Ken Wortman Trades Science Hands-on Labs

Offered on and offsite

News Paper Towers

Grades K and up – 25 – 35 minutes

Construction and engineering meet competition in this hands-on lab. Students compete against each other to build the tallest free stand tower out newspapers and tape. Not enough planning and your tower comes crashing down. Built too strong and you may not be the tallest. It’s a race against time and height.

HVAC

Grades 2nd and up – 25 – 35 minutes

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning are very important factors in our everyday lives. In this lab, students will run their own HVAC ducking through a floor plan to supply a room. The challenge, have no leaks and make the fan spin at the other end.

Good Foundations

Grades 2nd and up – 30 – 45 minutes 

A solid foundation is a must when it comes to building, but will it hold when an earthquake hits? Students will be challenged to build what they believe is a strong structure. The question is will their structure stand the shaking of an earthquake, or will it come crashing down!

Flashlight Simple Circuit

Grades 3rd and up — 45-60 minutes

Basic circuitry can be very simple; power source, LED, and conductor, all built in a closed circle-flowing path. With this lab, students will make a working flashlight out of a popsicle stick, button battery, tin foil or conductive tape, and other office supplies. This is a simple way to see the way a circuit works!

Soda Can Catapult

Grades 3rd and up — 45-60 minutes

Construct a soda can and rubber band resistance catapult. Students will learn to follow instructions and engineering as they build these old-fashioned war machines. Afterwards participants divide into warring parties and battle it out!

Helicopter Lab

All Ages  30 – 45 minutes

In this lab, students will explore how gravity and air resistance work together to create a graceful, twirling miniature helicopter. Students will be to test their skills by creating a helicopter they will test using a wind tunnel.

Stomp Rockets

Grades 2nd and up – 60 minutes

Learn about beginning rocketry as we build and launch these simple cardstock rockets. Students will decorate and LAUNCH their rockets, watching the fun fly! After the lab, ask about plans for the launch pad to keep the fun going!

Airplane Engineering

Grades 2nd and up   30-45 minutes

Discover how aerospace engineers turn ideas into flight! Students design, build, test, and improve their own paper aircraft while exploring the science of flight. Through hands-on experimentation, they learn how engineers use blueprints, testing, and redesign to create better-performing airplanes.