Throughout the day, members of the Center's Guest Experience staff present free 10-20 minute demonstrations. Our demonstrations cover a wide range of topics and can be used to enhance a Focused Field Trip or highlight a topic you are covering in your classroon. Demonstrations are a great way to bring your group together for a shared experience.
The following 10-20-minute demonstrations will be offered throughout the week:
Upon your arrival, please check the demonstration board in the lobby for demonstrations scheduled that day.
Arizona Gems - all ages
Did you know that Arizona plays host to three beautiful birthstones? Come check out Amethyst, Peridot and Turquoise and their gorgeous colors.
Balancing Clowns - k-5th grade
Make an acrobatice clown that balances on the tip of your fingers.
Balancing Nails - 3rd grade through adult
How many nails can you balance on a single peg? Learn how to seemingly defy gravity in this activity.
Blood Lab - 3rd grade and up
Learn about your blood, including where it's made and what's in it, as well as the different blood types and the need for donation.
Bloody Handprints - all ages
Come find out why blood seems to magically reach the surface of your hand as you finger paint without the paint!
B.L.T.- all ages
Build It, Learn It, Take It Home!
Got junk? Don't throw it out! Learn how to recylce your cardboard boxes, drink bottles, and CDs into cool scientific gadgets.
Chromatography - all ages
Become a color scientist and use a process called chromatography to figure out what colors are used to make black ink.
Discover DNA - 5th grade and up
Learn about genes and touch real DNA extracted from strawberries. At the end of the demonstration, students solve a mystery using the information they have learned.
Eggceptional Pressure - all ages
Air pressure is the simple mechanism behind forcing an egg into a bottle. Can we bring it out in one piece again? Come find out in this "fun" demonstration.
Elephant's Toothpaste - all ages
This explosive demonstration looks like a giant tube of toothpaste fit for an elephant.
Fingerprints - all ages
Do you have what it takes to be a CSI? Analyze your fingerprint patterns and find out!
Galactic Voyage - all ages
How do scientists know what gases a star is made up of? Do we have to travel out into space to find out? Or can we find the answers from planet Earth? This demonstration will reveal the answers.
Great Balls of Fire - all ages
Learn about the chemical reaction leading to combustion and discover the fire triangle through various experiments.
Hydrogen Fuel Cell - all ages
Come learn about a potential new way to store energy as we power a car using water.
Illusions - all ages
Can you believe your eyes? Not sure of the answer? This demonstration introduces the audience to some common optical illusions and explains how they happen.
Iron Wire - 3rd grade and up
Explore the concepts of thermal expansion, resistance heating and incandescence as a current is passed through a length of iron wire and observe the unexpected results.
Knots - all ages
Come tie one on and be "knotty". You can choose a square, or a bowline, all the ways a rope can be tied.
Lava Lab - pre-K through 4th grade
Did you ever wonder about the Earth forces behind a volcanic eruption? Learn about the different types of lava and experience a mini-eruption.
Liquid Nitrogen
Explore extreme temperatures and learn about the different states of matter while you watch experiments with liquid nitrogen.
Sponsored by:
Living in Space - all ages
Gravity on Earth works in keeping us on the ground. Microgravity on the space station changes the way we operate. Come find out more in this demonstration.
Look Inside Your Eye - all ages
Take a peak at what the inside of your own eye looks like as you look for floaters, blood vessels and even your own brain!
Magic Planet - all ages
Explore the wonderful planet on which we live and discover how the forces of nature balance themselves.
Located in the Wells Fargo Classroom in Forces of Nature, Level 3 Sybil B. Harrington Galleries.
Magnetic Hydrojet - 3rd grade through adult
Come and see the strange force made with magnetism and electricity.
Oobleck - all ages
Solid, liquid, gas...and Oobleck? Put your hands in this non-Newtonian matter that acts like both a solid and liquid at the same time.
Optics of the Eye - all ages
Watch a real cow eyeball dissection and learn about the anatomy and optics of the eye.
Paper Helicopters - all ages
Build your own helicopter and test it out in this fun activity for all ages.
Playdough - all ages
Just like from the store except this stuff can be made right in your kitchen! Check out what it takes as we show you the key to making your very own playdough.
Rattlebacks - all ages
Create and spin your own "rattleback", a spinning top that suddenly changes direction mid-spin!
Scatology - all ages
Become a scatologist as you match real samples of scat to the animal that made it. Can you match the poop to the "poopitrator"?
Sense of Smell - all ages
The nose knows they say! Come test your sense of smell and learn what else is going on when you get a whiff.
Simple Circuits - all ages
Learn about what it takes to make a light bulb glow as you explore the electrifying world of circuits.
Sponsored by:
Sink of Float - all ages
Build a boat and see if it can take the weight. Will you be able to sail the seas or will you sink your battleship?
Snap Circuits - 5th grade through adults
Laser guns, space wars, and light detectors. It's a snap! Come make a circuit or design your own with unique, easy to use, snap together parts.
Snot - all ages
AH-CHOO! Trick your friends with fake snot that looks and feels fresh from the nose!
Squid Dissection - all ages
Ahoy there Matey! Today, we're taking a look at the anatomy of a squid. Beware the tentacles!
Static Electricity - all ages
Feel and see the sparks fly and learn about the amazing power of static electricity.
Stomach This! A Digestion Demonstration- All ages
Observe the normally 12-hour process of digestion in just 15 minutes as we simulate food traveling through the digestive system and discuss the final product.
Supertaster - All ages
Are you a supertaster? Find out if you are and what that means about your sense of taste.
Sweet Spot - all ages
Come learn about the science of baseball and hear the sweet spot of the bat. Learn about why it makes the ball soar and sound so good.
The Brain - 5th grade through adults
Description coming soon!
The Heart - all ages
Pump it up! Learn about how your heart works and how to make good choices to keep it healthy.
Tops - all ages
Decorate your own top and take it for a spin!
UV Awareness - all ages
Does sunscreen really work? Am I protected from the sun's UV rays in the shade? Experiment with a variety of UV detecting materials to see how protected we really are.
Vomit - all ages
Clean up in aisle five! Check out how to make fake vomit that looks like the real thing with the yuckiest science or grossness.
Wavy Electronics - all ages
What are the latest trend in electronics? How do scientists take the ordinary and make something different with it? Come find out in this fascinating demonstration.
Wounds - all ages
Aah! I'm bleeding! Learn how make-up artists create wounds and how our bodies deal with the real deal.
