In this activity visitors create drawings and paintings by looking through stereoscopic microscopes and a set of simple materials: paper, pencils, ink pens, colored pencils, very small tipped paint brushes and colored ink. We first introduced this activity as an alternative way of introducing the microscope that brings together art and science for a yearly event we do at our museum called “Microscope Day” where we invite education and research groups that use microscopes in their daily work to share these activities with visitors.
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Paper Plane Croquet
Participants build a paper airplane that they will use to complete different challenges in the ‘croquet’ course that has been set up using assorted items available.
Stop Motion Animation
A fun activity that allows visitors to bring dinosaurs to life through stop motion animation. We created two panoramic illustrated backdrops of environments with flora and fauna for staging the animations. The two sets come with some DIY vegetation props and a set of detailed plastic dinosaur models. Visitors can choose to use an available smartphone with an animation app on the phone or their smart phone (after they install the free animation app) to record their animations
Microbots
Visitors will challenge their creativity and dexterity to build tiny robot-esque creations using small, recycled materials.
Limiting materials to a few repetitive parts forces visitors to think laterally about material use (“if all I have are screws and capacitors, how can I transform them into all the different parts that I need?” Rather than, “this part already looks like an arm, so I’ll use it as an arm” ) while restricting the size of the creations encourages visitors to invest extra thought and care into detailed objects they can hold in one hand. Up close and personal = detailed and intimate!
Toy Mash-Up
Participants take apart toys to create a new character. They do this by cutting, dissembling and putting pieces together with added embellishments such as buttons, beads, jewels, ribbons, etc. Participants then display their creations for everyone to enjoy.
Sound Sandwich
We’ve found it has been difficult to find the right kind of activities that can give someone with limited prior knowledge, an understanding of how sound works; how vibrations in the air are what we experience as sound. The “Sound Sandwich activity is a great way to explore vibration and the different sound and pitches that can be made.
In this activity you blow across stretched rubber bands to create sound. The harder you blow, the faster the rubber bands move ( or vibrate) producing higher sounds. The slower you blow, the lower the sounds. It uses a few very inexpensive materials – possible all can be recycled from a visit to a store – and turn it into a fun and useful tool to explore and understand sound.
Pinhole Camera
This activity appeared like a great way to explore how light, our eyes, and brain simultaneously works together to produce images.
This simple activity also shows some of the interesting things about how our brain takes in information and processes. You can see this best when the image that the pinhole camera shows upside down, how then do we see the world right-side up?
Pterosaur Glider
A fun activity that allows visitors to play with pterosaur anatomy as a frame for a simple glider they will build. Visitors construct their glider with straws, cardstock as wings, tail, and crest, with a rubber band on the head to use as a launching mechanism. Visitors build and test different crest and wing shapes on their gliders using two stationary launchers, watching how well the glider’s fly through the air, making changes to improve their flights.
Paper Rockets
Participants will use the engineering design process to create paper rockets. Then, they will use compressed air launchers to send the rocket through one of two large rings, suspended from the ceiling.
Encourage guest to build paper rockets that will eventually fly through the rings that are suspended from the ceiling. Fin/nosecone design can greatly influence the flight of a rocket; encourage guests to try different designs.
Roller Coasters
They love to ride them, now they’ll love to build them! Students explore potential and kinetic energy and apply what they learn to build their own roller coasters made of foam tubing, tinker toys, and marbles.