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Learners assemble a hot-air balloon from tissue paper. The heated air (from a heat gun) inside the balloon is less dense than the surrounding air and causes the balloon to float.

In this design challenge activity, learners explore the concept of biomimicry by using a natural organism's special features to design a new human object.

In this activity, learners build their own rockets from paper, coffee stirrers, and tape. Learners discover that when anything flies, air pressure is always involved.

Each learner chews a piece of gum until it loses its flavor, and then leaves the gum to dry for several days.

In this inquiry-based learning activity, learners design, build, and test their own ramps. They are introduced to a variety of materials and explore putting them together.

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.

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

In this activity, learners build their own construction cranes using tongue depressors and pushpins.

This activity lets learners participate in the process of reconstructing a phylogenetic tree and introduces them to several core bioinformatics concepts, particularly in relation to evolution.

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

In this activity, learners use molecular model kits to construct familiar molecules like lactose, caffeine, and Aspirin.

In this activity, learners build penetrometers to test leaf toughness. Biologists measure leaf toughness to study the feeding preferences of insects and bugs.

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.

Scientists use enormous wind tunnels to test the design of planes, helicopters, even the Space Shuttle.

In this activity on page 7 of the PDF, learners explore how engineers characterize building materials.

Historically, sea floor mapping (bathymetry) was done by soundings.

In this activity, learners construct a home-made journal with simple, everyday materials.

Using simple, inexpensive items, learners build and test submarine models.

In this activity (page 89 of the PDF), learners compare and contrast pitch and roll motions by using a Magic Carpet maze similar to one that was used for Neurolab investigations about microgravity.

In this optics activity, learners use glass and water to demonstrate total internal reflection (TIR).