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Pulleys
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners build inexpensive pulley assemblies from pulley wheels used for sliding screen door replacement or from clothesline spreaders.
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Whose Fault Is It?
Source Institutions
In this seismic simulation, learners play a "who-dunnit" game to explore earthquakes.
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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.
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Straw Oboe: Two lips make sound
Source Institutions
Oboes's unique sound originates from the two small reeds a musician blows into. Make your own double reed instrument out of straw!
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Gel Electrophoresis
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners simulate the process of DNA fingerprinting by using electricity to separate colored dyes.
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Designer Ears: Make “better” ears!
Source Institutions
Find out what it would be like to have ears shaped differently from your own! Design and make different animal ears then try them out.
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Glow Up
Source Institutions
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.
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Evolution in Plane Sight
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners model directed evolution by making paper fly. Learners construct and fly paper airplanes.
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Paper Bridges
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners build bridges using paper and explore how much weight each bridge design can support.
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Straws and Pins
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners build bridges and cantilevers in a series of "building out" challenges with straws and pins.
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Motor Effect
Source Institutions
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.
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Macro-Microarray
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore the "nuts and bolts" of gene chips.
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Solving Playground Network Problems
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners use cooperation and logical thinking to find solutions to network problems on the playground.
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Clay Beams and Columns
Source Institutions
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.
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Coffee-Can Cuíca
Source Institutions
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.
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Garden Poles
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners build large-scale structures and cantilevers in a series of "building out" challenges with garden poles and tape.
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Cylinders and Scale
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners investigate the relative growth of lengths, areas, and volumes as cylinders are scaled up.
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Personal Pinhole Theater
Source Institutions
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!
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Vocal Visualizer
Source Institutions
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.
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A Simple Escapement Mechanism
Source Institutions
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.