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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.

Piezoelectric Microphones
Piezoelectric Microphones

Pick one and guess the source

Better Hair through Chemistry
Better Hair through Chemistry

Learn the science behind bad hair days, and learn how hair increases its length when humidity increases, making curly hair frizz and straight hair go limp.

The Amazing Water Trick
The Amazing Water Trick

Do hot water and cold water mix?

Exposición de tarjetas postales
Exposición de tarjetas postales

Cuatro exposiciones lo suficientemente pequeñas para caber en tarjetas postales.

Hockey Check Force Calculator
Hockey Check Force Calculator
Polarized Light Mosaic
Polarized Light Mosaic

With polarized light, you can make a stained glass window without gla

Beyond Einstein: World Wide Webcast
Beyond Einstein: World Wide Webcast

In celebration of Albert Einstein's work in 1905, science laboratories and museum around the world (including the Exploratorium) participated in a twelve-hour webcast that explored Einstein's influence on current physics research.

Take an Egg for a Spin
Take an Egg for a Spin

Learn how to use physics to distinguish between raw eggs and hard-cooked eggs.

Earliest Memories
Earliest Memories

Enjoy the early memories of some of the visitors to this website.

Curveballs
One of the niftiest tricks up the pitcher's sleeve is the ability to make a ball curve.
Plant Hybrids
Plant Hybrids

If you're a patient gardener, you can grow your own hybrid flowers.

Light Painting
Light Painting

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

Ponti di Plastilina
Ponti di Plastilina
Supercooled Water Drops
Supercooled Water Drops

Touch supercooled water drops with an ice crystal and trigger them to freeze instantly.

Frog City USA
Frog City USA

Take a virtual journey to the frog capital of the world, Rayne, Louisiana.

Glitter Globe
Glitter Globe

Make a fantastic toy that shimmers when you shake it.

Lisa Mezzacappa Interview

Resonance live interview with artist Lisa Mezzacappa.

Origins
Origins

Explore the places, people, tools, and ideas behind the origins of matter, the universe, and life itself.

Fireworks in a Bottle

by • July 3, 2015

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

Made for Movies: Star Wars I, II, and III

Go inside the Industrial Light & Magic model shop.

Cow's Eye Dissection
Cow's Eye Dissection

Learn how eyes work, and watch a cow's eye dissection. Then follow step-by-step instructions to do a cow's eye dissection yourself.

How Many Saturdays? App
How Many Saturdays? App

Explore our app and measure the time of your life.

Exploratorium @ Piers 15/17
Exploratorium @ Piers 15/17

We Moved! Follow Us to San Francisco’s Historic Waterfront

Susie Ibarra: Interview

Join an interview with avant-garde percussionist Susie Ibarra.

Nautilus
Nautilus

Follow along with expedition leader Bob Ballard and his crew on the exploration vessel Nautilus as they search for hydrothermal vents, underwater volcanoes, and ancient shipwrecks.

Hockey Check Force Calculator
Hockey Check Force Calculator
Organ Builders

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

Soap Film Interference Model: Do the experiment

Catch a wave—then measure it, reflect it, and see what happens. 

Remarkable Feets
Remarkable Feets

Learn about the most important piece of equipment-- your feet!

Exploring Hair
Exploring Hair

Scientific knowledge and a few chemical concoctions can get you through a Bad Hair Day.

Indicating Electrolysis: Teaching tips

Got questions about electrolysis in the classroom? We've got answers.

Braking & Steering
Braking & Steering

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

McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station

"Mac Town," the first stop for many scientists in Antarctica, is the same as any town–only different.

Saving Seeds, Saving Culture
Saving Seeds, Saving Culture

Saving seeds helps preserve the culture of Native American farmers in the American Southwest and northern Mexico.

Mars in a Minute: Are There Quakes on Mars?

Are there earthquakes on Mars? Or rather, “marsquakes?" 

Marble Machines
Marble Machines

A Marble Machine is a creative ball-run contraption, made from familiar materials, designed to send a rolling marble through tubes and funnels, across tracks and bumpers, and into a catch at the end.

Listening to Make Music
Listening to Make Music

Meet Bart Hopkin, who listens closely to the subtle sonic qualities of wood, water, and pipes as he creates new instruments.

Stem Cells
Stem Cells

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

2nd Skin
2nd Skin

Imaginative Designs in Digital and Analog Clothing

Recorded Voice
Recorded Voice

Most people abhor the sound of their own recorded voice. So what are these recording devices doing to our voices to make them sound so awful?

Arctic Birds
Arctic Birds

Summertime in the Arctic is for the birds

A Cell's Fate
A Cell's Fate

Specialized cells have a common origin. What sets them on separate paths?

Can You Find the Highest Note?
Can You Find the Highest Note?

Three auditory illusions created by students from the Center for Electronic Art.

Ice and Sediment Cores
Ice and Sediment Cores

Scientists dig under the surface for clues to past climate

Pringles Pinhole
Pringles Pinhole

Recycle a potato chip can into a simple camera.

Meet the Artist: Carlos Zapata

Meet Carlos Zapata, an automata artist showcased at Curious Contraptions.

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.

Vocal Visualizer: Have fun

Two Vocal Visualizers are better than one.

Antarctic Seals
Antarctic Seals

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

Ear Guitar
Ear Guitar

Share some secret sounds with a friend.

Knowing North

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

How Star Trek Conquered Planet Earth
How Star Trek Conquered Planet Earth

On Saturday, May 6th, 2000 we hosted a live panel discussion and webcast to explore the amazing phenomena of Star Trek.

Science of Sharing Educator Activities
Science of Sharing Educator Activities

Explore the ideas behind Science of Sharing with these Activities.

Geiger Counter
Geiger Counter

What does it take to block gamma radiation?

An Artist Looks at Life on an Undersea Volcano
What's a painter doing on this scientific research ship?
Take the Beat Back
Take the Beat Back

Uncover the everyday origins of some extraordinary instruments.

The Science of Surfing
The Science of Surfing

A little physics can go a long way on that shortboard.

Imaging Station Wallpapers
Imaging Station Wallpapers

Download desktop wallpaper for your computer.

Up Periscope!
Up Periscope!

Build a mirrored tube that lets you see around corners and over walls.

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?

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