Science Snacks by Exploratorium

Science Snacks are hands-on, teacher-tested activities, and use cheap, available materials. Search for activities for family-friendly snacks, after school snacks, by subjects, A-Z, special collections, or by the Next Generation Science Standards. Satisfy your curiosity without ever getting full. A few examples:

  • Afterimage – After looking at something bright, such as a lamp or a camera flash, you may continue to see an image of that object when you look away. This lingering visual impression is called an afterimage.
  • Penny Battery – Use two different metals and some sour, salty water to create an inexpensive battery.
  • Vortex – Water forms a spiraling, funnel-shaped vortex as it drains from a soda bottle. A simple connector device allows the water to drain into a second bottle.
  • Fan Cart – Build a low-friction cart and explore Newton’s third law.
  • Falling for Gravity – Calculate the acceleration of gravity using simple materials, a cell phone, and a computer to record, watch, and analyze the motion of a dropped object.
  • Wiggle Pressure – Self-rolling pet toys can wiggle around, pushing on objects a lot like air molecules do, modeling many of the behaviors of the molecules in gases.