Elementary Programs

Creating a food chain

Investigating owl pellets

Elementary School Program Descriptions

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION, REASONING AND LOGIC

2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1 Measurement Rules!© (Program adjusted to fit grade level standards)

Have FUN as we measure absolutely everything! Length, width, area, volume, temperature, mass, weight, time, grids and graphs – it’s all here. Compare metrics and standard American units. Learn how it was done in ancient Egyptian times and see how you measure up.

FORCE, MOTION, ENERGY

1.2 Moving Right Along©

Get in the swing as we move things around. Have FUN using air pressure, gravity and centrifugal motion. You’ll get some really good “vibrations” as you make music and your own swing to take home.

2.2 Magnetic Attraction©

Discover the properties of magnetism. Have FUN as we uncover all the “attractive” facts. Find out what makes a compass work. Learn about poles and see an invisible magnetic field. You will really “feel the force” in this action-packed program.

3.2 Simply Machines©

This is a hands-on and FUN program on simple machines. Make your very own screw out of a carrot. Have an “up-lifting” experience and do a balancing act as we identify each simple machine and how they help us. See what can happen when these machines team up together.

4.2 Naturally Newton©

Have a hands-on look at how Newton’s Laws of motion work. Understand the influence of gravity, mass, friction and force.

Do some amazing tricks using inertia.

4.3 It’s Electric!©

Experiment with different kinds of circuits, static-electricity and electro-magnets. Make your very own electroscope to take home! You’ll be “shocked” at all the “hair-raising” facts, you’ll discover!

5.2 Good Vibrations©

Great vibrations will be happening as we investigate sound. Have a hands-on look at frequency and wavelength. Make an eardrum and transmit sound through different states of matter. Learn how people and animals use sound. Make music and “see” what sound looks like.

5.3 Light the Way©

See things in a new light as we get acquainted with the electro-magnetic spectrum. Explore visible light and have a hands-on look at reflection, refraction and diffraction. Use prisms, lenses and more as you become “enlightened” to the theories of some famous scientists. See how much fun laser-light can be and its many uses. Make an ultra violet detection bracelet.

MATTER

1.3, 2.3 Magnificent Matter©

Have FUN as we discover what matter is. Investigate the changing states of matter. Experiment with water and different substances to learn what will dissolve and what will not. Find out what effects heat and cold have on your mixtures.

3.3 Everything Matters!©

It’s a gas as we explore the 3 states of matter. Prove that air takes up space, and make a picture that grows crystals. Find out the difference between mass and weight. Identify physical properties and have FUN as we learn about the smallest unit of matter. Make your very own edible molecule to take home.

5.4 Fact of the Matter©

Find out the difference between mixtures and solutions, as well as atoms, molecules, elements, and compounds. We will experiment with all of them as things heat up in this action-packed matter extravaganza!

LIFE PROCESSES

1.5 Animal Etiquette©

Animals have their own special way of behaving. Learn the rules as we have FUN investigating, where they live, how they move and take care of their basic needs. Meet some of our live critters and make your very own bug habitat with a live inhabitant to take home.

1.5 Sunny Side Up©

Learn how the sun livens-up our planet Earth. Play some FUN games as we discover the reason for day and night. Discover what all living things need to survive and how plants and animals weather the seasons. Make your own miniature biome to take home.

1.4 Vegetation Relation©

Experience the amazing world of plants. Learn what they need and their basic structure and parts. Find out the many reasons why they are so vital to us. Make a terrarium to take home.

4.4 Flowers –The Inside Story©

Get the inside story on flowers as we have a hands-on look at roots, shoots and photosynthesis. Dissect a flower, identify its parts and make an edible flower as we learn about the reproductive system.

LIVING SYSTEMS

Sunny Side Up© 1.6 (See Life Processes 1.5)

2.4 Circle of Life©

Find out how every living thing grows and changes: Plants, frogs, butterflies and much more. Learn about dormancy, metamorphosis and molting as well as some special adaptations. Experience “Beetle Mania” in your classroom as we learn about and observe live mealworms and their circle of life.

2.4, 3.6 extension What’s Buggin’ You?© extension

Take a fascinating look at the most successful group of animals on the planet! Learn about the basic body structure, groupings, and usefulness of these amazing creatures. See though the eyes of a bug and explore them up close and personal.

