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Draft Detectives
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In this two part activity, learners become draft detectives by constructing their own draft catchers to detect drafts around windows or doors.
Exploring Materials: Liquid Crystals
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In this activity, learners discover that the way a material behaves on the macroscale is affected by its structure on the nanoscale.
Fused Plastic Wallet
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In this up-cycling activity, learners recycle plastic bags and repurpose them into useful wallets.
Hot and Cold
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In this chemistry challenge, learners discover that many chemical reactions involve heat loss or gain.
Nano Ice Cream
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In this activity/demo, learners discover how liquid nitrogen cools a creamy mixture at such a rapid rate that it precipitates super fine grained (nano) ice cream.
Conductors of Heat: Hot Spoons
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This activity was designed for blind learners, but all types of learners can use it to investigate how different materials vary in their conduction of heat.
Inkjet Printer
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In this activity, learners investigate how inkjet printers produce tiny, precise drops of ink.
Cool Hot Rod
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If you have access to a copper metal tube, this activity does a great job demonstrating what happens to matter when it's heated or cooled. This activity requires some lab equipment.
Get the Porridge Just Right
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Learners set up three different bowls, each with a different mass of oatmeal. Learners monitor the temperature of the oatmeal and find that larger masses take longer to cool.
Flat Flashlight
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In this activity, learners build a tiny but powerful flashlight out of simple materials. Use this activity to introduce learners to electrical circuits and conductivity.
Over the Hill
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In this physics activity, learners construct a small-scale version of a classic carnival game.
What Causes Wind?
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In this sunny day experiment, learners measure and compare how quickly light and dark colored materials absorb heat.
Pie-Pan Convection
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It's difficult to see convection currents in any liquid that's undergoing a temperature change, but in this Exploratorium Science Snack, you can see the currents with the help of food coloring.
Cooling the Mummy's Tomb
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In this activity, learners conduct an experiment to help Pharaoh design a better insulated tomb.
From Gas to Liquid to Solid
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What causes frost to form on the outside of a cold container? In this activity, learners discover that liquid water can change states and freeze to become ice.
Personal Fan
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Cool off in the heat with this project! Learners use simple materials to build a fan that runs on a motor.
If Hot Air Rises, Why is it Cold in the Mountains?
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This demonstration/activity helps learners understand why higher elevations are not always warm simply because "hot air rises." Learners use a tire pump to increase the pressure and temperature inside
How does the Atmosphere keep the Earth Warmer?
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In this activity, learners simulate the energy transfer between the earth and space by using the light from a desk lamp desk lamp with an incandescent bulb and a stack of glass plates.
Solar Energy
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In this activity (page 11 of PDF), learners compare the air pressure within a dark and a light bottle both heated by the sun, and discover that solar energy can be collected and stored in many ways
A Crayon Rock Cycle- Metamorphic
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This is part 2 of the three-part "Crayon Rock Cycle" activity and must be done after part 1: Sedimentary Rocks. In this activity, learners explore how metamorphic rocks form.