This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I've included it here so you can participate and learn, too!

Discover how to detect magnetic fields, learn about the Earth's 8 magnetic poles, and uncover the mysterious link between electricity and magnetism that marks one of the biggest discoveries of all science…ever.

Materials:
  • Box of paperclips
  • Two magnets (make sure one of them ceramic because we're going to break it)
  • Compass
  • Hammer
  • Nail
  • Sandpaper or nail file
  • D cell battery
  • Rubber band
  • Magnet Wire
Optional Materials if you want to make the Magnetic Rocket Ball Launcher:Four ½” (12mm) neodymium magnets
  • Nine ½” (12 mm) ball bearings
  • Toilet paper tube or paper towel tube
  • Ruler with groove down the middle
  • Eight strong rubber bands
  • Scissors


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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


This class is all about Biology, what it is and how it works. If you love plants, animals, insects, and strange puzzling challenges, then this is the area of science for you. We’re about to see and do the kind of science that was not in your typical textbooks. Without biology, there would be no cure for diseases, we wouldn’t understand which foods are the right ones to eat, why we have to brush our teeth and wash our hands, which water we can drink without getting sick, athletes couldn’t figure out how to improve their performance. It helps us understand how life works so we can make the most effective use of that information, like how to clean up our environment or grow better crops without exhausting the soil.


Materials:


  • Salt
  • Clear glass cup
  • Coffee filter and a funnel
  • Isopropyl alcohol (91%) – COLD!
  • Blender or food processor
  • Liquid dishwashing detergent
  • A fruit or vegetable
  • 2 handheld magnifying lenses
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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I've included it here so you can participate and learn, too! Learn about the world of rocks, crystals, gems, fossils, and minerals by moving beyond just looking at pretty stones and really being able to identify, test, and classify samples and specimens you come across using techniques that real field experts use. While most people might think of a rock as being fun to climb or toss into a pond, you will now be able to see the special meaning behind the naturally occurring material that is made out of minerals by understanding how the minerals are joined together, what their crystalline structure is like, and much more.

Materials:

 
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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


This class is all about Light Waves, Lasers and Holograms! This is a newly updated version of the older Light Waves and Lasers teleclass here.


We’re going to learn about the wild world of light that has baffled scientists for over a century. You’ll be twisting and bending light as we learn about refraction, reflection, absorption, and transmission using lenses, lasers, mirrors, and optical filters with everyday stuff like gummy bears, paperclips, pencils and water!


We’re going to learn how to build a projection hologram out of piece of old plastic, make a laser microscope so you can see tiny little microscopic creatures, bend laser light to follow any path you want without using mirrors, and finally understand how glow in the dark toys really work on the subatomic level. Are you ready?


Materials:


  • Pencil
  • Paper
  • Clothespin
  • Paperclip
  • Rubber band
  • Gummy bears
  • Red laser
  • Flashlight
  • Old CD
  • Scissors
  • Pliers
  • Glass of water
  • Clear Plastic Film
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This is a recording of a recent live class I did with an entire high school astronomy class. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


Light is energy that can travel through space. How much energy light has determines what kind of wave it is. It can be visible light, x-ray, radio, microwave, gamma or ultraviolet. The electromagnetic spectrum shows the different energies of light and how the energy relates to different frequencies, and that’s exactly what we’re going to cover in class. We’re going to talk about light, what it is, how it moves, and it’s generated, and learn how astronomers study the differences in light to tell a star’s atmosphere from  millions of miles away.


I usually give this presentation at sunset during my live workshops, so I inserted slides along with my talk so you could see the pictures better. This video below is long, so I highly recommend doing this with friends and a big bowl of popcorn. Ready?


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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I've included it here so you can participate and learn, too!

We’re going to be mixing up dinosaur toothpaste, doing experiments with catalysts, discovering the 5 states of matter, and building your own chemistry lab station as we cover chemical kinetics, phase shifts, the states of matter, atoms, molecules, elements, chemical reactions, and much more. We’re also going to turn liquid polymers into glowing putty so you can amaze your friends when it totally glows in the dark. AND make liquids freeze by heating them up (no kidding) using a scientific principle called supercooling,

Materials:
  • Chemistry Worksheet
  • Aluminum pie plate
  • Bowl
  • Clear glue or white glue
  • Disposable cups
  • Goggles & gloves
  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • OPTIONAL: Instant reusable hand warmer (containing sodium acetate )
  • Liquid soap
  • Popsicle sticks
  • Scissors or pliers
  • Sodium tetraborate (also called “Borax”)
  • Water bottle
  • Yeast
  • Yellow highlighter
  • Optional: If you want to see your experiments glow in the dark, you'll need a fluorescent UV black light (about $10 from the pet store - look in cleaning supplies under "Urine-Off" for a fluorescent UV light). UV flashlights and UV LEDs will not work.
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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too! (Click here if you’re looking for the more recent version that also includes Chemical Engineering.)


