IF I COULD BUILD THE ALPHABET

Storybook STEM

Caution! Grab your hardhat and safety goggles because the alphabet is “under construction.” Students will pick a letter of the alphabet and choose their own materials to plan, design, and construct a letter as a creative literacy engineer.

DON’T CRACK THE EGG

Storybook STEM

Whoops! Humpty Dumpty “sat on the wall” and “had a great fall.” Let’s turn back time to keep Humpty Dumpty from getting hurt. Students will use various materials to engineer a device that will protect an egg from cracking after its great fall.

NGSS: K-PS2-2, ETS1.A, ETS1.B

HOG HOUSES

Storybook STEM

The Big Bad Wolf is back for more! Protect the three little pigs from their furry predator by helping them build strong, safe houses. Students will use open-ended materials to plan, design, and build a structure to keep the pigs safe from the Big Bad Wolf’s “huff and puff” antics.

NGSS: K-PS2-1, K-LS1-1, ETS1.A, ETS1.B CCSS RL.K.10

FROM CRAWLING CATERPILLAR TO BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY

Storybook STEM

Wait, caterpillars can’t consume cupcakes! Carle’s caterpillar becomes sick when he eats junk food in the story. So, what do caterpillars eat? How do they change from a crawling caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly? Students will explore these questions as they learn about the life cycle of a butterfly.

NGSS: K-LS1-1, K-ESS3-1

WEATHER BOOKS

Weather

What’s the weather like? Design a weather report folder to use for observing and describing the weather. Students will see how weather affects our daily lives as we discuss the importance of dressing for the weather.

NGSS: K-ESS2.D

PLANT IN A BOTTLE

Living and Non-Living Things

Students will build their own terrarium to take home, while investigating living and non-living things.

NGSS: K-LS1-1, K-ESS3-1, K-ESS3-3, 1-LS1-1

SHEEP IN A JEEP

Forces and Motion

Use a ramp, a sheep, and a jeep to investigate how pushes and pulls make objects travel various distances.

NGSS: K-PS2-1, K-PS2-2

COLOR CRAZE

Storybook STEM

Poor Camilla Cream… Her skin has turned green. And red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple, too! Our skin cannot change color like Camilla Cream’s, but we can create the color of the rainbow ourselves. Students will create a self-portrait then use primary colors to give themselves “a bad case of stripes.”

SWIRLING WINDS

Engineering Challenge

Students will use a variety of tools and materials to build a wind-resistant structure. This activity demonstrates the importance of preparing for severe weather conditions within certain regions of the U.S.

NGSS: K-ESS3-2, ETS1.A, ETS1.B

SHADED SHELTER

Maker Project

Students will focus on the warming effects of the sun as they use tools and materials to create a “Shaded Shelter” for a creature who prefers cool, shady weather.

NGSS: K-PS3-2, ETS1.A, ETS1.B

RAMP IT UP

Engineering Challenge

Students will build a model car then use open-ended materials to construct a ramp for their car. This activity reinforces the concept that outside forces and intended design solutions can change the way an object travels.

NGSS: K-PS2-1, K-PS2-2, ETS1.A, ETS1.B

TRIP TRAP BRIDGE-BUILDING

“Who’s that tripping over my bridge?!” the troll shouted angrily. Oh no! That grumpy old troll is at it again. Students will be engineers as they plan, design, and build a bridge to escape the clutches of the mean troll.

NGSS: K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, ETS1.A, ETS1.B

LANDFORMS

Explore Earth! Students will use clay to sculpt mountains, valleys, plains, plateaus, and other major landforms. Investigate where on earth these landforms can be found and what forces help shape our world. Discover the many different landforms that are located in our state of Michigan.

NGSS: 2-ESS2-2, 3-G1.0.1, 3-G1.0.2

IN MY BACKYARD

Fulldome Feature

Students will learn about what can be seen in their backyard. Students will explore creatures and plants, the Moon, the Sun, the Solar System, and the movement of the stars in this engaging show designed for early childhood learning.

NGSS: K-ESS2-1, 1-ESS1-1

TIME TRAVELERS

Students will travel back in time to explore historical objects and learn about people from the past through hands-on activities. Compare and contrast historical artifacts with the objects used in the present, and think about what people in the future may use for a similar purpose.

GLCE: K-H2.0.1, K-H2.0.4, 1-H2.0.5, 1-H2.0.6

IT ALL STARTS WITH ME

Students will explore the past, present, and future from the perspective of their own lives. Join a museum educator for historical story time, identify the important details and people from the story, and compare life today with life in the past, while creating a hands-on project to take home.

