| Educators will arrive approximately 20 minutes prior to the first outreach start time. Please have someone meet the Science Museum Educator to guide them to the presentation area. |
| Classroom teachers must remain with their class during presentations and are responsible for proper behavior of their students. Hands-on activities benefit students most when their classroom teacher is involved. |
| Allow for 30-45 minutes of clean-up time in the presentation area as our educator cleans and packs up materials. |
Maximum class size: 10 pre-schoolers per presentation
Cool Chemistry
Explore the world of chemistry through the discovery of the three states of matter. Preschoolers will participate in “hands-on/minds-on” chemistry lessons. Children will apply their five senses to explore and observe solids, liquids and gases. Students will create mixtures and watch how matter can change.
Virginia Science Foundation Blocks for Early Learning: 3—Matter
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 3 station tables, sink with water.
Critter Detectives
Become a critter detective and discover more about the little animals that share our world. Preschoolers will learn amazing things about critters and their life cycles, habitats, and more. Students will investigate with hands-on live material that will excite and engage their developing minds.
Virginia Science Foundation Blocks for Early Learning: 4—Life Processes
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables, sink with water.
Maximum Class Size: 10 students
Class size maximum: 24 students
Just Wait Until I Grow Up! — Life Cycles of Plants and Animals
What do living organisms need to survive and grow? Do plants have the same needs as animals? Do all offspring resemble their parents? Learn about changes in plants and animals as they go through their life cycles.
Life Processes SOLs: K.6, K.9
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables
Our "Sense"-sational World
Colors, sounds, scents, and textures are all clues to the world around us. Learn how our senses compare with those of our animal friends. Can you "hear" with your belly, or "see" with your ears? Find out who does!
Scientific Investigation, Matter SOLs: K.1, K.2, K.4
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables
Strange Attraction: Magnets and their Uses
Magnets attract, repel and perform some really neat maneuvers. Do magnets work on all types of metals? Besides being fun to play with, what are magnets used for?
Forces, Motion, Energy, Resources SOLs: K.3
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables
Don't Throw it All Away!
What happens to the things that we throw away? Analyze a container of trash to identify materials that could be recycled. Learn ways to conserve resources by reducing the amount we use. Create something new from a throwaway item.
Resources SOLs: K.10
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, students seated at desks or tables in 4 groups.
Water, Water Everywhere
It covers 3/4 of the Earth, is necessary for life, and can be found on Earth as a solid, liquid or gas. Investigate water flowing downhill. Test objects to discover why some things sink while others float. Have a wet time learning about water!
Matter SOLs: K.5
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, 4 station tables, water source with sink, electrical outlet
Light and Shadows
How are shadows made, both inside and outdoors? Can anything make a shadow? How do shadows change over time? Can you make a shadow get bigger? Have fun answering these questions while experimenting with shadows.
Earth/Space Systems, Earth Patterns SOLs: K.7, K.9
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, ROOM NEEDS TO BE DARKENED, 4 station tables, room needs to be darkened
Class size maximum: 30 students
Keep Our World Clean!
Explore how pollution affects our world by creating a model and conducting an investigation. Participate in activities that demonstrate what students can do to protect our natural resources.
Resources SOLs: 1.8
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, students seated at desks or tables in 4 groups, water source with sink.
Let's Get Moving:Pushes and Pulls
You can't see forces, but you can see what they do: pushing and pulling on objects to make them move, change direction, speed up and slow down. Experiment with toys to learn about forces and different kinds of motion. Is there a force that can make things jump around, almost like magic?
Scientific Investigation; Force, Motion, and Energy SOLs: 1.1, 1.2
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, 4 station tables, water source, electrical outlet.
Mixing It Up
At first, the mystery substances seem alike, so you will use your senses to observe the differences. Perform experiments to find out what dissolves and what does not. Can you mix a solid and liquid to create a gas?
Scientific Investigation, Matter SOLs: 1.1, 1.3
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, students seated at desks or tables in 4 groups, water source with sink, electrical outlet.
