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  • Tinkering at Home

    Try this collection of prompts for tinkering at home.

  • Learning Toolbox: Engage in activities about the science of coronavirus and explore our online resources for learning at home.

  • Explore water's crucial role in food and cooking.

    Science of Water: Food   Explore water's crucial role in food and cooking.

  • Shadow Box exhibit

    Browse our growing online collection of interactive exhibits.

  • Global Climate Change Explorer • Discover how researchers study climate change and examine the latest scientific data.

  • Science Snacks

    Low-cost, teacher-tested activities for the classroom and the curious.

  • Wired Pier Environmental Field Station • Explore weather, air quality, and water conditions from San Francisco Bay

Explore, Play, Discover: Websites, Activities, and More

Dive into websites, activities, apps, and more.

Crystal Creations
Crystal Creations

Grow spikes of crystals in the sun.

Pringles Pinhole
Pringles Pinhole

Recycle a potato chip can into a simple camera.

Plate Tectonics
Plate Tectonics

See a map of recent earthquakes in the United States, and learn why earthquakes happen so frequently on the West Coast.

Iron Science Teacher
Iron Science Teacher

Each webcast, the Exploratorium staff and teachers demonstrate their science projects and compete for the title of IRON SCIENCE TEACHER!

Cell Explorer
Cell Explorer

Learn about the inner workings of a cell through this interactive exhibit.

Overview of the Rosetta Mission
Revisit NASA's Rosetta mission to study a comet in space.
The Sun-Earth Connection
The Sun-Earth Connection
Listening to Solve Problems
Listening to Solve Problems

Lisa Miller is a mechanic and teacher who shows her auto shop students how to use their listening skills to fix cars.

Smell the Maillard Reaction
Smell the Maillard Reaction

Amino acids and corn syrup combine to create new aromas.

Solar Images
Solar Images

The more astronomy changes, the more it stays the same. This series of images juxtaposes ancient and modern study of the celestial bodies.

Cylinders and Scale
Cylinders and Scale

What happens to a cylinder when you scale it up?

Seeing
Seeing

What do you really know about what you see?

Science of Sailing 102: Tip, Don't Flip!
Find out how America's Cup catamarans balance...and tip over.
Darwin Days
Darwin Days

In February 2009, the Exploratorium hosted Darwin Days, a series of presentations, debates, and discussions exploring the ways scientists continue to learn from and apply their knowledge of evolutionary biology to a broad range of pursuits.

Body Conductivity
Body Conductivity

Complete an electrical circuit with your body and explore ways to control the flow of electricity.

Total Solar Eclipse Zambia 2001
Total Solar Eclipse Zambia 2001
CD Spectroscope: Introduction

Separate light into colors with an old CD.

Organ Builders

Get to know the grandfather of all instruments: the pipe organ.

Science Snacks
Science Snacks

Try these low-cost, teacher-tested activities for the classroom and the curious.

Build a Light Island
Light Island
How to build a shop version of an Exploratorium exhibit for investigating light
Plate Tectonics
Plate Tectonics

See a map of recent earthquakes in the United States, and learn why earthquakes happen so frequently on the West Coast.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet and Bernie Krause: Performance

Get mesmerized by choreographer Alonzo King and soundscape artist Bernie Krause.

Ancient Writings Revealed
Ancient Writings Revealed

Watch ancient text revealed and read for the first time in a thousand years!

Iron Science Teacher
Iron Science Teacher

Each webcast, the Exploratorium staff and teachers demonstrate their science projects and compete for the title of IRON SCIENCE TEACHER!

Your Stuff, Your Stories
Your Stuff, Your Stories

Can a gum wrapper have a story? Discover just how important and meaningful an object can be.

Arctic Whales
Arctic Whales

Learn about the giants of the polar seas.

Breaking the Mayan Code
Breaking the Mayan Code

Learn to count like the Maya by studying one of their ancient stone documents.

Unpacking Identity: A Conversation Exploring Self in Society | Self, Made

Go behind the scenes of Self, Made with its curators and advisors.

Meet the Artist: Matt Smith

Meet Matt Smith, an automata artist showcased at the Curious Contraptions exhibition.

Look Inside a Tooth
Look Inside a Tooth

Teeth are the most common fossils found. What can they tell us?

Lisa Mezzacappa Interview

Resonance live interview with artist Lisa Mezzacappa.

Stem Cells
Stem Cells

See living stem cells and find out why they are the "stem" from which all other cells develop.

Exploring the Traits of Life
Exploring the Traits of Life

Explore the Traits of Life exhibition space using this 360˚ panorama.

Exploratorium Exhibit Phenomena

Enjoy the colors and textures of phenomena demonstrated by Exploratorium exhibits.

Liquefaction
Liquefaction

What happens to sandy or fine-grained soils when an earthquake shakes them up? Try this simple activity to find out.

Seasons and Alignments
Seasons and Alignments

Does the sun rise in the east? Not exactly.

The Secret Lives of Flowers
The Secret Lives of Flowers

Take a peek at the colorful world of plant sex.

Which Embryo is Human?
Which Embryo Is Human?

Can you tell the difference between human and nonhuman embryos?

Color Vision and Color Photography
Explore the past and present of color vision.
Unwinding DNA: Life at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Unwinding DNA: Life at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

The untold stories behind scientific discovery.

Bottle Blast-Off
Bottle Blast-Off

Make a simple rocket and a rocket launcher, and watch a demonstration of how the finished rocket will fly.

X-Ray Simulation
X-Ray Simulation

Here's how you can model the use of X rays for medical examinations with some sand and a piece of screen.

Bastoncini da giardinaggio
Bastoncini da giardinaggio
What's New In the World
What's New In the World

Stories about science, art, and human perception—from 1998. 

Doctor Atomic: Commentary on an Opera
Doctor Atomic: Commentary on an Opera

Explore the scientific, historical, and cultural context behind a new opera about the first atomic bomb test.

About the Arctic
About the Arctic

A brief introduction to the land of the midnight sun.

Conversation with Ocean Explorer Robert Ballard
Learn about ocean exploration from a famous explorer, Dr. Robert Ballard.
Remembering Loma Prieta
Remembering Loma Prieta

Read stories and see footage from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

A Dangerous Time
A Dangerous Time

Why do teens take risks, and what do our notions of risk tell us about the dangers of growing up?

Styro Curveball
Thrown For a Curve

Learn to throw a curveball, a slider, or even a screwball by throwing a Styrofoam ball.

Middle Ground: Reconsidering Ourselves and Others

Pull up a chair and dive into Middle Ground. 

Divided Attention exhibit on Exploratorium Island in Second Life
Divided Attention Exhibit on Exploratorium Island: Porting a Museum Exhibit to 2D and 3D Web

by Rob Rothfarb • May 3, 2010

Braking & Steering
Braking & Steering

How do you stop and steer a bicycle? What forces keep the bicycle from falling over?

The Sun-Eating Dragon: Eclipse Stories, Myths, and Legends
The Sun-Eating Dragon: Eclipse Stories, Myths, and Legends
Bikes: Brakes
Bikes: Brakes

Find out about bicycle brakes and balance, and calculate your stopping distance on a bicycle.

How Old Is It?
How Old Is It?

How do scientists establish the age of artifacts, rocks, and settlements?

An Artist Looks at Life on an Undersea Volcano
What's a painter doing on this scientific research ship?
Molecular Meat
Molecular Meat

What happens to meat when you cook it?

Bird Call Quiz
Bird Call Quiz

Listen to bird songs and try to figure out which are songs, which are companion calls, and which are alarms.

Colored Shadows: Introduction

Add and subtract colors to learn about human perception.

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