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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.

Third From the Sun: Geographical Features as Seen from Space
Third From the Sun: Geographical Features as Seen from Space

Technological developments have changed how we view Earth. See LandSat images and learn more about our home planet.

Pi Day isn't just a day—it's a way of life.

Preparing for Landing
Follow the Rosetta mission with Senior Scientist Isabel Hawkins.
Cookie Subduction
Cookie Subduction

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

Building the Exploratorium at Pier 15: Timelapse

The Exploratorium wasn't built in a day—watch it go up in a minute. 

Drives & Gears
Drives & Gears

What is a gear ratio? And how do gears help make the bicycle so efficient?

Exploratorium in Second Life
See a film made entirely in Second Life.
Glitter Globe
Glitter Globe

Make a fantastic toy that shimmers when you shake it.

Look Inside a Tooth
Look Inside a Tooth

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

Colored Shadows Demo

An additive mixture of light makes for some colorful fun.

Penguins
Penguins

Living along the continental coastline of Antarctica are the emperors and the Adélies.

Dot Mixer
Dot Mixer

Produce some pretty mixed-up music with this online interactive.

Candy-o-Matic
Candy-o-Matic

Find out how different kinds of candy are made in the Candy-o-matic!

Bike Frame Materials
Bike Frame Materials

Explore the important engineering concepts of yield strength, ultimate strength, and elasticity as they relate to building a better bicycle.

Sunspots
Sunspots

Map sunspots and build an apparatus for safe sunspot viewing!

Soap Film on a Can: Materials and assembly

Prepare to experiment with soap film by getting the necessary materials.

Invisible Dynamics
Invisible Dynamics

Art/science teams explore the underlying systems that give the San Francisco Bay Area its unique character.

Total Solar Eclipse Android App
Total Solar Eclipse Android App
Can You Find the Highest Note?
Can You Find the Highest Note?

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

Blood
Blood

Learn about the body's vital defense force.

Total Solar Eclipse: Live From Turkey
Total Solar Eclipse: Live From Turkey

On March 29, 2006, a total solar eclipse occurred when the new moon moved directly between the sun and the earth. The moon’s shadow fell on the eastern tip of Brazil, sped eastward across the Atlantic, through northern Africa, across the Mediterranean, an

Memory Party Game
Memory Party Game

Test your memory and compare it with your friends'.

Imaging Station Classroom Explorations
Imaging Station Classroom Explorations

Introduce students to unique life science activities that let them work with our research-quality microscopic images and videos.

How Far Can You Hit One?
How Far Can You Hit One?

How can something as light as air slow down a hit?

Blood
Blood

Learn about the body's vital defense force.

Copper Caper
Copper Caper

Watch old pennies turn bright and shiny right before your eyes!

Total Solar Eclipse Android App
Total Solar Eclipse Android App
Flat Lens
Flat Lens

A drop of water makes a fine magnifying lens.

Video: “Eclipse Chasers”
Video: “Eclipse Chasers”
Live Eye on the Earth
Live Eye on the Earth

Want to see where the biggest quakes have been this week? Follow a few of the links below to see what's shaking in your neighborhood and around the world.

Science of Sailing 102: Tip, Don't Flip!
Find out how America's Cup catamarans balance...and tip over.
Faultline: Seismic Science at the Epicenter
Faultline: Seismic Science at the Epicenter

Commemorate the 1906 quake! Rummage through live earthquake data, subductive science, and more. Learn about earthquakes in Faultline: Seismic Science at the Epicenter

Whirling Watcher
Whirling Watcher

Make a spinning disc called a stroboscope, which lets you create your own animated cartoon.

Luccichío
Luccichío

I movimenti dei tuoi occhi faranno brillare questo disegno.

Blood
Blood

Learn about the body's vital defense force.

Behind the Scenes: Bay Water Cooling System

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

Tiny Pants Photo Challenge
Tiny Pants Photo Challenge

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

Chaco Canyon

Come with us to Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico, which is rich with thousand-year-old artifacts of the ancient Pueblo culture and contains sites that appear to have been astronomical observatories.

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.

Science at Burning Man
Science at Burning Man

Join the Exploratorium on the playa in Black Rock Desert and explore the science of pyrotechnics, flight, dust devils, rainbows, and more.

What is Community Radio?

Get your antennae ready for what's on the airwaves.

Getting Started with Motion
Getting Started with Motion

Use the Science Journal mobile app to investigate movement.

Remarkable Feets
Remarkable Feets

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

The Domino Effect
The Domino Effect (pdf)

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

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!

Film Canister Farming
Film Canister Farming

Experiment with water, temperature, and light to see what makes a seed come out of its shell.

Altamont Wind Farms

Learn how wind energy is generated and stored at Altamont Pass.

Transit of Venus: The Rarest Eclipse
Transit of Venus 2012 & 2004

Watch Venus travel in front of the Sun. 

Clay Beams
Clay Beams

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

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.

Hernán Lira: Building Automata

Experience the magic of toy- and puppetmaker Hernán Lira. 

Monster Mallows
Monster Mallows

Grow marshmallows to monstrous proportions!

Science of Gardening: Control
Science of Gardening: Control

Make it grow . . . bigger, lusher, juicier.

Molecular Meat
Molecular Meat

What happens to meat when you cook it?

Past Eclipse Expeditions
Past Eclipse Expeditions
Do Your Own Dissection
Do Your Own Dissection

Download a PDF file with step-by-step instructions for doing your own cow's eye dissection.

The Art of 3D Printing

See how 3D printing can be used to make art.

Find the Fat
Find the Fat

Just how much fat is in ground beef? You may be surprised.

Cloud Chamber

See evidence of invisible cosmic rays with Cloud Chamber.

Memory Party Game
Memory Party Game

Test your memory and compare it with your friends'.

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