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Exploratorium
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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.

The Temple Illusion
The Temple Illusion

This ancient temple holds a secret...can you reveal the mystery?

Meet the Makers - Tools
Get to know Bay Area makers with our Open Make series.
Meet the Artist: Kazu Harada

Get to know automata maker Kazu Harada's artistic journey.

Mapping Sunspots
Mapping Sunspots

Gather and compare real data about sunspots and solar x-ray activity.

The Nobel Prize: 100 Years of Creativity
The Nobel Prize: 100 Years of Creativity

Nobel Laureate Symposium

Floating icebergs can be dangerous to ships.
Live from the Arctic

by Mary Miller • July 19, 2019

Live chat with an Arctic research expedition. 

Blue
Sometimes, you've just got the blues.
Crusty Science: Bread
Crusty Science: Bread

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

Special FX
Special FX

Make yourself giant or tiny with a snip of the scissors.

Language Families
Language Families

Where do all the different languages in the world come from?

Beryllium: Ron Hipschman

Behold beryllium, and find out why it's both prized and poisonous.

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.

Exploratorium Magazine
Exploratorium Magazine

From 1977 until 2003, the Exploratorium published a quarterly magazine. The Exploratorium Magazine Online is a companion to selected issues of the print magazine, providing key articles and activities and including multimedia features.

ECHO Climate Change Symposium
ECHO Climate Change Symposium

In 2009, the ECHO (Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations) Partners hosted a national symposium held at the Exploratorium to discuss the effects of climate change on the planet. You can watch archived webcasts of the symposium.

Braking & Steering
Braking & Steering

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

Fireworks in a Bottle

by • July 3, 2015

Make your own liquid “fireworks” with this simple and safe activity.

Center of the Universe
Center of the Universe

Where is the Center of the Universe? Here, there, and everywhere.

A Joint Effort

See how we cut the Exploratorium in two for seismic safety.

Wait Weight Don't Tell Me: Introduction

Explore the relationship between an object's volume and its weight.

Live from the Galapagos: July 2nd, 2015

Explore a part of the Galapagos that Darwin never saw.

Sea Debris
Join a trash safari in San Francisco Bay.
Bubble Colors
Bubble Colors
Turning Point Activity
Turning Point Activity

When you ride a bike in a straight line, you must make many minor corrections in order to stay upright.

Paul Clipson

Follow filmmaker Paul Clipson as he captures the Exploratorium's waterfront site.

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.

Middle Ground: Reconsidering Ourselves and Others

Pull up a chair and dive into Middle Ground. 

Exploring the Traits of Life
Exploring the Traits of Life

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

Brillo
Brillo

Los movimientos del ojo hacen parecer que el dise�o brilla.

Any Little Patch of Dirt
Any Little Patch of Dirt

A trash-filled median blossoms into a community oasis.

I M O K. U R O K.
I M O K. U R O K.

You can make sentences without words!

Light Painting
Light Painting

You can make a light painting with a light source, a darkened room, and a digital camera.

Inflatable: Expanding Works of Art

The air-filled sculptures of Inflatable keep it light.

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.

Scott Weaver's 100,000-Toothpick Sculpture of San Francisco

What would you do with 100,000 toothpicks?

Interference and Beats

How can a bugle make so many notes without any valves?

L'illusione del muro del caffé
L'illusione del muro del caffé

Sperimenta interattivamente l'illusione del muro del caffé.

Antarctic Seals
Antarctic Seals

Crabeaters have extraordinary teeth, Weddells are downright cute, and leopards are as fierce as their namesake

Listening Memory Game
Listening Memory Game

Play a memory concentration game: Listen closely then match pairs of sounds.

Stem Cells
Stem Cells

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

Geology for Fossil Hunters
Geology for Fossil Hunters

Search a geological map of Ethiopia for fossils.

Polar Bears
Polar Bears

White-coated Arctic icons, these supreme hunters are under threat

Bulk up your understanding of the "muscles" that move Theo Jansen's strandbeests.

Neanderthal Bones
Neanderthal Bones

Explore the process of extracting DNA from Neanderthal bones.

Penny Battery: What's going on?

Illuminate your understanding of how batteries work.

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.

The Domino Effect
The Domino Effect (pdf)

Use dominoes to model a nerve cell's transmission of a signal

Bee Hummer
Bee Hummer

Make a simple musical instrument that sounds like a swarm of buzzing bees when you spin it around.

Strandbeest: Animaris Suspendisse

Explore the idiosyncrasies of strandbeest motion as one traverses the beach.

Cookie Subduction
Cookie Subduction

Get a taste of how the earth's plates move.

Which Embryo is Human?
Which Embryo Is Human?

Can you tell the difference between human and nonhuman embryos?

Bubbularium
Bubbularium

Make an observatory to see the amazing colors in bubbles!

Luccichío
Luccichío

I movimenti dei tuoi occhi faranno brillare questo disegno.

Monitoring Climate Change
Discover what it takes to monitor climate change.
Susie Ibarra: Performance

Stand in the intersection of the traditional and the avant-garde.

The Evolution of Languages
The Evolution of Languages
Listen to the Softest Sound
Listen to the Softest Sound

What's the quietest sound you can find – and how can you find it? Download listening tips.

The Joshua Light Show and Moon Duo (Part 2 of 2)

Experience the psychedelic visuals of the legendary Joshua Light Show.

Cardboard Automata
Cardboard Automata

Explore mechanical elements such as cams, levers, and linkages to create your own moving sculpture.

Floating: On Board the Airship Eureka

Float high in the sky on the airship Eureka.

Polar Bears
Polar Bears

White-coated Arctic icons, these supreme hunters are under threat

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