This activity invites K–5 students, in both English and Spanish, to explore the phenomena of rolling objects down a ramp and investigate the question, “What happens to a roller when you change the ...

One of our light sources in action during a Light Play experience. I think it’s great to think so deeply about the things that we use in our tinkering activities however, the specificity of what we ...

Tinkering Library of Exemplars. This library categorizes over one hundred video clips according to our Learning and Facilitation frameworks.We studied 50 learners at the Exploratorium divided across ...

Make a simple mini-motor. A coil of wire becomes an electromagnet when current passes through it. The electromagnet interacts with a permanent magnet, causing the coil to spin. Voilà! You’ve created ...

The distribution of the mass of an object determines the position of its center of gravity, its angular momentum, and your ability to balance it. Place a lump of clay about the size of your fist ...

A rotating black-and-white disk produces the illusion of color. Rotate this black-and-white pattern at the right speed, and the pattern appears to contain colored rings. You see color because ...

Even plants have their favorite colors. Photosynthesis requires light, but plants don’t use all the colors that make up white light. Use a spectroscope to explore the absorption and transmission of ...

With polarized light, you can make a stained glass window without glass. Using transparent tape and polarizing material, you can make and project beautifully colored patterns reminiscent of abstract ...

Polarizing sunglasses cut road glare better in some positions than in others. When light reflects from water, asphalt, or other nonmetallic surfaces, it becomes polarized—that is, the reflected light ...

Make the turntable: Slide the pencil through the center hole of the record so the tip extends an inch or so (a few cm) beyond the other side. A ngle the pencil so it is perpendicular to the record, ...

Discover why the sky is blue and the sunset is red. When sunlight travels through the atmosphere, blue light scatters more than the other colors, leaving a dominant yellow-orange hue to the ...

Dark-colored materials both absorb and emit energy more readily than light-colored materials. Using a card or strip made of temperature-sensitive liquid crystal material, you can monitor temperature ...