Color Mixing
Grades Pre-K and up — 30-45 min
Nothing is more fun for beginning scientists than blending and making things change before their eyes. This lab is all about colors, mixing, pouring, and analysis. Students will get to do their own filling, pouring, and mixing as we start with the primary colors and create the full rainbow spectrum.
Density Tubes/Lava Tubes
Grades Pre-K and up — 30-45 min
Density is a hard idea to grasp, until you see it in action. We use oil and water to make our own lava lamps. Sealing baby soda bottles, oil, water, and color tabs make this lab colorful and safe. Students can do almost all of it entirely on their own, with a little help from adults.
Slime
Grades K and up — 30 -45 min
Mixing, measuring, and following instructions are foundational parts of chemistry. Students can start to learn these skills (and have some ‘gross’ fun) by making slime. This glue/borax slime is guaranteed to be a hit with all ages.
Grass Heads
Grades 2nd and up — 30 – 45min
Dig into biology with this hands-on lab focusing on plants. Each student will make a personalized “head” that grows grass for hair. The fun will continue at home as the students take care of the plant and watch the grass grow into hair.
Stomp Rockets
Grades 2nd and up –60 min+
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!
Soda Can Catapult
Grades 3rd and up — 45-60 min
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!
Dino Excavators
Grades Pre-K and up — 30-45 min
Dinosaurs or more specifically their fossils have been fascinating people for years. In this lab, students get to dig their own “dinosaur” out of a baking soda block using vinegar and a popsicle stick. They get to be a paleontologist as they find their own dinosaur that they get to take home.
Glitter Blood
Grades 3rd and up — 30-45 min
Blood, our bodies’ life force is a very interesting fluid. In this lab, we will dissect and discuss the different parts and kinds of blood. For those who are squeamish, no real blood will be spilled in the making of this lab, we will use glitter instead.
Flashlights
Grades 3rd and up — 45-60 min
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!
Owl Pellet Dissection
Grades 3rd and up –30-45 min
What are owl pellets? They are the regurgitated remains of an owl’s meal, including all the bones of the animals it ate (usually small rodents). Owls usually swallow their food whole, digest the edible parts, and then expel the indigestible parts through their mouth as a pellet. It might sound gross, but dissecting these is a project most kids love!
Mallonaut Spacesuit Building
Grades 4th and up — 45-60+min
We have a piece of an actual NASA spacesuit; the different layers are imperative to keep astronauts safe in space. With this lab, we will discuss space, vacuums, and spacesuits. Students will then create spacesuits to keep our marshmallow astronauts safe from a vacuum.
Spectroscopes
Grades 4th and up — 45-60 min
Studying the light spectrum and wavelengths? In this lab, students will building their own spectroscope, using a variety of simple materials, that will break visible light down, or defract it, into its various component colors. Students will get to test out their spectroscopes on lights found in the classroom and others light sources. (Not the sun!) Spectroscopes are used by scientists to learn what gases or elements are found in stars and other sources of light.
Marble Machines
Grades 4th and up — 60+ min
Students will get to build marble-powered computers using the puzzle book as their guide as a way to discover and see how computers work on the inside. This lab has several different levels that increase in complexity with each level the students successfully solve. Limit of 30 students.
Owl Eyesight Lab
Grades 1st-3rd — 30-45 min
Did you know that owls have unique eyes? They have something called binocular vision. No wonder they have to turn their heads almost completely around to see the world around them. This unique owl eyesight keeps them from seeing well from side to side. In this lab, students make an owl mask and use it so they can see and understand how binocular vision works.
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.
Eagle Wing Building
Grades 3rd and up — 45-60 min
A Bald Eagle has a wing span, tip to tip, of up to 7 feet (2.2 meters). Yet an average male Bald Eagle weighs about 9 pounds and an average female weighs about 12 pounds. (Try lifting a 10-pound sack of flour or sugar for comparison.) It is the combination of large wings and fight weight that makes the eagles masters of the air. Learn all about the wing of the Bald Eagle while building a wing on your own.