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Tiny Tubes
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In this activity, learners make "totally tubular" forms of carbon. Learners use chicken wire to build macro models of carbon nanotubes.

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?

Pulleys
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In this activity, learners build inexpensive pulley assemblies from pulley wheels used for sliding screen door replacement or from clothesline spreaders.

Take It From The Top: How Does This Stack Up?
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In this activity, learners explore center of gravity, or balance point, of stacked blocks.

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.

Paper Tape Motion Timer
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In this activity, learners build a recording timer made from simple materials (e.g., small dc motor, sharpie pen, craft sticks, adding machine paper tape, etc.).

Toilet Model
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In this activity, PVC pipe, plastic water bottles and vinyl tubing are used to make a simple working toilet model. The model shows the role of a siphon in the flushing of a toilet.

Paper Airplanes
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In this activity, learners explore the properties of paper by constructing and modifying paper airplanes.

File Card Bridges
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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.

Give and Take
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In this activity, learners explore liquid crystals, light and temperature. Using a postcard made of temperature-sensitive liquid crystal material, learners monitor temperature changes.

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.

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.

Stretch the Chain and See the Light
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In this activity, learners use their strength to light a light bulb. A chain made from paper clips is placed in series with a battery and flashlight bulb.

Kosher Dill Current: Make Your Own Battery!
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This is an activity that demonstrates how batteries work using simple household materials. Learners use a pickle, aluminum foil and a pencil to create an electrical circuit that powers a buzzer.

Cylindrical Wing
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In this design and physics challenge, learners construct a cylindrical wing, fly it, make modifications, and determine how the changes affect flight patterns.

Wind Tubes
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In this activity, learners create and experiment with wind tubes. These tubes are a playful and inventive way to explore the effect that moving air has on objects.

Simple Pop-Up Mechanisms
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In this activity, learners construct three quick and simple mechanisms to start building a pop-up book. Learners fold, cut, and glue paper to make a bird beak, parallelogram, and V-fold.

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.

Carbon Configurations
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In this activity, learners use geometry to predict the shape of carbon. Learners twist and attach chenille stem pieces that represent bonds between different carbon atoms.

Bottle Blast Off
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With little more than a plastic bottle, some vinyl tubing, and a length of PVC pipe, make a rocket and a rocket launcher and investigate how rockets fly.