
Cylinders and Scale
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In this activity, learners investigate the relative growth of lengths, areas, and volumes as cylinders are scaled up.
Personal Pinhole Theater
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Have you ever heard of a camera without a lens? In this activity, learners create a pinhole camera out of simple materials. They'll see the world in a whole new way: upside down and backwards!
Vocal Visualizer
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With a bit of PVC, a laser, a can/cup, and a small mirror, you can make a device that visualizes you voice or any sound transmitted into the cup/can.
Rutherford Roller
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In this activity, learners make a black box device that serves as an excellent analogy to Rutherford's famous experiment in which he deduced the existence of the atomic nucleus.
A Simple Escapement Mechanism
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In this activity, learners build a simple mechanism that regulates the "escape" of energy released by a falling weight by portioning it into discrete amounts.
Indicating Electrolysis
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Electrolysis is the breakdown of water into hydrogen and oxygen. This Exploratorium activity allows learners to visualize the process with an acid-based indicator.
Earth Atmosphere Composition
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In this activity, learners use rice grains to model the composition of the atmosphere of the Earth today and in 1880. Learners assemble the model while measuring percentages.
Paper Airplanes
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In this activity, learners explore the properties of paper by constructing and modifying paper airplanes.
Mold Mole Molds
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In this activity, learners make different shapes that hold exactly one mole of gas (air).