Hands-on Activity Tables, Labs, Workshops, and Directed Activities
Cool Science often visits local schools, libraries, museums, festivals, and parent/student activity nights to present fun and engaging hands-on science Activity Tables. We can set up several activities that surround a common scientific topic (such as electric charges or the science of sound), and have a myriad of activities you can choose. Activity tables offer a great opportunity to interact with students one on one- the student can ask any question that might arise, and we are able to tune our explanations to their age level. Activity Tables can take as little or as much time as the child wants, depending on how interested and involved they become.
Directed Activities include many of those that we also use in our activity tables but we devote more time and focus on the science so they are ideal for classrooms as well as after-school STEM/STEAM clubs and library programs. One or two Cool Science volunteers will lead a group of students, often as a team, to complete the project. