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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.

Sparkling Science: Champagne
Sparkling Science: Champagne

Learn how sparkling wine is made, what makes it different from still wine, and where all those little bubbles come from!

Hike with artist Harrell Fletcher from the Exploratorium to Mount Diablo.

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.

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

Nobel Laureate Symposium

Light and Landscape: The Science and Art of Perception
Light and Landscape: The Science and Art of Perception

Explore the mysterious interactions between light and geography through the eyes and works of artists Charles Ross and James Turrell.

Icebergs
Icebergs

They're a menace to ships, but life thrives in these frozen oases.

Fermentation and Food
Fermentation and Food

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

Science of Sharing Educator Activities
Science of Sharing Educator Activities

Explore the ideas behind Science of Sharing with these Activities.

Why Eclipses Happen
Bikes: Brakes
Bikes: Brakes

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

CANdemonium
CANdemonium

Recycle some cans to make after-dinner music!

Clothespin Workout
Clothespin Workout

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

Peter Taylor's Tool Belt

by Steve Gennrich • January 7, 2017

Peter Taylor, Exploratorium Super-Technician, talks about his outdoor installation tools.

Transits
Blood
Blood

Learn about the body's vital defense force.

Listening Guides
Listening Guides

Skilled listeners share their secrets.

UV Beads
UV Beads

Study ultraviolet radiation from the sun and other sources using UV beads.

Meet the Artist: Fi Henshall

Meet Fi Henshall, an automata artist showcased at the Curious Contraptions exhibition.

Bubble Bomb
Bubble Bomb

Using baking soda and vinegar, you can pop a plastic bag with the power of fizz.

Garden Lore
Garden Lore

The fact and fiction behind some bizarre gardening remedies.

Chain Reaction
Chain Reaction

Rube Goldberg-inspired cause and effect contraptions using everyday materials and found objects.

About Alignments
About Alignments

The Maya were expert sky-watchers, careful observers of the motions of the celestial bodies...

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.

The Domino Effect
The Domino Effect (pdf)

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

Skateboarding Glossary
Skateboarding Glossary

anatomy of a skateboard, skateboard tricks, types of skateboarding, physics glossary.

Pi Day
Pi Day

Activities and History

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.

Pringles Pinhole
Pringles Pinhole

Recycle a potato chip can into a simple camera.

A. J. Racy: Interview

Dive into compositions exploring ancient forms from Middle Eastern cultures.

Voyages of Discovery: NOAA's Okeanos Explorer
Voyages of Discovery: NOAA's Okeanos Explorer

The Okeanos Explorer is the newest vessel in NOAA's fleet and the first to be dedicated solely to exploration and discovery missions. Follow along with the scientists and crew on their discovery voyages.

Polarized Light Mosaic
Polarized Light Mosaic

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

Exploratorium at Pier 15: Green Machine

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

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!

Light and Landscape: The Science and Art of Perception
Light and Landscape: The Science and Art of Perception

Explore the mysterious interactions between light and geography through the eyes and works of artists Charles Ross and James Turrell.

Make Your Own Telescope
Make Your Own Telescope

Make your own refracting telescope from a pair of reading glasses.

Cookie Subduction
Cookie Subduction

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

Sad Music
Sad Music

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

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.

Which Languages Are Related?
Which Languages Are Related?

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

Meet the Artist: Matt Smith

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

Science of Cooking
Science of Cooking Archive

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

Make a
Make a "Mummy"

Create your own fish mummy using common baking soda!

Bread Worldwide
Bread Worldwide

Tour the Breads of the World

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!

The Wheel
The Wheel

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

Voting Paradoxes

Explore some ways in which the democratic process can go wrong.

Doctor Atomic: Commentary on an Opera
Doctor Atomic: Commentary on an Opera

Explore the scientific, historical, and cultural context behind a new opera about the first atomic bomb test.

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.

Modulated LED: Try Our Challenge

Put your mind to tackling these classic engineering problems.

Peter Taylor's Tool Belt

by Steve Gennrich • January 7, 2017

Peter Taylor, Exploratorium Super-Technician, talks about his outdoor installation tools.

Swell Swell
Swell Swell

Want to understand how to predict when the good waves are coming to your shore? It helps to start with the basics behind the formation of ocean waves.

Balloon Blow-Up
Balloon Blow-Up

Not all bubbles are made with soap!

Turbulent Landscapes
Turbulent Landscapes

An introduction to the concepts and theories that contribute to contemporary complexity research.

Institute for Inquiry: Examining the Art of Science Education
Institute for Inquiry: Examining the Art of Science Education

Professional development resources for teacher educators.

Restoring the Salt Ponds
What are salt ponds and why are they being restored?
Seasons and Shadows
Seasons and Shadows

Why is your shadow longer in winter than in summer? Grab a basketball and some paperclips and find out!

Clothespin Workout
Clothespin Workout

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

Robo-Car Derby
Robo-Car Derby

Demonstrations of electric Robo-Cars made by 22 Science Summer students.

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

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

Tilt-a-Graph
Tilt-a-Graph

Explore graphing, angles, and storytelling by building a seesaw for your smartphone.

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