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12:00pm - 5:00pm There’s always more to discover!
2024-25 Discovery Labs
Alert: Field trips for the 2024-25 school year are filling fast! Make your reservation today to secure your date.
In addition to ample time to explore the museum, field trips and group visits can include your choice of a Discovery Lab from the list below. Click “Make Your Reservation” to choose your activity and begin the adventure!
They Shouted Push
Grade level(s): Pre-K and Kindergarten
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-PS2-2
Common Core: SL.3.1
In this Discovery Lab students learn about pushes and pulls through the construction of a fun pom-pom launcher. They then explore how different strength pushes and pulls affect the way their pom pom moves.
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Skyscraper Challenge
Grade level(s): Kindergarten–2nd
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): 2-PS1-2. K-2-ETS1-2.
In this hands-on Discovery Lab, students work to design, create, test and redesign free-standing, weight-bearing towers using KEVA® wooden blocks. Students will experiment with different geometric shapes used in structural designs and determine how design choices affect the height and strength of structures.
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Zipline Rescue
Grade level(s): Kindergarten–2nd
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): 2-PS2-1. K-2-ETS1-1-3.
In this collaborative, hands-on Discovery Lab, students work to design, build, test and redesign a zipline that will move an injured or stranded person safely and quickly out of danger. Students will explore varying environmental constraints that affect the zipline, including the presence of a person, adverse weather, and the need to make multiple trips.
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Measure Twice, Cut Once
Grade level(s): 3rd–5th
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2, 3-5-ETS1-3
In this lab student knowledge of fractions will be enhanced as they practice measurements in the standard system while also using tools and learning about tool safety. Each student will put their skills into practice when they build a key hanger they can take home. Note: 54 students maximum.
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Shake it Up!
Grade level(s): 3rd–5th
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-2-ETS1-2, 3-PS2-2, 3-5-ETS1-2, 4-ESS2-2, MS-ESS2-2
In this Discovery Lab, students will learn about different aspects of an earthquake, understanding what an earthquake is, how it happens, and what to do when one occurs. Following this lab, students and chaperones will have greater knowledge of this natural phenomenon they can share with friends and family.
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Tooth Sleuth
Grade level(s): 3rd–5th
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): 3-LS3-1
In this Discovery Lab, students will examine a variety of jaw bones and teeth to collect evidence to support a statement about the variation that exists within a species. They will then put their knowledge to the test with a tooth matching game.
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Wildfire Warriors
Grade level(s): 6th–8th
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): MS-ESS3-3, MS-ESS3-4, MS-LS2-4
Designed for inquisitive middle school students, this Discovery Lab includes hands-on group collaboration and games that will help students learn about how wildfires erupt and the roles of the various agencies responsible for working to suppress the flames, saving life and property.
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Survival of the Fittest
Grade level(s): 6th–8th
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): MS-LS4-4, MS-LS4-6
Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” In this hands-on lab, students will work as a team and use mathematical modeling to figure out why populations of animals change over time and show adaptation in action. The lab concludes with some critical components of conservation biology and what students can do to make a difference in maintaining the richness of biodiversity.
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