Who Am I? Where Do I Live?
Fur, feathers or scales; legs, fins or wings; run, jump, climb, swim or fly — Who am I? Water or land; nest or den; shell or not — Where do I live? Am I wild or tame? Explore how animals are alike and different in their habitats, body coverings, and how they move.
Life Processes SOLs: 1.5
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables.
From Fall to Fall
As the days go by during the school year, we observe changes outside in the weather and length of daylight. What causes these changes and the seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer? How do plants and animals change with the seasons? What do you do differently as the seasons change?
Life Processes, Earth/Space Patterns SOLs: 1.6, 1.7
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables.
Class size maximum: 30 students
Encompassing: Magnets and Compasses
Find out how magnets work and what it takes to make a magnet. Why do magnets attract some materials and not others? What do magnets and compasses have in common?
Force, Motion, and Energy SOLs: 2.2
Presentation Requirements: Display table, students seated at desks or tables in 4 groups.
Rain Forest Resources
Plants and animals in the tropical rain forest are dependent on each other to complete their life cycles. Unfortunately, many rain forests that provide useful products or homes for animals are being rapidly destroyed. Learn about their endangered resources.
Living Systems; Earth Patterns SOLs: 2.5, 2.8
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables.
Seasonal Changes in Plants and Animals
Investigate the many changes that plants and animals experience throughout the seasons. How are plant and animal life cycles related to seasonal changes? Why do we have seasons?
Life Processes, Earth Patterns SOLs: 2.4, 2.7
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables.
"Solid State" and Other Forms of Matter
Experiment with solids, liquids, and gases. Will two objects of the same shape and size necessarily weigh the same? Investigate differences between mass, weight, and volume. Observe matter as it changes state.
Scientific Investigation, Matter SOLs: 2.1, 2.3
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, students seated at desks or tables in 4 groups, water source with sink, electrical outlet.
Storm Team: Weather Makers
Learn about what makes weather, why it changes, and how we can measure it. Explore the formation of different kinds of storms and their effects.
Scientific Investigation; Matter; Earth/Space Systems SOLs: 2.1, 2.3, 2.6
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables, water source with sink, electrical outlet.
Class size maximum: 30 students
Let's Get Energized!
Where does energy come from? The sun provides heat and light energy. Some sun energy is stored in plants that are eaten by animals. Why are coal, oil and natural gas called "fossil" fuels? Explore renewable energy sources: solar, wind, and water.
Resources SOLs: 3.11
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, 4 station tables, electrical outlets.
Simple Machines
What do hinges, faucets, doorknobs and fishing poles have in common with bathtubs and brooms? All are examples of simple machines. Explore how machines help us to do work with less effort.
Forces, Motion, and Energy SOLs: 3.2
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables.
The Many Links of a Food Chain
Adaptations help an organism to survive in its environment. What clues can you find in an animal's skull that would reveal its eating habits? Explore different habitats and their respective food chains.
Life Processes, Living Systems SOLs: 3.4, 3.5, 3.6
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, 4 station tables.
Wet Stuff: Water Cycle
Do you know that we drink the same water that the dinosaurs drank? Simulate the journey of a single water drop as it travels through the water cycle. Learn the limits to our water supply and how human actions affect it. How can we protect this valuable resource?
Scientific Investigation, Earth Patterns SOLs: 3.1, 3.9
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, students seated at desks or tables in 4 groups, water source with sink, electrical outlet.
What Makes Soil?
Add worms and mushrooms, dead animals and plants, broken bits of rock; put it all together and what do you get? The result can be sand, silt, clay or humus. Observe some of these components under magnification. Learn the difference between mechanical and chemical ways to create soil. Why should people conserve this natural resource?
Matter, Earth/Space Systems SOLs: 3.3, 3.7
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, 4 station tables, water source.