When you think of slime, do you imagine slugs, snails, and puppy kisses? Or does the science fiction film The Blob come to mind? Any way you picture it, slime is definitely slippery, slithery, and just plain icky — and a perfect forum for learning real science. But which ingredients work in making a truly slimy concoction, and why do they work? Let’s take a closer look…


Materials:


  • Sodium tetraborate (also called “Borax” – it’s a laundry whitener) – about 2 tablespoons
  • Clear glue or white glue (clear works better if you can find it) – about 1/2 cup
  • Yellow highlighter
  • Pliers or sharp razor (with adult help). (PREPARE: Use this to get the end off your highlighter before class starts so you can extract the ink-soaked felt inside. Leave the felt inside highlighter with the end loosely on (so it doesn’t dry out))
  • Resuable Instant Hand Warmer that contains sodium acetate (Brand Name: EZ Hand Warmer) – you’ll need two of these
  • Scissors
  • Glass half full of COLD water (PREPARE: put this in the fridge overnight)
  • Mixing bowl full of ice (PREPARE: leave in freezer)
  • Salt
  • Disposable aluminum pie place or foil-wrapped paper plate
  • Disposable cups for solutions (4-6)
  • Popsicle sticks for mixing (4-6)
  • Rubber gloves for your hands
  • Optional: If you want to see your experiments glow in the dark, you’ll need a fluorescent UV black light (about $10 from the pet store – look in cleaning supplies under “Urine-Off” for a fluorescent UV light). UV flashlights and UV LEDs will not work.
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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


You’ll discover how to boil water at room temperature, heat up ice to freeze it, make a fire water balloon, and build a real working steam boat as you learn about heat energy. You’ll also learn about thermal energy, heat capacity, and the laws of thermodynamics.


Materials:


  • cup of ice water
  • cup of room temperature water
  • cup of hot water (not scalding or boiling!)
  • tea light candle and lighter (with adult help)
  • balloon (not inflated)
  • syringe (without the needle)
  • block of foam
  • copper tubing (¼” diameter and 12” long)
  • bathtub or sink
  • scissors or razor
  • fat marker (to be used to wrap things around, not for writing)
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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I've included it here so you can participate and learn, too!

Spark together electric motors, build homemade burglar alarms, wire up circuits and build your own robot from junk! Create your own whizzing, hopping, dancing, screeching, swimming, crawling, wheeling, robot during class. We'll cover hot topics in electricity, magnetism, electrical charges, robot construction, sensors and more.

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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


Discover how to detect magnetic fields, learn about the Earth’s 8 magnetic poles, and uncover the mysterious link between electricity and magnetism that marks one of the biggest discoveries of all science…ever.


Materials:


  • Box of paperclips
  • Two magnets (make sure one of them ceramic because we’re going to break it)
  • Compass
  • Hammer
  • Nail
  • Sandpaper or nail file
  • D cell battery
  • Rubber band
  • Magnet Wire

Optional Materials if you want to make the Magnetic Rocket Ball Launcher:Four ½” (12mm) neodymium magnets


  • Nine ½” (12 mm) ball bearings
  • Toilet paper tube or paper towel tube
  • Ruler with groove down the middle
  • Eight strong rubber bands
  • Scissors
Please login or register to read the rest of this content.

This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


We’re going to study electrons and static charge. Kids will build simple electrostatic motor to help them understand how like charges repel and opposites attract. After you’ve completed this teleclass, be sure to hop on over the teleclass in Robotics!


Electrons are strange and unusual little fellows. Strange things happen when too many or too few of the little fellows get together. Some things may be attracted to other things or some things may push other things away. Occasionally you may see a spark of light and sound. The light and sound may be quite small or may be as large as a bolt of lightning. When electrons gather, strange things happen. Those strange things are static electricity.


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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I've included it here so you can participate and learn, too!

This class is all about Light Waves! Energy can take one of two forms: matter and light (called electromagnetic radiation). Light is energy in the form of either a particle or a wave that can travel through space and some kinds of matter, like glass.

