Turning Your Android Phone into a Hands-on Learning Device

Whether you’re building circuits or watching the way light reflects off of a soap film bubble, when you come to the Exploratorium, we want you to do just that: try, observe, explore. Yet with so many of us glued to our gadgets, it might seem like an uphill battle to dive into the kind of exploration that makes us the question-asking, answer-questioning, rule-breaking people that we are.

That’s why we’re working with Google to bring the gadget into the exploration. Today is the launch of Science Journal, a digital science toolkit that helps kids (and adults!) measure and explore the world around them. The Science Journal app turns your Android phone into a powerful device for understanding and observing the world.

The app lets you record data from sensors on your Android phone, such as the accelerometer and microphone, as well as compatible external sensors. You’ll also be able to take notes and learn scientific processes like predicting, observing, and interpreting data.

  
You can record data and set up trials, experiments, and projects in the app.

Along with the unlimited exploration that the app allows, we’ve teamed up with Google to develop and assemble creative hands-on learning activities and kits to accompany Science Journal. These Science Journal kits include inexpensive sensors, microcontrollers, and craft supplies that bring science to life in new ways. The kits are available for purchase in the US or can even be assembled yourself.

Though we love seeing visitors on our museum floor exploring everything from sound to speed to color, what we love even more is inspiring a world of curious learners. We’re excited about making hands-on exploration accessible to people in a place where they already are—their mobile devices. Every time you have a mobile device in your hand is an opportunity to ask questions about the world around you. We hope you’ll take it.