GLCE: K-H2.0.1, K-H2.0.2, K-H2.0.3, K-G5.0.1, 1-H2.0.1, 1-H2.0.3, 1-H2.0.4, 1-H2.0.5, 1-H2.0.6

LIGHT & SHADOWS

Investigate the properties of this form of energy, while exploring shadows, mirrors and the light spectrum. Discover how you can block, reflect, and bend light with hands-on activities.

NGSS: 1-PS4-2, 1-PS4-3

SOUND

What makes sound? Students will find out as they investigate vibrations, pitch, and loudness with fun hands-on activities.

NGSS: 1-PS4-1, 1-LS1-1

MOON PHASE BOOKS

Make a glow-in-the-dark moon phase book that will help students explore the predictable pattern of the shapes of the Moon we can see on Earth.

NGSS: 1-ESS1-1

BUILD YOUR OWN ECOSYSTEM – PLANT PARTS

Students will build an independent ecosystem to take home, while exploring plant parts. See how each of these structures help plants survive and grow.

NGSS: 1-LS1-1

LIGHT SURPRISE BOX

Maker Project

Students will use tools and materials to design their own light surprise box. This project will shine light on the concept that objects can only be seen if there is light to illuminate them.

NGSS: 1-PS4-2

SHADOW SCULPTURES & PUPPETS

Maker Project

Students will investigate how the properties of a variety of interesting materials change the shadows the materials make. Using colored LED lights as light sources, students will explore colored shadows as they create their own shadow puppets and beautiful shadow sculptures.

NGSS: 1-PS4-3

STRING PHONES

Engineering Challenge

Sound is moved from place to place by vibration. Do different materials move those vibrations better than others? Investigate different types of materials and how well they transmit sound vibrations, while making the best set of string phones.

NGSS: 1-PS4-1, 1-PS4-4

SHADOW STICKS

Maker Project

Students will design and build a beautiful shadow stick to take home. Work together to design an investigation using the teacher’s shadow stick to use shadows to track the apparent motion of the sun across the sky.

NGSS: 1-ESS1-1

MAPLE SEED FLIERS

Engineering Challenge

Why do maple seeds spin as they fall to the ground? Students will investigate “nature’s helicopters” as they design and test spinning fliers that mimic the maple tree’s seed dispersal strategy.

NGSS: 1-LS1-1

MAGIC GLOBE: A STORY OF THE SEASONS

Fulldome Feature

Students will explore the seasons in this visually stunning and engaging show. The show will discuss the cause and effect of the seasons including the tilt of the Earth, the motion of the Sun, and how the seasons affect ecosystems on Earth.

NGSS: 1-PS4-3, 1-ESS1-2

PATTERNS IN THE SKY

Live Planetarium Program

Students will learn about and predict recurring patterns in the night sky including the day/night cycle, moon phases, and seasonal changes of the Sun.

NGSS: 1-ESS1-1, 1-ESS1-2

ACCIDENTAL ASTRONAUTS

Fulldome Feature

Follow the adventures of Cy and Annie as they embark on an unexpected journey to space. Students will learn about the properties of the Earth, Moon, and Sun. Topics include the day/ night cycle, phases, composition, and temperature of the Moon, as well as physical and electromagnetic properties of the Sun.

NGSS: 1-ESS1-1

IF I COULD BUILD A CITY

What is a community? It’s never too soon to learn how communities work. Join our educators as they focus on the importance of transportation, location, communication, and infrastructure to help “build a city” and make it successful. Each team will discuss, plan, and build a two-dimensional model city.

GLCE: 1-G5.0.1, 1-E1.0.1, 2-G2.0.2, 2-G4.0.1, 2-G4.0.2, 2-G5.0.1, 2-G5.0.2, 2-E1.0.2

WATER FILTRATION

Where does the water come from? Where does it go? Students will explore the hydrosphere as they clean dirty water with filtration systems that they design, build, and test.

NGSS: 5-ESS2-2

GROUNDWATER

Build and manipulate a model groundwater system, while learning how removing, adding, and polluting water impacts our underground water system.

NGSS: 2-ESS2-3

GALACTIC GOO

Chemistry at its finest and most fun! Matter, molecules, and polymers will be discussed in this hands-on activity. Each student will make and take home a bag of their own goo!

NGSS: 2-PS1-1, 2-PS1-2, 2-PS1-3, 2-PS1-4

WATER FILTRATION

Engineering Challenge

Explore how water is treated in a municipal water treatment system while students select materials to design, build, and test their own filtration system.

