Excite and motivate young minds with lively 45-minute participatory presentations. Students are actively involved with these dramatic and fun introductions to basic science concepts. Learning objectives can be expanded and reinforced by pairing demonstrations with Learning Labs, Science on a Sphere, or a planetarium show for a full-day program.
Demos that are available for traveling science outreach programs are indicated with an asterisk (*).
Chemistry Demo
Is it science or magic? You decide! In this demonstration, explore changes of state (solids to liquids, liquids to gases), mixtures, solutions, and chemical reactions. Chemistry is all around us—come check it out!
Violent Weather
What is weather? How do storms form? Why does weather get violent? Explore the causes and effects of thunder and lightning, learn about wind currents, and see how tornadoes form. You won’t want to miss this exploration of some of our wildest weather!
Engineering for Space
It’s hard enough to escape the Earth’s gravitational pull and make it safely to space, but staying safe in space presents a whole new set of engineering challenges. Astronauts must be protected from extreme heat, cold, vacuum, fast-moving debris, and they need to be able to breathe! We’ll learn about the amazing innovations of space suits in this exciting demo that showcases the fascinating engineering challenges and solutions for exploring the final frontier.
Electricity Demo*
How is electricity created? Discover the differences between static and current electricity. Witness the power of lightning bolts and light bulbs illuminated without wires. Learn about new and different ways that electricity can be produced.
The Force is Strong with This Demo*
The force is all around us… the forces of motion that is! We’ll explore all three laws of motion to test how things interact. See the power of inertia, learn how you can change acceleration by changing mass, and become a rocket scientist! You’ll be strong with the knowledge of forces after this demo!
Light Demo
Learn why “without light, there is no sight.” Students will learn how the eye detects and images distant objects and perceives color, and learn to distinguish between additive and subtractive color mixing. Topics will include lasers, lenses, and light pipes; polarization of light; light reflection, absorption, refraction, diffraction, and transmission of light.
Sound*
Listen to observe the interaction of sound waves. Learn about pitch, volume, and the transmission of sound. Watch as instruments, music boxes, and other devices demonstrate the concept of sound. See how machines translate sound from recordings to our ears.
Engineering for Space
It’s hard enough to escape the Earth’s gravitational pull and make it safely to space, but staying safe in space presents a whole new set of engineering challenges. Astronauts must be protected from extreme heat, cold, vacuum, fast-moving debris, and they need to be able to breathe! We’ll learn about the amazing innovations of space suits in this exciting demo that showcases the fascinating engineering challenges and solutions for exploring the final frontier.
Don’t Try This at Home!
Get ready for the coolest, hottest, most explosive activities that you can imagine. Mad Scientists are welcome as we combine common sense with scientific principles and fascinating fun.
