Middle School Learning Labs

**Please note this is a 2 hour program experience.** Discovery Science Center’s Challenger Learning Center is a mock space station and mission control simulation environment that promotes awareness of how technologies make space exploration possible. The simulation creates a cooperative learning atmosphere where students have opportunity to test out a STEM career underscored by teamwork, communication, problem-solving, and decision-making. This pairs well with the planetarium show Mars: The Ultimate Voyage!

Students will be able to explore different species and their anatomy as they study the evidence of biological evolution. In this lab, students will see common examples of ancestry.

Students will be able to identify the geosphere, look at the different layers of Earth & the strata of the planet. In this lab, students will be able to recognize timelines and make predictions as to when events happened and where they are now. This lab pairs well with the Planetarium show The Birth of Planet Earth!

Students will learn about solar panels, water consumption, wind energy, Earth’s resources and the negative effects of human consumptions. In this lab, we will focus on our weaknesses and devise a strategy to help our planet & build a prototype water filtration system.

Students will learn about DNA and the genetic code that determines our features. In this lab, students will have the opportunity to join us on the Dragon Reserve and Conservation Operation (DRACO) to breed their own dragon! Students will learn the differences between genotype and phenotype to create highly adapted new generations!

Students will learn about the motion and stability of the tiniest particles on Earth. In this lab, students will investigate how molecules will react with one another and theorize what happens if they are to introduce a chemical reaction.