NGSS: 2-ESS2-3

RESOURCEFUL RED HEN

Using her entrepreneurial skills, the Little Red Hen invested natural, capital, and human resources to produce some delicious goods! The cat, dog, and mouse learned a hard lesson about incentives and opportunity costs. Using a reader’s theater format, kids will hear the story of The Little Red Hen. Students will use natural, capital, and human resources to plant wheat seeds to take home.

GLCE: 2-E1.0.1, 2-E1.0.4, 3-E1.0.1, 3-E1.0.2, 3-E1.0.4

LANDFORMS

Explore Earth! Students will use clay to sculpt mountains, valleys, plains, plateaus, and other major landforms. Investigate where on earth these landforms can be found and what forces help shape our world. Discover the many different landforms that are located in our state of Michigan.

NGSS: 2-ESS2-2, 3-G1.0.1, 3-G1.0.2

BUILD YOUR OWN ECOSYSTEM – NEEDS OF LIVING THINGS

Investigate ecosystems and the water cycle, and learn what living things need to survive. Students will build an independent ecosystem to take home. Work collaboratively to design an investigation that explores how light affects plant growth.

NGSS: 2-LS2-1

ICE CREAM

A sweet way to study solids, liquids, and gases! Working in groups, students will use beakers, measuring cups, and measuring spoons to mix up solids and liquids into an ice cream base. Educators will add the “magic liquid” that changes their liquid into solid ice cream. Each student gets some ice cream to taste.

NGSS: 2-PS1-1, 2-PS1-3, 2-PS1-4

CREEPING SAND DUNES

Engineering Challenge

A sand dune is pushed closer and closer to a house by the wind. Is there a way to save the structure? Students will be invited to design, build, and test a solution to the creeping sand dune and save the house.

NGSS: 2-ESS2-1

BIRD FEEDERS

Maker Project

Birds help move seeds from place to place. Explore the different ways animals help disperse seeds, while designing and building your own bird feeder to take home.

NGSS: 2-LS2-2

PLANETS: ROCKY WORLDS

Live Planetarium Program

Students will visit the inner planets while comparing and contrasting their geological characteristics. Students will travel to mountains, volcanoes, canyons, and craters on the planets and investigate the origin of these features.

NGSS: 2-ESS1-1, 2-ESS2-1, 2-ESS2-2, 2-ESS2-3

CRANKY CONTRAPTIONS

Maker Project

Twist, crank, push, pull, spin. Are you ready to create a moving sculpture? Discover patterns of motion, while designing a cranking mechanism that puts your artwork in motion.

NGSS: 3-PS2-1, 3-PS2-2

MARBLE CONTRAPTIONS

Engineering Challenge

Students will be challenged to move a marble down a pegboard track as slowly as possible by using a large variety of interesting and creative materials to change the marble’s speed and direction.

NGSS: 3-PS2-1, 3-PS2-2

TORNADO CONSTRUCTION

Engineering Challenge

The wind howls as the tornado touches down. Can you design a house that can withstand the forces of a twister? Design, build, and test a wind resistant structure.

NGSS: 3-ESS3-1

MOTION OF THE SKIES

Live Planetarium Program

The program investigates the motion of the Sun, Moon, Planets, and stars in the sky. Students investigate the causes of motion including Earth’s rotation, the orbits of the Earth, Moon, and planets. Students will use this knowledge to predict future motions and occurrences in the sky.

NGSS: 3-PS2-2

EARTH’S ECOSYSTEM

Live Planetarium Program

Students will explore the diversity of Earth’s ecosystems by digitally taking a trip around the globe. Students will learn about different types of climates and use real world data to make observations about their properties.

NGSS: 3-ESS2-1, 3-ESS2-2

SERENGETI

Fulldome Feature

Take a trip to the Serengeti and learn about one of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. Students will learn about the multitude of creatures that roam the Serengeti and how they manage to survive.

NGSS: 3-LS1-2, 3-LS3-2, 3-LS4-3

FOSSIL SCIENCE

Make a plaster fossil model to take home and touch real fossils, while learning how fossils are formed and how they provide evidence of life long ago.

NGSS: 3-LS4-1, 4-ESS1-1

PIONEER JOURNEY

Students will travel back in time to the opening of the Erie Canal and learn how
it led to a significant population growth in Michigan. Go on a journey with a pioneer family who is migrating from New York to the wilderness of Michigan through hands-on activities. Discover how pioneers had to make difficult decisions, and trek through the harsh landscape with few possessions.

GLCE: 3-H3.0.1, 3-H3.0.2, 3-H3.0.3, 3-H3.0.7, 3-G5.0.1, 3-G5.0.2

HISTORY DETECTIVES

Working in teams, uncover the history behind mysteriously abandoned artifacts from the past. Investigate each object using keen detective skills, historical thinking, visual evidence, and primary and secondary sources. Can you figure out what the mystery objects are?