3.5 Chain-Chain-Chain©

Find out how the laws of nature apply to aquatic and terrestrial food chains. Have FUN as we learn about predator/prey relationships, producers, consumers and decomposers. Get to know your friendly herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. Dissect real owl pellets!

3.6, 4.5 Home on the Biome©

Discover who lives where, as we map and investigate the different land and water biomes, and their populations. Experiment with how our wild life (and tame life) survives through structural and behavioral adaptations. Design an imaginary animal complete with fact sheet. Meet some real ones and see how amazing they really are!

LS.3 Body Works©

Get in Touch with your inner self as we learn about our bodies systems and how they all work. Make your very own neuron and lung to take home. Examine real animal organs, skeletons and much, much more, as we inspect us from the inside-out!

5.5 CELL-ebrate©

Discover the fascinating parts of the smallest unit of life, as we learn the parts of plant and animal cells. Build an edible cell and explore the 5 kingdoms of living things. Make a study guide to take home and discover some amazing facts about vertebrates and invertebrates.

5.4 Chemical Creations© extension

Have FUN as we discover mixtures. Get the solution in this fast paced program on chemical reactions. Explore indicators and make your very own super ball.

INTERRELATIONSHIPS IN EARTH/SPACE SYSTEMS

1.6 Sunny Side Up© (See Life Processes 1.5)

2.6, 3.9 Weather Wonders©

Take a close up and hands-on look at weather as we investigate the water cycle. Watch as we make a cloud and see how temperature affects precipitation. Find out the effects of drought, storms and floods.

3.7 Soil Safari©

Open up new “horizons” as we find out what is really in the soil. “Get the dirt” on layers, texture, and the five soil forming factors. Make a soil profile card to take home. Meet the wild beasts that inhabit the soil. You’ll examine real earthworms and keep them in your classroom.

4.6 Weather Watch©

Have FUN as we take a close up look at air pressure, fronts, clouds and storms. Be a weather person and use meteorological tools. Make a weather station for your classroom.

5.6 Ocean in Motion©

Dive into oceanography and explore the sea floor topography. Become a marine biologist as we learn about salinity, major currents and the amazing living things the ocean supports.

EARTH PATTERNS, CYCLES, AND CHANGES

Travel through our Solar System as we explore the “Third rock from the Sun” – Planet Earth and its moon. Find out the reason for the seasons and what phases the moon. Have a blast as we launch a rocket. Take home your own “… giant step for mankind”, and enjoy some astronaut ice cream.

Step into the world of geology as we discover the rock cycle. Learn how sedimentary, igneous, and metaphoric rocks are formed. Pan for real gems and keep what you find. Test your treasure to find out what kinds of minerals and gems you have.

Find out how and why as we learn about plate tectonics and our changing conditions. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, weathering and erosion! Have FUN as we make them happen in your classroom.

RESOURCES

Discover our amazing natural resources! See air pollution. Clean up an oil spill – Reuse, Reduce and Recycle as you make your own recycled paper to take home.

Get energized, put on your construction hat, as we turn your classroom into an energy factory. Experiment with sun, wind and water and learn about renewable and non-renewable energy sources and transfer one kind of energy into another. Make your own “puff machine” to take home.

Everybody loves Virginia! Learn about our natural resources. Find out what a watershed is as we make our own watershed maps. Learn why Virginia’s crops are tops! Roll up your sleeves – try your hand at an energy excavation.

SCIENCE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

Join us as we honor the contributions of women in science. Learn how radiation works and change protein molecules right before your eyes. Make your own astrolabe as well as a Saturn planet to keep.

Join us on a fun filled adventure as we discover several very famous African American scientists. Learn about their incredible contributions to science. Have FUN as we do some really cool experiments while honoring these great scientists.

Explore the world of shelters. Discover the many different shelters and how climate and location affect the way people build their homes. Build your very own igloo and a tee-pee. Make a giant bird’s nest. Find out who is living in what shelters, where and why.

Get the essentials as we learn about the food groups. Have FUN as we discover the power of vitamins and test for fats and starches. Become a food archeologist and climb the great food pyramid. Play the food game and discover a world of healthy eating. Yum!

Meet those nasty little germs that make us sick. See how easily germs can be passed around. Check yourself out with real stethoscopes as we get your heart thumping and your pulse jumping. Check your temperature and make a yucky cold to take home.