Class size maximum: 30 students
"Faces" of the Moon
Why does the moon appear to “shine” on some nights and not on others? Why does its size, shape and position change over time? Use models to understand how the Earth, sun and moon move as a system. Compare the characteristics of these three celestial bodies.
Earth Patterns SOLs: 4.7
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, 4 station tables
It's Electric!
How does electricity travel from its source to our homes and schools? Is it better to construct a building with series or parallel circuits? Experiment with wires, bulbs, batteries and switches to find out!
Force, Motion and Energy SOLs 4.3
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, students seated at desks or tables in 4 groups.
Plant Safari
Take a trip through the fascinating life of a plant! What energy process sets plants apart from animals? Many plants develop similar structures that perform the same functions, but with plants there is an exception to almost every rule! Investigate the vast biological diversity of the plant world.
Life Processes, Living Systems SOLs: 4.4
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, 4 station tables, TV and VCR.
Virginia: From the Mountains to the Bay
Discover your watershed address as you follow Virginia’s streams and rivers from their mountain headwaters. Do all of them flow into the Chesapeake Bay? Explore the diversity of plants and animals found in different habitats including freshwater highlands and the salty shoreline. You’ll be amazed at the variety of products that come from Virginia’s natural resources as you learn their location. Resources SOLs: 4.8
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, 4 station tables.
Weather or Not?
Anemometer, barometer, hygrometer, rain gauge and thermometer--we supply all you need to forecast the weather and help you do it! Learn how to use temperature, air pressure, and cloud type to make your prediction.
Scientific Investigation, Earth/Space Systems SOLs: 4.1, 4.6
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, students seated at desks or tables in 4 groups, water source.
Class size maximum: 30 students
Down and Dirty: Rock Cycle
How do we use rocks and minerals in our daily lives? How does a rock fit into the constantly changing geologic cycle of the Earth? Is the rock igneous, metamorphic, or sedimentary? What kinds of minerals are in it? How hard is the rock? Perform geologic tests to find out for yourself.
Scientific Investigation, Earth Patterns SOLs: 5.1, 5.7
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, students seated at desks or tables.
Lighten Up!
How does light energy travel? Can it pass through different forms of matter? How does changing the direction and speed of light affect how objects appear to us? Where does color come from?
Force, Motion, and Energy SOLs: 5.2, 5.3
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, 4 station tables, electrical outlet.
Sound: Catch the Wave
Explore sound using a variety of objects and materials. Can you make sound waves do work? What factors affect the movement of a sound wave? What materials absorb sound? Does the shape of an object affect the sound it makes? Use what you learn to understand how musical instruments make sound.
Force, Motion, and Energy SOLs: 5.2
Presentation Requirements: Remain in one room for all presentations, display table, students seated at desks or tables in 4 groups, electrical outlet.
Under the Sea
Journey to the bottom of the sea! You'll discover it's not all flat. Learn how light, temperature, and pressure change as depth increases, and how these changes affect the life that ventures there. How does life exist where light cannot penetrate?
Earth/Space Systems SOLs: 5.6
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, 4 station tables, water source with sink, electrical outlet.
What Matters: It's in the Bag!
Have you ever wondered why scientists wear lab coats, goggles and gloves? Find out why, and get a fun introduction to chemistry. Learn the structure of atoms and molecules. Test your observation skills! How many reactions do you see taking place in the experiment? What made it all happen?
Scientific Investigation, Matter SOLs: 5.1, 5.4
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, students seated at desks or tables in 4 groups, water source with sink.
Cell'ebration
The vast diversity of life originates from tiny differences at the cellular level. Take a close-up look at plant and animal cells. Explore the six kingdoms of living organisms. Compare the difference between vertebrate or invertebrate animals and vascular or nonvascular plants. Practice using a dichotomous key.
Scientific Investigation, Life Systems SOLs: 5.1, 5.5
Presentation Requirements: MUST REMAIN IN ONE ROOM FOR ALL PRESENTATIONS, display table, 4 station tables.
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