This activity invites K–5 students, in both English and Spanish, to explore the phenomena of rolling objects down a ramp and investigate the question, “What happens to a roller when you change the ...

We have been prototyping a new automata activity called “Cranky Contraptions” using simple materials such as wooden blocks, wire, and foamies. Now that it’s been about a month that we have been ...

The free version of the Stop Motion Studio application will let you quickly take and combine multiple photos into an animation. Download the Stop Motion Studio app for iOS or Android to try it out!

Raw Materials might be cardboard boxes, thin cardboard (like pasta packaging or cereal boxes), toilet paper tubes, skewer sticks, and pencils.. Connectors include masking tape, brads, string, hardware ...

Beginning in the early 80's these human waves began appearing at sporting events all over the world. The phenomenon goes by several names, most commonly La Ola or the "Mexican Wave." Your typical ...

What do plants know about numbers? A certain spiral pattern commonly seen in sunflowers, pinecones, and many species of cacti contains some surprising numerical properties. In this brisk talk, Paul ...

Happy National DNA Day, which commemorates the successful completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and the discovery of DNA's double helix in 1953.. Published sixty-four years ago in the journal ...

Over the past several years of doing automata, we've developed some "classic" motion examples for participants to check out as they are starting to design their creations. On the old PIE pdf for ...

Can you smell time? Your dog can. On a very basic level, so can you: When you crack the lid on that old quart of milk, tentatively sniff and—peeyouu!—promptly dump that foul stuff down the sink, you ...

Materials ☐ Paper: printer paper works well for this activity. ☐ Drawing materials: like pens, pencils, colored pencils, and markers. ☐ Pencil (optional): you can use a pencil, mechanical pencil, ...

Shawn Rowe carries out research related to the intersections of everyday and STEM ways of knowing and thinking. With a background in applied linguistics and developmental psychology, his work has ...

Composer Wayne Grim makes naturally occurring data into music. Grim began experimenting with sonifications of data gathered here on Earth, within a stone’s throw of the Exploratorium: traffic patterns ...