Science Zone Booths
Bones and Muscles
Flex Your Muscles
Join Hercules as he goes from “Zero to Hero” in training camp. Learn about all the different muscles, from your trapezius to your calves, so you can become big and strong like Hercules.
Sticks and Stones
…may break your bones, so learn about how bones normally function and what happens when they are injured. Also, look at X-rays and find out how to keep your bones healthy.
Skin-tastic
Our goal is to educate kids about the function of the skin as an organ. We will teach them how each layer has a different job and emphasize, in an interactive game, why sunscreen is so important. In addition, we will have an activity in which they can have their fingerprints stamped to show what their own fingerprints look like, and educate them on the most common fingerprint patterns.
Heart and Lungs
Artery Maze
Supervise while kids crawl through a life-sized artery and visit and the other great heart and lung booths stationed INSIDE the artery maze! Features include: Plaque Man, aneurysms, and teaching kids about our circulatory system!
Bloody Details
Teach kids about all the different cells in human blood: red cells, white cells and platelets. Note how red blood cells have no nucleus! The large red beads are red blood cells (RBCs), and the large white beads are white blood cells (WBCs). The small white beads are platelets. Demonstrates how the spleen (a large strainer) filters the blood (beads).
Don’t Blow It
Teach children how the lungs work by making their very own model of a lung!
Follow Your Heart
The heart model shows the four chambers of the heart. Listen to your own heart beat with a stethoscope. Remember those connect the dots games when you were a kid? This handout has a picture of the heart on it with numbered dots that outline the pathway of blood through the heart! In addition, an interactive game will be created to show how plaque and blood clots impede blood flow in the arteries. The red blood cells will be red spongy balls, the arteries will be made out of PVC pipe, and the clots and plaque will be made from cotton balls.
Genetics
Cell City
Examine the bustling life and architecture of Cell City. Kids discover the parallels between their internal and external worlds, using models and the microscope.
CSI: Dallas
Pretend to be a crime scene investigator and learn how to identify trace evidence, analyze DNA to identify a criminal and lift fingerprints from a crime scene. Kids can make copies of their own fingerprints!
DNA Decoded
We will explain what DNA is, why it’s so important for life, and the 4 subunits that make up the double-helix. Then, we will extract DNA from a strawberry! Strawberries have octoploid DNA, so you can actually see the DNA! We will guide kids through the process of extraction.
Magic Science Bus
Remember Ms. Frizzle and her magical classroom adventures? This interactive booth is filled with awesome experiments sure to dazzle and amaze while teaching young minds about science.
Neuroscience
Balance Booth
Visit the balance booth to test out your ninja skills, participate in balance challenges, and learn about the structures inside your ear that make it all possible.
Ice Scream
Ever wonder what causes a “brain freeze” when you eat or drink things that are really cold? Teach kids the science behind this phenomenon by telling them about sensory perception in the mouth, namely temperature. Pop-sicles will be available to let kids feel the science in action!
Inside Out
Get to know your emotions! Everyone experiences Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness, and the ability to manage your emotions is important for everyday life. Usually, you will feel some combination of these. Emotions are very important for forming memories.
On the Tip of the Tongue
Where on the tongue are the 5 basic tastes? Match the taste to the tongue area and make the light glow! Also explain how the tongue works. Kids can also guess food with tasting samples.
Optical Illusion
How much can you trust what you see? Check out cool optical illusions that play tricks on your eyes and brain and learn about how visual perception really works. Kids can also create their very own optical illusions to take home with them!
Play It By Ear
How loud is too loud? What is pitch? How do you use a tuning fork to test hearing? Kids learn about decibels and how to protect their hearing as they play with different sounds.
Your Nose Knows
Our sense of smell is our oldest sense and one that has evolved to influence taste and even audition. In this booth, we illustrate the complexity of how we smell and gives kids a chance to learn the proper technique used by scientists on odor panels for safely whiffing unknown substances.