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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.

Balloon Blow-Up
Balloon Blow-Up

Not all bubbles are made with soap!

Behind the Screen: Making Motion Pictures and Television
Behind the Screen: Making Motion Pictures and Television
Garden Lore
Garden Lore

The fact and fiction behind some bizarre gardening remedies.

Seasons and Alignments
Seasons and Alignments

Does the sun rise in the east? Not exactly.

Made for Movies: Star Wars IV, V, and VI

Discover the ingenious fixes and unexpected materials behind iconic movie scenes.

 

How to Build a Spectroscope
How to Build a Spectroscope

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.

Pi Day
Pi Day

Activities and History

Spectra From Space
Spectra From Space

An introduction to spectra and to the space-based telescopes. The site includes a number of hands-on activities.

Sad Music
Sad Music

Our reactions may be trained, but the devices that make music sound "sad" are real enough.

Bastoncini da giardinaggio
Bastoncini da giardinaggio
Solar Views
Solar Views
Paul Clipson

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

Cookie Subduction
Cookie Subduction

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

The Body Farm
The Body Farm

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

The Cold Water Candy Test
The Cold Water Candy Test
Jumping to Conclusions

Your brain is always looking for blank spaces and filling them in. Sometimes, your brain leaps to the wrong conclusion. Then you get a surprise!

Ice Balloons
Ice Balloons

What can you do with a frozen water balloon? Plenty!

Girls of Summer
Girls of Summer

In the 1870s, an American woman could not vote. She could not own property in her own name after marriage. But she could play ball. . .

Remembering Nagasaki
Remembering Nagasaki

In Observance of the 50th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Meet the Artist: Matt Smith

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

Science in the City
Science in the City

The Exploratorium is taking it outside to explore natural and human-made phenomena in and around San Francisco. Look for new episodes twice each month.

Geiger Counter
Geiger Counter

What does it take to block gamma radiation?

The Wheel
The Wheel

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

Energy from Death
Energy from Death

Learn how living things get energy from dead ones in this interactive exhibit.

Light Instruments:  Designing and Building
Light Instruments: Designing and Building

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

Knowing North

Stand outside on a sunny day with a watch in your hand, and you can tell which way is north.

Monster Mallows
Monster Mallows

Grow marshmallows to monstrous proportions!

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

Experience the thrill of Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen.

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.

Behind the Scenes: Bay Water Cooling System

See how our location over San Francisco Bay helps save energy.

Making a Sun Clock
Making a Sun Clock

Before there were clocks, people used shadows to tell time!

Extremophiles in Kamchatka
Extremophiles in Kamchatka

Follow scientists looking for life in the hot springs of the Russian Far East.

Quake Basics: Waves
Quake Basics: Waves

The earth moves in mysterious ways

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.

Skateboard Science
Skateboard Science

Find out how this extreme sport is governed by the principles of momentum, gravity, friction, and centripetal force. Learn skateboarding history, technology, and more!

Pi Day
Pi Day

Activities and History

Mars Rovers
Mars Rovers

Meet the robotic explorers that landed on Mars in 2004, and check out their tools and instruments.

Modulated LED: Try Our Challenge

Put your mind to tackling these classic engineering problems.

Fruitful DNA Extraction
Fruitful DNA Extraction (pdf)

Think you have a lot in common with a kiwi fruit? Genetically speaking, you do.

Indicating Electrolysis: Introduction

Break water into hydrogen and oxygen using a homemade electrolysis device. 

Make Your Own Petroglyph
Make Your Own Petroglyph

Try your hand at explaining symbols both modern and ancient, and then make your own.

Fermentation and Food
Fermentation and Food

The common ground between pickles, cheese, bread, wine, and many other foods.

Altamont Wind Farms

Visit the otherworldly wind turbines of the Altamont Pass.

Swell Swell
Turning Garbage into Gold

Seasoned gardeners depend on a community of bacteria, worms, and insects to get the most out of their plantings. Find out why.

Susie Ibarra: Interview

Join an interview with avant-garde percussionist Susie Ibarra.

Imaging Station Wallpapers
Imaging Station Wallpapers

Download desktop wallpaper for your computer.

Molecular Meat
Molecular Meat

What happens to meat when you cook it?

Bikes: Brakes
Bikes: Brakes

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

Profile of a Frog Researcher
Profile of a Frog Researcher

A profile of frog researcher Dr. Tyrone Hayes.

Which Embryo is Human?
Which Embryo Is Human?

Can you tell the difference between human and nonhuman embryos?

Total Solar Eclipse China 2008
Total Solar Eclipse China 2008

View the full eclipse visible from China in 2008.

Clothespin Workout
Clothespin Workout

You may be surprised at the results of this "wimpy" workout.

Magic Wand: Exhibit Demo

Can you see pictures in the air?

Sport! Science Q&A
Sport! Science Q&A

Find the answers to common Sport! Science questions.

Knowing North

Stand outside on a sunny day with a watch in your hand, and you can tell which way is north.

Tiny Pants Photo Challenge
Tiny Pants Photo Challenge

Using a simple trick of perspective, you can dress your friends in tiny cutout clothing.

Scribbling Machines
Scribbling Machines

A Scribbling Machine is a motorized contraption that moves in unusual ways and leaves a mark to trace it's path.

Messing With Your Mind
Messing With Your Mind

Can you trust your own memory? Find out with this activity.

Science in the City: Black Sand

Explore the mysteries of Ocean Beach's black sand (a.k.a. magnetite). 

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