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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.

What Causes San Francisco Fog?

Why are San Francisco summers so foggy?

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!

Orange slices
Juicy Questions (PDF)

Printer friendly version.

Transit of Venus: Sonification

Listen to Wayne Grim's musical representation of the transit of Venus.

Meet the Makers - Time
Explore time in this installment of Open Make.
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.

Bernie Lubell
Bernie Lubell

Meet a kinetic sculptor.

International Polar Years
International Polar Years

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

Frames & Materials
Frames & Materials

What are the best materials for frames? What are the best designs?

Science of Sailing 102: Tip, Don't Flip!
Find out how America's Cup catamarans balance...and tip over.
Joshua Light Show with Linda Perhacs and Julia Holter

The legendary Joshua Light Show returns to the Exploratorium’.

It's Alive
It's Alive

Bring movie, TV, and cartoon images to life.

Frames & Materials
Frames & Materials

What are the best materials for frames? What are the best designs?

Surf the Data for Perfect Waves

by Mary Miller • February 1, 2018

Big wave secrets are all in the data.

The thrill of natural phenomena

by Sebastian • August 16, 2019

Which Languages Are Related?
Which Languages Are Related?

Examine words from different languages and determine which two languages are the most closely related.

Chill: Joe Mangrum’s Sand Mandala
Relax with artist Joe Mangram's sand mandala.
Fireworks in a Bottle

by • July 3, 2015

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

Reel Movies
Get a last-chance look at 35 mm film projection.
Garden Variety
Garden Variety

Discover the uncommon stories behind the most common fruits and vegetables.

Exploring the Gorringe Bank Seamounts
Discover an underwater mountain range as tall as the Alps.
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.

Frog Chorus
Frog Chorus

Hear audio clips of the ambient sounds of the rain forest at night near Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

Black Spirituals: Performance

Feel the beat of Oakland-based sound-making duo Black Spirituals

The Heart of the Matter: Inside CERN
The Heart of the Matter: Inside CERN

Visit the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, which studies what the universe is made of and how the universe works.

Clothespin Workout
Clothespin Workout

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

Balloon Blow-Up
Balloon Blow-Up

Not all bubbles are made with soap!

Tuning
Tuning

Find out what all that fiddling around before a concert is really about.

Drives & Gears
Drives & Gears

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

Building the Exploratorium at Pier 15: Timelapse

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

Transit of Venus: June 5-6, 2012; June 8, 2004
Transit of Venus: June 5-6, 2012; June 8, 2004
Peter's Savage Garden
Peter's Savage Garden

Explore the deadly beautiful world of carnivorous plants.

Eric Glick Rieman: Interview

Bay Area composer Eric Glick Rieman discusses his wide-ranging pieces. ​

Extended Cinemas 2018

Contemplate the continuum of cinema at After Dark. 

Naked Eggs
Naked Eggs

Use your naked egg to experiment with osmosis, the movement of water across a membrane.

Spring 2015 Update

What can a comet in space tell us about Earth's oceans?

Mind Lecture Series
Mind Lecture Series

Listen to internationally recognized authorities on human thought and behavior, including Temple Grandin and Paul Ekman.

Unnatural Selection
Unnatural Selection

Learn how changes in genes over generations created the modern goldfish.

Which Embryo is Human?
Which Embryo Is Human?

Can you tell the difference between human and nonhuman embryos?

Exploratorium: Find Your Rhythm

Find your rhythm—or bring to life the music in your head.

Science of Cooking
Science of Cooking Archive

Explore the science behind food and cooking with recipes, activities, and archived Webcasts.

Exploratorium at Pier 15: Green Machine

Get to know Pier 15, one of the greenest buildings around.

Drives & Gears
Drives & Gears

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

On the Move: Event

Experience the Exploratorium's traveling road show all over San Francisco.

Cell Explorer
Cell Explorer

Learn about the inner workings of a cell through this interactive exhibit.

Modulated LED: Try Our Challenge

Put your mind to tackling these classic engineering problems.

Chichén Itzá

Explore the ancient knowledge of the Maya, who built sophisticated monuments to the sun.

Journey to an Organic Egg Farm
Journey to an Organic Egg Farm

Visit an organic egg farm, and see the science behind raising those eggs.

Vocal Vowels
Vocal Vowels

Hear vocal tract models transform the squawk of a duck call into vowel sounds.

Off the Screen: Ondes Martenot demonstration by Geneviève Grenier

Get to know the early electronic instrument the ondes Martenot.

Master Painter Jampa Choedak
Dive into senses with painter Jampa Choedak's work using thangka techniques.
The Exploratorium Shop

Visit the beating heart of the Exploratorium—our shop.

Microclimates in Fogtown
Investigate why San Francisco has so many microclimates.
Dissect a Disk
Dissect a Disk

Find out what's inside a floppy disk.

Middle Ground
Middle Ground

Explore new social science exhibits at San Francisco’s Civic Center.

Picturing the Body
Picturing the Body

Learn about common techniques for peering inside the body in order to diagnose disease and injury.

APE
Fostering Active Prolonged Engagement

APE was a four-year Exploratorium project to explore strategies and tactics to shift the role of visitors from passive recipient of information to active participant in the exhibit experience.

Blood
Blood

Learn about the body's vital defense force.

Light Wind

Use wind to power a motor and light an LED.

Seismic Slinky
Seismic Slinky

What goes on under the ground during an earthquake? Use a Slinky to model the various seismic waves that make the earth tremble.

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