Enhance your day visit; schedule your group for a workshop!  Workshops last 25 minutes and can accommodate 30 students per session. 

For your planning convenience, you can find fees and content standards following the workshop descriptions.  Want to take part in more workshops than you have time for?  Ask us about Science on Wheels!  We are happy to extend your Impression 5 experience by visiting your school. 

Biospheres - What is a biosphere?  Students will explore the water and carbon cycle as they make their own biome and get their hands in the dirt and explore all the items needed for a self-contained mechanism.  We will explore plants and learn about photosynthesis and how it works.  Each student will take home their own biosphere.  ($2.00)

Standard(s):  L.OL.00.11-12, L.OL.01.21, L.OL.02.14, L.OL.02.22, L.OL.03.31, L.OL.04.15, P.EN. 07. 43

Circuit Builders - What is a circuit?  This exploratory workshop will help students discover power sources and how they work.  Workshop participants will discover the four components of a circuit, experiment with circuit boards, and will change the path of an electron by closing and opening a switch.  Students will also investigate the difference between series and parallel circuits and explore how a buzzer or a light puts a load on the circuit. (Free)

Standard(s):  P.EN.04.51-52, P.PM.04.53

Conservation Game - What are natural resources?  How do humans impact how these resources are used, reduced, or even recycled?  Students play this exploratory game to explore human impact and explore consumption, waste, and much more. ($1.00)

Standard(s): E.ES.03.41-44, E.ES.03.52, L.EC.06.41-42, E.ES.07.41-42

Forces & Motion - What is force?  How does it affect motion?  Students will experiment with force and motion and participate in a variety of challenges that will help build their understanding of motion, speed, acceleration, gravity and force!  ($1.00)

Standard(s):  P.FM.00.11-12, P.FM.00.21, P.FM.00.31-34, P.FM.03.22, P.FM.03.35-38, P.FM.03.41-43, P.FM.05.21-22, P.FM.05.31-34, P.FM.05.41-43

Groundwater - Where does our water come from?  In this workshop, students will explore groundwater, its origins, and sources of pollution.  Discussion of the water cycle, runoff water, rain gardens, and exploration of rivers, streams, and lakes will give students the opportunity to soak their senses in a water exploration!  ($1.00)

Standard(s):  E.FE.02.11-14, E.FE.02.21-22, E.ES.07.11, E.ES.07.81-82

Light -What is light?  How can we see it?  What colors create it? Students will explore the fascinating world of light in this hands-on workshop that enhances the Light & Color exhibit.  The workshop's activities will challenge students to identify sources of light, explore the concepts of reflection, and investigate refraction.  ($1.00)

Standard(s):  P.EN.03.11, P.EN.03.21-22, P.PM.03.52

Magnets - What are magnets?  Students will explore magnetic fields and experiment with objects that are magnetic and non-magnetic.  Workshop participants will use hands-on investigation to learn about magnetic poles and see how magnets attract or repel other magnets.  Finally, this exploratory workshop will give students a better understanding of how the Earth is a magnet and how compasses are used.  (Free)

Standard(s):  P.PM.01.31-32, P.PM.04.33-34, E.SE.06.61-62

MiScopes - Come explore the microscopic world like never before!  Using amazing handheld microscopes called MiScope, learners of all ages will generate scientific questions based on the exploration of a variety of objects.  This workshop will feature discussion, classification, and inquiry-based observations.  Plus, students will capture an image to make a postcard to take home!  ($2.00)

Standard(s):  S.IP.00.13-14, S.IP.01.14, S.IA.01.13, S.IP.02.14, S.RS.02.16, S.IP.03.14, S.RS.03.16, S.IP.04.14, S.RS.04.16, S.IP.05.13, S.IP.06.13, S.IP.07.13

Slime - What is slime? What is matter?  Students make Slime in the Impression 5 lab and investigate answers to these questions in our most popular workshop!  In addition to exploring how molecules interact in a solid, liquid, and gas, students learn about several basic chemistry principles, including molecules, physical and chemical changes, and the states of matter.  Each student will also mix ingredients to create Slime and take home this amazing substance!  ($2.00) 

Standard(s):  P.PM.01.21-22, P.PM.04.23, P.CM.04.11, P.CM.06.11-12, P.PM.07.23, P.CM.07.22

Sound - What are sound waves? How is an echo created?  Students will explore sound waves, vibrations and echoes and then learn how sound is created and affected by various vibrations.   This exploratory workshop will give students the opportunity to conduct experiments that explore pitch and volume.  (Free)

Standard(s):  P.EN.03.11, P.EN.03.31-32, P.EN.07.31-33

Static Electricity - What is static electricity and how do we produce it?  How can tiny, charged particles illuminate a light bulb or make a balloon cling to other objects?  Students will experiment with different uses of static electricity and explore conductors, insulators, circuits, current, and more.  Participants will observe and possibly feel the powerful effects of static electricity with our Van de Graaff generator.  This could be a shocking and hair-raising experience!  (Free)

Standard(s):  P.EN.04.12