We're going to investigate the wild world of the photon that has baffled scientists for over a century. We'll also do experiments in shattering laser beams, bending and twisting light, and also split light waves into rainbow shadows. Materials:
  • laser pointer
  • flashlight
  • paper clip
  • gummy bear (green and red)
  • old CD
  • paper clip
  • rubber band
  • pond water (just a little bit)
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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


We’re ready to deal with the topic you’ve all been waiting for! Join me as we find out what happens to stars that wander too close, how black holes collide, how we can detect super-massive black holes in the centers of galaxies, and wrestle with question: what’s down there, inside a black hole?


Materials:


  • marble
  • metal ball (like a ball bearing) or a magnetic marble
  • strong magnet
  • small bouncy ball
  • tennis ball and/or basketball
  • two balloons
  • bowl
  • 10 pennies
  • saran wrap (or cup open a plastic shopping bag so it lays flat)
  • aluminum foil (you’ll need to wrap inflated balloons with the foil, so make sure you have plenty of foil)
  • scissors
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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too


Our solar system includes rocky terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars), gas giants (Jupiter and Saturn), ice giants (Uranus and Neptune), and assorted chunks of ice and dust that make up various comets and asteroids.


Did you know you can take an intergalactic star tour without leaving your seat? To get you started on your astronomy adventure, I have a front-row seat for you in a planetarium-style star show. I usually give this presentation at sunset during my live workshops, so I inserted slides along with my talk so you could see the pictures better. This video below is long, so I highly recommend doing this with friends and a big bowl of popcorn. Ready?


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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


Sound is a form of energy, and is caused by something vibrating. So what is moving to make sound energy?


Molecules. Molecules are vibrating back and forth at fairly high rates of speed, creating waves. Energy moves from place to place by waves. Sound energy moves by longitudinal waves (the waves that are like a slinky). The molecules vibrate back and forth, crashing into the molecules next to them, causing them to vibrate, and so on and so forth. All sounds come from vibrations.


Materials:


  • 1 tongue-depressor size popsicle stick
  • Three 3″ x 1/4″ rubber bands
  • 2 index cards
  • 3 feet of string (or yarn)
  • scissors
  • tape or hot glue
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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn, too!


Soar, zoom, fly, twirl, and gyrate with these amazing hands-on classes which investigate the world of flight. Students created flying contraptions from paper airplanes and hangliders to kites! Topics we will cover include: air pressure, flight dynamics, and Bernoulli’s principle.


Materials:


  • 5 sheets of 8.5×11” paper
  • 2 index cards
  • 2 straws
  • 2 small paper clips
  • Scissors, tape
  • Optional: ping pong ball and a small funnel
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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I've included it here so you can participate and learn, too! Blast your imagination with this super-popular class on rocketry! Kids learn about fin design, hybrid and solid-state rocketry, and how rockets make it into space without falling out of orbit. This class is taught by a real live rocket scientist (me!). We'll launch rockets during the class, too! Please login or register to read the rest of this content.


This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I've included it here so you can participate and learn, too!

We're going to cover energy and motion by building roller coasters and catapults! Kids build a working catapult while they learn about the physics of projectile motion and storing elastic potential energy. Let's discover the mysterious forces at work behind the thrill ride of the world’s most monstrous roller coasters, as we twist, turn, loop and corkscrew our way through g-forces, velocity, acceleration, and believe it or not, move through orbital mechanics, like satellites. We’ll also learn how to throw objects across the room in the name of science… called projectile motion. Are you ready for a fast and furious physics class?

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This is a recording of a recent live teleclass I did with thousands of kids from all over the world. I’ve included it here so you can participate and learn!


Discover the world of clean, renewable energy that scientists are developing today! Explore how they are harnessing the energy of tides and waves, lean how cars can run on just sunlight and water, tour a hydroelectric power plant, visit the largest wind farms on the planet, and more! You’ll learn how streets are being designed to generate electricity, how teenagers are making jet fuel from pond scum in their garage, and how 70 million tons of salt can provide free, clean energy 24 hours a day forever! During class, you’ll learn how to bake solar cookies, magni-fry marshmallows and do the experiment with light Einstein won a Nobel prize for that is the basis of all photovoltaic energy today.


Materials:


  • One cup each: hot (not boiling), cold, and room temperature water
  • Cardboard box, shoebox size or larger.
  • Aluminum foil
  • Plastic wrap (like Saran wrap or Cling wrap)
  • Hot glue, razor, scissors, tape
  • Wooden skewers (BBQ-style)
  • Black construction paper
  • Cookie dough (your favorite kind!)
  • Chocolate, large marshmallows, & graham crackers if you want to make s’mores! If not, try just the large marshmallow.
  • Large page magnifier (also called a Fresnel lens, found at drug stores or places that also sell reading glasses, or at Amazon.com)
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