Each program includes one 60-minute show for each class, and we try to fit all of the classes of that grade into a one-day schedule.   A 10-15 minute break between shows is required to re-set the hands-on materials and get everything set for the next round of exploration!  An art room or unused classroom makes the best location, with tables for kids to work in pairs or teams, and a sink nearby to clean up any messes.  Set-up requires access to this room at least 45 minutes before the first show, with 30 minutes needed after the last show for clean-up.

NEW PROGRAM for any grade:
THE IQ PET PROJECT

a special program for any grade $40/class
The pet project brings a habitat box (slightly larger than a shoe box) containing "dairy cow" or "yellow spot" isopods (related to common rolypolies or pill bugs) for your classroom to adopt.  Includes a 15-20 minute introduction to isopod characteristics and care, and 5-10 minutes for questions.  These Isopods, which reach a maximum size around 2cm, are simple to care for, easy to hold, fun to watch, and child-friendly.  Over weeks of feeding, they will also see old bark, dried leaves, and other materials get broken down into soil - an important part of nature's wonderful nutrient cycling process.  Includes initial supplies for care.

                                                                    JUNIOR Kindergarten 
                                                                THE FIVE SENSES

A great first assembly for future scientists, full of hands-on activities to get them looking, smelling, listening, touching, and talking about their observations and connections. (tasting included as homework to avoid any dietary concerns)  This 45-minute program is offered at a discount, so check our pricing page (under BOOK A PROGRAM) for details!

kindergarden
TREES

 Students spend the hour learning to be a tree - sucking up water, collecting sunlight and air; making sugar to fuel growth; growing a trunk, leaves, and flowers; attracting a pollinator, and finally creating fruit. All that work changes through the seasons as sunlight and water resources vary. Trees may not look like they're doing much, but it's really a lot of work!

kindergarden
FORCES AND MOTION

Kindergarteners are experts at this - they really know how to move!  Students start with toys that push and pull, then build on their understanding with wheels and ramps, gravity and friction, to learn about simple machines and invisible forces.   The program wraps up with a sing-along game about moving their bodies.

1st grade
​WAVE HELLO 

With vibrating balloons, rubber band instruments, and even a trampoline, students learn how vibration produces sound. Using slinkies, they get to visualize compression waves to see how sound energy moves from place to place. And with a final game of whistle hide and seek they explore directionality and communication with sound. Students get to keep the musical "squonky" they build to explore sound amplification.

2nd grade
PLANTS ON THE MOVE

Students will construct fruits and model samaras, act out gumtree fruit dispersal (with the help of Sheepy), and explore how plants use wind, water, and animals to spread their seeds. To discuss how the energy trapped by plants moves through the food chain, they will build sunlight-catching bracelets! Students get to keep their fruit , their helicopter (samara), and their sunlight-trapping bracelet.

2nd grade
​PEBBLES AND SAND

In this limited engagement program we literally get our hands dirty exploring the texture and behavior of dry sand, wet sand, and sand paper to understand the role of sand as part of the ground and as an agent of erosion. Students will compare how the sandpaper "erodes" different surfaces, from rocks to lollypops! Students will compare sand to pebbles and how sand and pebbles fit together.​

2nd grade
​LIVE  ARTHROPOD VISIT

Colonies of live Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches brought right to your school! Students will hear about their lifecycle, the needs they have for survival, how they defend themselves from predators, and any other questions they may have. Students are then allowed to pet the cockroaches, and, after petting them, if they choose, they may hold one in their hand. They don't bite or sting, they can't fly, and they're a nice big size to hold - a perfect fit for 2nd graders' little hands! This program is offered at a discount, so check our pricing page (under BOOK A PROGRAM) for details!

2nd Grade
FACT OF THE MATTER

Solids, Liquids, and Gases -- they all matter!  Students will mix baking soda with citric acid, milk with food coloring, and other hands-on activities to explore the traits that define each form of matter.  Teachers may wish to bring a camera to photograph students when they act out the properties of atoms in matter!

3rd grade
​NEW VERSION COMING SOON: 
BALANCING ACT 

With a long enough lever, Archimedes claimed he could move the Earth.  With levers, ramps, wheels, and even magic wands, students will investigate a variety of pushes and pulls in balanced and unbalanced forces.  For their final activity, students will construct a levitating platform. Ends with the Magic Hammer trick!

3rd grade
NEW PROGRAM IN DEVELOPMENT
​FUN WITH FOSSILS

Similar to a docent-led tour of a museum fossil display, but students can hold and touch REAL fossils while they hear the stories of these prehistoric plants and animals:  Animals from half a billion years ago can tell us that an area was once covered by ocean, while tree fossils can show where forests once thrived.  Variation in the fossil record helps us see how evolution shaped these amazing creatures.
This program is offered at a discount, so check our pricing page (under BOOK A PROGRAM) for details!

4th Grade
​YOU'RE IN CHARGE

This dynamic show is anything but static! Students use static electricity as a force to understand its behavior, moving objects with their "magic wand."  Once they begin to store their charges, the sparks really fly, as they create current to light an LED bulb. Teachers may choose hypothesis testing or alternative energy as an additional activity – after all, you’re in charge! 

4th Grade
​FOSSILS - CAN U DIG 'EM?

Students will play an adaptation game, acting as a population of "birds" hunting "bugs."  As predation causes the bugs to change their hiding strategy, the birds will have to adjust to succeed.  We will also play a fossil dating game (no, the fossils don't need to find a boyfriend!) to figure out how layers of geological strata reveal clues about fossil evolution.  With the remaining time, students can examine a small collection of real fossils.

4th or 5th Grade
​NEW PROGRAM COMING SOON!
The Games of Life

Through a variety of games, students will explore complex ideas of evolution and ecology.  Students will work together in teams of 4-6 in a concentration-style matching game to act as insects looking for plants to eat - but watch out - plants can defend themselves with thorns, toxins, hormones, and other chemicals.  Insects must be a perfect match to overcome those defenses and find some lunch.  Then, they will face of the challenge of keeping an ecosystem balanced.  As they remove keystone species, producers, habitat area,  and food for specialists, or add pollutants, invasive species, and climate change, will they keep their ecosystem tower stable?

5th Grade
LIVE  ARTHROPOD VISIT

Similar to the 2nd grade program with live colonies of Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, this program also includes pinned specimens in order to discuss insect diversity.
This program is offered at a discount, so check our pricing page (under BOOK A PROGRAM) for details!

5th Grade
​REACTIONS IN ACTION

Baking soda plus citric acid; carbon dioxide and candle flames; precipitation; and elephant toothpaste -- the reactions just keep coming in this basic (and acidic!) introduction to chemical reactions. 

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