
Calendar of Events
Past Events › Invention Project

Building with Biology
An event every day that begins at 9:30 am, repeating until August 27, 2016
Explore the importance of the emerging field of synthetic biology through a variety of hands-on activities. Building with Biology is part of a nationwide festival of educational programs designed to encourage conversations between the public and scientists. The Building with Biology project is funded by the National Science Foundation and led by the Museum of Science, Boston. Building with Biology kits are developed and distributed nationwide in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), BioBuilder Educational…
Find out more »
Building with Biology
Explore the importance of the emerging field of synthetic biology through a variety of hands-on activities. Building with Biology is part of a nationwide festival of educational programs designed to encourage conversations between the public and scientists. The Building with Biology project is funded by the National Science Foundation and led by the Museum of Science, Boston. Building with Biology kits are developed and distributed nationwide in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), BioBuilder Educational…
Find out more »
Cardboard Space City
Work with other museum visitors in Spark!Lab Smithsonian to create a cardboard model of a futuristic space community. This collaborative project will grow and change through Sunday, September 18, 2016, so make plans to visit the museum again to see how it turn out!
Find out more »
Cardboard Space City
Work with other museum visitors in Spark!Lab Smithsonian to create a cardboard model of a futuristic space community. This collaborative project will grow and change through Sunday, September 18, 2016, so make plans to visit the museum again to see how it turn out!
Find out more »
Cardboard Space City
An event every week that begins at 9:30 am on Wednesday, repeating until September 14, 2016
Work with other museum visitors in Spark!Lab Smithsonian to create a cardboard model of a futuristic space community. This collaborative project will grow and change through Sunday, September 18, 2016, so make plans to visit the museum again to see how it turn out!
Find out more »
Cardboard Space City
An event every day that begins at 9:30 am, repeating until September 10, 2016
Work with other museum visitors in Spark!Lab Smithsonian to create a cardboard model of a futuristic space community. This collaborative project will grow and change through Sunday, September 18, 2016, so make plans to visit the museum again to see how it turn out!
Find out more »
Cardboard Space City
An event every day that begins at 9:30 am, repeating until September 10, 2016
Work with other museum visitors in Spark!Lab Smithsonian to create a cardboard model of a futuristic space community. This collaborative project will grow and change through Sunday, September 18, 2016, so make plans to visit the museum again to see how it turn out!
Find out more »
Cardboard Space City
An event every week that begins at 11:00 am on Sunday, repeating until September 18, 2016
Work with other museum visitors in Spark!Lab Smithsonian to create a cardboard model of a futuristic space community. This collaborative project will grow and change through Sunday, September 18, 2016, so make plans to visit the museum again to see how it turn out!
Find out more »
Cardboard Space City
Work with other museum visitors in Spark!Lab Smithsonian to create a cardboard model of a futuristic space community. This collaborative project will grow and change through Sunday, September 18, 2016, so make plans to visit the museum again to see how it turn out!
Find out more »
Cardboard Space City
An event every day that begins at 9:30 am, repeating until September 17, 2016
Work with other museum visitors in Spark!Lab Smithsonian to create a cardboard model of a futuristic space community. This collaborative project will grow and change through Sunday, September 18, 2016, so make plans to visit the museum again to see how it turn out!
Find out more »
Flying UAV’s
An event every week that begins at 9:30 am on Saturday, repeating until October 29, 2016
Inspired by Naval fighter pilot Missy Cummings, test your piloting skills in Spark!Lab Smithsonian when you take The Discovery’s UAV for a test flight through a challenging obstacle course.
Find out more »
Play the Theremin
An event every week that begins at 9:30 am on Tuesday, repeating until November 15, 2016
It may sound like it’s from the future, but it’s actually from the past. The theremin, invented in 1920 by Léon Theremin, is an instrument you play by waiving your hands near two antennas—you never actually touch it! Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to try your hand(s) at creating a song of your own on a modern-day theremin!
Find out more »
DNA Exploration
An event every week that begins at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, repeating until November 30, 2016
Inspired by scientist Rosalind Franklin‘s discovery of DNA’s double helix structure in 1952, museum visitors will extract, isolate, and observe the DNA of an ordinary strawberry to understand more about the building blocks of life and pursuits in the field of geneology.
Find out more »
Flying UAV’s
Inspired by Naval fighter pilot Missy Cummings, test your piloting skills in Spark!Lab Smithsonian when you take The Discovery’s UAV for a test flight through a challenging obstacle course.
Find out more »
Make Your Own Slime
Inspired by the inventor of Kevlar polymer, Stephanie Kowlek, visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to make your own polymer slime and explore its various properties.
Find out more »
Spark!Lab Rocket Week
Prepare for lift-off in The Discovery’s Spark!Lab Smithsonian when you build a paper compressed-air rocket using the provided template and then test your rocket’s flight capabilities using the museum’s compressed air launcher to send your spacecraft soaring toward the moon!
Find out more »
Spark!Lab Rocket Week
Prepare for lift-off in The Discovery’s Spark!Lab Smithsonian when you build a paper compressed-air rocket using the provided template and then test your rocket’s flight capabilities using the museum’s compressed air launcher to send your spacecraft soaring toward the moon!
Find out more »
Spark!Lab Rocket Week
Prepare for lift-off in The Discovery’s Spark!Lab Smithsonian when you build a paper compressed-air rocket using the provided template and then test your rocket’s flight capabilities using the museum’s compressed air launcher to send your spacecraft soaring toward the moon!
Find out more »
Spark!Lab Rocket Week
An event every day that begins at 10:30 am, repeating until November 26, 2016
Prepare for lift-off in The Discovery’s Spark!Lab Smithsonian when you build a paper compressed-air rocket using the provided template and then test your rocket’s flight capabilities using the museum’s compressed air launcher to send your spacecraft soaring toward the moon!
Find out more »
Play the Theremin
It may sound like its from the future, but its actually from the past. The theremin, invented in 1920 by Léon Theremin, is an instrument you play by waiving your hands near two antennas—you never actually touch the instrument. Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to try your hand(s) at creating a song of your own on a modern day theremin!
Find out more »
Squiggle Bots
Robots might be perfect for performing repetitive, preprogrammed tasks, but they can also excel at more artistic tasks as well. Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to invent your own artistic robot, better known as a “Squiggle Bot.” Using a variety of materials you’ll build a robot that can draw while moving to create a unique piece of art!
Find out more »
Squiggle Bots
An event every day that begins at 10:00 am, repeating until January 14, 2017
Robots might be perfect for performing repetitive, preprogrammed tasks, but they can also excel at more artistic tasks as well. Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to invent your own artistic robot, better known as a “Squiggle Bot.” Using a variety of materials you’ll build a robot that can draw while moving to create a unique piece of art!
Find out more »
Squiggle Bots
Robots might be perfect for performing repetitive, preprogrammed tasks, but they can also excel at more artistic tasks as well. Visit Spark!Lab Smithsonian to invent your own artistic robot, better known as a “Squiggle Bot.” Using a variety of materials you’ll build a robot that can draw while moving to create a unique piece of art!
Find out more »
Dino Banks
An event every week that begins at 9:00 am on Sunday, repeating until June 3, 2017
Use your ingenuity in Spark!Lab Smithsonian to invent a new prehistoric-themed way to collect loose change and save for the future. Using available materials and your creativity, you’ll create your very own dino bank to keep.
Find out more »