GLCE: 3-H3.0.1, 3-H3.0.2, 3-H3.0.7, 4-H3.0.4

PIONEER HOMESTEAD

The journey is over but now the work begins. Explore the process of setting up a family home. Learn about the challenges and explore how life in early Michigan differs from today.

GLCE: 3-H3.0.1, 3-H3.0.2, 3-H3.0.3, 3-H3.0.7, 3-G5.0.1, 3-G5.0.2

LUMBER CAMP

Explore how Michigan and the Great Lakes region was once the center of the American lumber industry. Examine how Flint and other Michigan cities used the abundance of trees and waterways to develop economic growth. Investigate life in a lumbering camp through primary and secondary sources. Discover how lumber barons used natural, human, and capital resources to make their businesses successful.

GLCE: 3-G4.0.2, 3-E1.0.3, 3-E1.0.4, 3-G5.0.1, 3-G5.0.2, 4-H3.0.1

ANISHINABEK: CONNECTING WITH THE LAND

Explore how the people of the Three Fires Confederacy (Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi) adapted to and used their environment and natural resources to meet their basic needs for survival. Investigate primary sources, visual evidence, artifacts, and replicas through hands-on activities in order to answer historical questions about daily life for the Anishinabek in the early history of Michigan.

GLCE: 3-H3.0.1, 3-H3.0.2, 3-H3.0.4, 3-H3.0.5, 3-G5.0.1, 3-G5.0.2, 3-G4.0.4

ON THE LINE

(Available Spring 2023)

Students will explore transportation history and the development of the automotive industry in Flint. Discover the challenges of working on an assembly line. Investigate the events surrounding the Flint Sit-Down Strike, and the various perspectives of the individuals involved during this significant period of the labor movement and history in Michigan.

GLCE: 3-E1.0.3, 3-E1.0.4, 3-G4.0.1, 3-G4.0.2, 3-G4.0.3, 3-C5.0.1, 4-H3.0.1, 4-H3.0.2, 4-H3.0.5, 4-H3.0.6

ANISHINABEK: POST CONTACT RELATIONSHIPS

Study the early interactions between the Anishinabek and the first European explorers in Michigan. Learn how the People of the Three Fires and the French developed relationships with each other through the fur trade system in order to meet their wants and needs. Explore the incentives and opportunity costs involved with Michigan’s fur trade, and how it impacted life, culture, and the environment.

GLCE: 3-H3.0.1, 3-H3.0.2, 3-H3.0.5, 3.H3.0.6, 3-H3.0.7

MARBLE ROLLER COASTERS

Investigate balanced and unbalanced forces acting on a marble as students build a roller coaster that moves a marble through upside-down loops, curves, and drops.

NGSS: 3-PS2-1, 3-PS2-2

BUILD YOUR OWN ECOSYSTEM – CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS

Investigate ecosystems and the water cycle, and learn what living things need to survive. Students will build an independent ecosystem to take home. Work collaboratively to design an investigation that explores how changing environmental features affect plant growth.

NGSS: 3-LS4-4

BUILD-A-BUGGY CHALLENGE

Engineering Challenge

Students will investigate how the shape of a vehicle affects its ability to move through the air. Design and build an aerodynamic buggy and then use a ramp and fan to see how far the buggy can travel.

NGSS: 3-PS2-1, 3-PS2-2

CATCH A WAVE

Energy moves in waves! Students will use duct tape, skewers, and modeling clay to build wave models that demonstrate how energy moves through matter. Students will explore mechanical waves, wave frequency, and amplitude.

NGSS: 4-PS4-1

ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS

Students will explore the basics of electrical circuits while experimenting with batteries, buzzers, bulbs, and switches. Students will make a paper circuit project to take home.

NGSS: 4-PS3-2, 4-PS3-4

EYE DISSECTION

Students will explore the structure and function of an eye while learning how objects are seen when light reflects off the surface and enters the eye. Students will dissect a sheep eye.

NGSS: 4-PS4-2, 4-LS1-2

EARTHQUAKE CONSTRUCTION

Engineering Challenge

Seismic waves move energy through the earth. Students will work in teams to engineer earthquake resistant towers. Students will test their designs on the earthquake shake table to see if they can survive the quake.

NGSS: 4-PS4-1, 4-ESS3-2

MARKER ROBOTS

Maker Project

Using markers, a battery, a motor, and a hot glue stick, students will build a simple robot that draws. Will it draw a circle? Dotted lines? You won’t know until you turn it on and let it go! Students will explore electrical circuits and the forces necessary to make their robots move.

