Explore, Play, Discover: Websites, Activities, and More

This stuff can't make up its mind -- is it a liquid or a solid?

Who lives in the Arctic, and how did they get there?

Explore mechanical elements such as cams, levers, and linkages to create your own moving sculpture.

Learn about scale and structure with eight great activities designed for the elementary classroom.

Can a gum wrapper have a story? Discover just how important and meaningful an object can be.

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

Recycle some cans to make after-dinner music!

Listen to bird songs and try to figure out which are songs, which are companion calls, and which are alarms.

See a map of recent earthquakes in the United States, and learn why earthquakes happen so frequently on the West Coast.

What kinds of candy are made and enjoyed in where you live?

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.

Find out why wind resistance is a big drag for bicyclists, and use our calculator to estimate drag for yourself.

Identify misalignments in your body by looking at your feet.

Meet David Goodsell, a molecular biologist and artist who finds beauty in the molecules of cells.

Activities and History

Meteor, meteorite, meteoroid – what's the difference?

How are emotional expressions built?

Use this handy conversion calculator to convert between the many units found in recipes.

Learn about bike gears using thread spools and a rubber band.

Can you tell the difference between human and nonhuman embryos?

With just mud, paper and an egg, you can grow colonies of multi-hued microbes!

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

The earth moves in mysterious ways

Search a geological map of Ethiopia for fossils.

Learn how some vibrant seniors exercise their minds, and find out what you can do to help your own memory.

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

Activités pour la classe élémentaire.

Staff member Vivian Altmann presents the "Snack" Water-Bottle Membranophone." Make some noise with simple materials.

Identify misalignments in your body by looking at your feet.

Listen to bird songs and try to figure out which are songs, which are companion calls, and which are alarms.

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

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

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.

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

Do hot water and cold water mix?

For accuracy, it's best to use both a candy thermometer and the cold water test when making candy.

Are there meat by-products in makeup? Can you guess where you might find them?

Recycle a potato chip can into a simple camera.

The Science of Hockey takes you inside the sport and explains the science behind the world's fastest game. The site contains RealVideo interviews with scientists and NHL players and coaches.

A multifaceted exhibition that explored genetics and the Human Genome Project from a variety of perspectives from April 8 to September 4, 1995.

Meet a kinetic sculptor.

Make a scale model of the Solar System and learn the REAL definition of "space."

How has imagery changed the way we look at our bodies—over time and in different cultures?