Ancient Egypt & Its Art

Students tour the Ancient Egypt Gallery, learn an intricate, age-old metalworking technique, and then create an ancient Egyptian-inspired relief, which they can take home. Includes tour of the Ancient Egypt Gallery.

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs (Planetarium Show) and Forensic Crime Lab (Class).

Astronomy Guided Exploration

Includes 30-minute Solar System Gallery Guided Tour and a related 30-minute hands-on activity. 

Explore the astronomical history of our universe in the Solar System Gallery. Students will encounter interactive displays that allow them to virtually travel to the Moon, learn about gravity, and more. Then, travel to our Universe Gallery to engage with our state-of-the-art OmniGlobe!

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Dinosaur Passage to Pangaea, Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia (Planetarium Show) and all astronomy-themed planetarium shows.

Beetles, Bugs, & Butterflies

This artful approach to science motivates students to explore the amazing world of insects while learning about adaptations, physiology, and the role insects play in their daily lives. Colorful, take-home art projects creatively reinforce scientific concepts.

Layered Experience: Pairs well with The Traveling Trunk Show (Interactive Educational Theater) and Flight of the Butterflies (Planetarium Show).

Bright Light

In this illuminating exploration of light and color, students make exciting discoveries as they experiment with lasers, diffraction glasses, and giant water prisms. Through real-life applications, the scientific concepts of refraction, diffraction, and reflection are illustrated with engaging educational activities related to spectrum analysis and the electromagnetic spectrum.

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Harmonies in Color (Art Exhibition Guided Tour or Exploration), Seeing!, and Cosmic Colors: An Adventure Along the Spectrum (Planetarium Shows).

Circuit Circus

Students become energized as they form a human circuit, experiment with conductors and insulators, and construct various types of circuits. Scientific investigation, problem solving, and cooperative learning engage students in this electrifying educational experience!

Engineering Encounters

Through bridge-building activities, students gain a new appreciation for the relevance of civil engineering and design in their daily lives. Creative problem-solving strategies motivate aspiring engineers to explore concepts such as force, balance, and stability.

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Dream Big: Engineering Our World (Planetarium Show), and Robot Design Challenge (Class).

Engineering: Simple Machines

As they cooperatively problem-solve in groups, young engineers will investigate the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of objects while building various machines. Exciting hands-on challenges will focus on Newton’s Laws of Motion and the Law of Conservation of Energy. Activities will illustrate the relevance of engineering in daily life as students design and build together.

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Dream Big: Engineering Our World and Secrets of Gravity: In the Footsteps of Albert Einstein (Planetarium Shows).

Geology Guided Exploration

Includes a 30-minute Solar System Gallery Guided Tour and a related 30-minute hands-on activity.

Get hands-on with geological processes and activities in the Solar System Gallery. An exhibition of minerals and fossils, including a 65-million-year-old authentic Triceratops prosus skull, will teach students about our aging planet. 

Layered Experience: Pairs well with Dinosaur Passage to Pangaea and Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia (Planetarium Show).

Geometry & Quilts

Through hands-on activities, students will recognize the real-world connections between mathematics and the craft of quilting. Students are introduced to traditional patchwork quilts and participate in art-making that supports geometry standards while reinforcing mathematical understanding.

Updated for 2019-2020!

Journaling: Learning to Look & Looking to Write

As students explore the art in the current exhibition, they are encouraged to look closely and reflect on what they see. Creative writing activities take place in the gallery, using the art on view for inspiration. These activities will sharpen observation skills as students respond to art through writing while exploring opportunities for collaboration and personal reflection. Includes tour of the art exhibition on view.