Hands-On Classes

In this engaging STEM lesson, students explore the principles of engineering, neutral buoyancy, and aerodynamics through a hands-on design challenge. Working as engineers, students investigate the forces that affect flight and apply the engineering design process to create and build a flying apparatus capable of carrying a model pig through a wind tunnel. Through testing, data collection, and redesign, students develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration skills while gaining a deeper understanding of how lift, drag, balance, and stability influence flight; emphasis on weight and balance being an important design consideration for this project. This project encourages creativity and innovation as students refine their designs to successfully make their model pig fly. 

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

In this hands-on exploration of light and color, students will investigate how rainbows form and how scientists study the composition of distant stars. Through engaging experiments with prisms, diffraction glasses, and spectroscopes, they’ll explore the behavior of light as it travels through different mediums. Key concepts like refraction, diffraction, and reflection come to life as students examine the visible light spectrum and learn how spectral lines reveal the makeup of gases—both on Earth and in space.

Discuss what forensics is and entails. Evaluate what different disciplines encompass the field of forensics. Use various techniques and methods typically used during a forensic investigation to analyze evidence. Differentiate between various insects and determine how they affect data. Understand the morphology between male and female organisms. 

Simple things like scratching your nose or washing your hair become more complicated when you’re working in space. Imagine how complicated difficult things here on earth, like surgery, become once you’re in microgravity and far away from your local drug store.  

Students collaborate to design, build, and program modular robots that sense and respond to their environment. Using design thinking and Science and Engineering Practices, they’ll tackle real-world challenges, sharpen problem-solving skills, and test their creations in a final team-based robot challenge.

Sponsored by Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority  (CPRA)

FREE Program for 4^th–12^th graders!

This exciting program includes a visit to the LSU Center for River Studies and same-day, hands-on classes and programs at LASM. All activities are aligned with the Louisiana Student Standards for Science.

• Tour of the LSU Center for River Studies – Students will explore a 3-dimensional model of the lower 190 miles of the Mississippi River, one of the most technologically advanced models in existence.
• Hands-On Stream Table at LASM – Your students will collaboratively design solutions to real-world environmental challenges by engaging with a state-of-the-art stream table.
• Educational Movie at LASM – Your students will view a related, large-screen educational movie at LASM.

This FREE learning opportunity is available to 4^th through 12^th-grade students on a first-come, first-served basis through LASM’s partnership with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA).

Request your field trip with The River Dynamics Experience Reservation Form.