NGSS: 4-PS3-2, 4-PS3-4

JITTER CRITTERS

Maker Project

Students will create their own vibrating critter using a battery and vibrating motor from a cell phone.

NGSS: 4-PS3-2, 4-PS3-4

AN EVER-CHANGING WORLD

Live Planetarium Program

Students will examine how the Earth has changed over time using satellite imagery from agencies such as NOAA and NASA. Processes that drive changes on Earth will be discussed including erosion, draught, deforestation, and climate change.

NGSS: 4-ESS1-1, 4-ESS1-2, 4-ESS3-2

TWO SMALL PIECES OF GLASS

Fulldome Feature

Telescopes come in many different shapes and sizes. Students will learn about the different types of telescopes-including reflectors and refractors-the components that make them work- and the types of objects that can be seen with a telescope.

NGSS: 4-PS3-2, 4-PS4-2

PHYSICAL & CHEMICAL CHANGES

Students will explore how matter changes, while observing changes in state of matter and making separating mixtures. Students will follow procedures and look for evidence of chemical changes, while measuring and mixing chemicals to create chemical reactions.

NGSS: 5-PS1-2

MYSTERY POWDER

Someone has spilled white powder in the Learning Lab. Students will use observation and a series of chemical tests to collect data on known powders and then compare that data to the unknown powder’s tests to identify it.

NGSS: 5-PS1-3

OWL PELLETS & FOOD WEBS

Whooo eats who? Explore how energy moves through an owl’s food web while dissecting an owl pellet. Learn about owl adaptations that make these birds of prey such successful hunters.

NGSS: 5-PS3-1, 5-LS2-1

MOON PHASES & ECLIPSES

Students will make a glow-in-the-dark Moon phase book and an eclipse project, while exploring the motion of the Earth and Moon.

NGSS: 5-ESS1-2

WATER FILTRATION

Engineering Challenge

Where does the water come from? Where does it go? Students will explore the hydrosphere as they clean dirty water with filtration systems that they design, build, and test.

NGSS: 5-ESS2-2

TRASHY TREASURES

Maker Project

Humans make tons of trash. Why not reuse some refuse and save it from the landfill? Discovery Lab staff will provide tools, clean trashables, and great inspiration as students design and build their own treasures to take home.

NGSS: 5-ESS3-1, MS-ESS3-3

STARS: THE SUN

Live Planetarium Program

The program explores the Sun and stars from both a cultural and astronomical perspective. Students will investigate the composition, temperature, and seasonal changes of the Sun and stars. Students will also investigate phenomena of the Sun and stars, including eclipses and supernova, and how those changes influenced cultures around the world.

NGSS: 5-PS3-1, 5-ESS1-1, MS- PS1-5, MS-PS4-1

STARS

Fulldome Feature

Stars focuses on the lives of stars, how they are born, what happens when they die, and how human understanding of the universe changes over time. Cultural connections to the stars are explored through Native American, Ancient Egyptian, and Ancient Greek connections. The history of the Solar System is discussed starting with Copernicus through Einstein.

NGSS: 5-ESS1-1

WE ARE STARS

Fulldome Feature

Where did it all come from? Students will learn about the evolution of the universe from the earliest moments of the Big Bang to the beginnings of Life on Earth. Other topics include the formation of stars, nuclear fusion in stars, and the creation of elements from fusion.

NGSS: 5-PS1-1, 5-ESS1-1, MS-LS1-1, MS-LS1-3, MS-LS1-6, MS-PS1-1, MS- PS5-1, MS-ESS1-2, MS-ESS1-3

TELESCOPE WORKSHOP

Using telescopes, students will learn about the properties of light, how light propagates through space, and how astronomers use lenses and telescopes to measure properties of distant objects. This class focuses on using a mixture of hands-on application and data driven analysis to expand the students’ understanding of light and astronomy.

NGSS: MS-PS4-1, MS-PS4-2, MS-ESS1-3

CYCLES OF THE SKY

Live Planetarium Program

In this program, students will develop a model of the Earth, Moon, and Sun system to explain the patterns seen in the sky including moon phases, eclipses, and seasons.

NGSS: MS-ESS1-1

BUILDING A BETTER TOMORROW

Live Planetarium Program

This program discusses the human impact on our world. The effects of resource consumption, pollution, and harmful emissions will be analyzed in a data driven process. Present and future solutions to minimize human impact will be explored on both an individual and global scale.

NGSS: MS-ESS3-3, MS- ESS3-4, MS-ESS5