Julie Yu
Exploratorium Teacher Institute

Activities

Physical Science
aluminum-air battery - power a motor with a homemade battery
boil an egg - eggsplore gas properties while making a snack
carbon configurations - use geometry to predict the shape of carbon
column chromatography - deconstructing gatorade
dye like a natural - stain your clothes on purpose
energy of color - a simple way to do this activity by Paul Doherty
exploring chirality - experience mirror symmetry in nature by rotating light
eyedropper hydrometer - buoy your understanding of density
floating fahrenheit - make a Galilean thermometer
glow up - different kinds of light can be used to study life
inflate-a-mole - finding the volume of a mole of gas can be sublime
klutz-proof density column - gravity doesn't care if you trip
mold mole molds - make different shapes that hold a mole of gas
penny battery - light an LED for five cents
shell shifts - discover how ocean acidification can give some sea critters shell shock
sizing up temperature - explore Charles' Law in a syringe
tiny tubes - make totally tubular forms of carbon

Life Science
breakfast proteins - construct a protein through cereal additions
evolution in plane sight - evolving with your involvement
game of life: stem cell edition - it takes a few decisions to go from 1 to 10 trillion
gel electrophoresis - biotechnology on a budget to dye for
glow up - different kinds of light can be used to study life
life size - explore the size and scale of microscopic biology
macro-microarray - explore the nuts and bolts of gene chips
salty pits - how hospitable is your armpit?
secret codon - write a message in DNA
sweat spot - visualize where and when you sweat
viral packaging - getting the most bang for your genomic buck

General Science
3D glasses - make your own 3D glasses
genie grabber - meet my genial genie
make your own pop-ups - cut, glue, pop

Math
conical mirrors - out is in and in is out
pi graph - use a straight line to learn about circles
solidly platonic - discovering the platonic solids
throwing pi - needle your way through a pi toss


This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. NSF 0610238 and 0925383.