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

Why do road bikes have thin tires, while mountain bikes have fat tires?

Design and build a musical instrument that responds to changing light.

A window on regeneration

Here are some activities that test your memory – and some things you can try to help you remember things better.

Learn about bike gears using thread spools and a rubber band.

Rube Goldberg-inspired cause and effect contraptions using everyday materials and found objects.

Why do road bikes have thin tires, while mountain bikes have fat tires?

This clay building activity shows that when you make things bigger, weight increases faster than strength.

Human corpses decay alfresco, all in the name of forensic science.

Using a spectroscope, you may see that what appears to be a single color of light is really a combination of colors called a spectrum.

The only continent without any countries or government . . .

Interact with the Cafe Wall Illusion.

Join us as we investigate the sweet world of sugar.

Who lives in the Arctic, and how did they get there?

This stuff can't make up its mind -- is it a liquid or a solid?

Recycle some cans to make after-dinner music!

Experience the thrill of pickle making, and explore how a cucumber becomes a pickle.

Sperimenta interattivamente l'illusione del muro del caffé.

Four times over 100-plus years, major initiatives have brought together scientists from around the globe to collaboratively study the poles.

Activities and History

Want to understand how to predict when the good waves are coming to your shore? It helps to start with the basics behind the formation of ocean waves.

Take a peek at the colorful world of plant sex.

With just mud, paper and an egg, you can grow colonies of multi-hued microbes!

How many objects can you follow at once?

An introduction to the concepts and theories that contribute to contemporary complexity research.

Journey into Chaco Canyon, where ancient people built monuments to the cosmos. Journey to Chichén Itzá, where the Maya built monuments to the sun.

Use the numbers on four cards to make up equations that equal the number on a fifth card.

See why these beautiful flowers have attracted generations of admirers.

Find out why people who love birthday parties should move to Mercury.

Use printable images from our time-lapse movies to make flipbooks–handheld animations that you can make at home.

Attivita per le classi Elementari e Medie.

A brief history of Chichen Itza.

See recent articles on polar science.

A multifaceted exhibition that explored genetics and the Human Genome Project from a variety of perspectives from April 8 to September 4, 1995.

Join us as we crunch our way through everything from our San Francisco sourdough to Injera and Pugliese.

What do you really know about what you see?

Explore the ideas behind Science of Sharing with these Activities.

Humpbacks, minkes, and orcas are often sighted in the nutrient-rich Antarctic waters.

Darkening polar skies often bring beautiful light displays.

High energy prices got you down? Discover how pickles can ease your troubles.

The 1906 earthquake jolted geologists into focusing on how and why faults break loose.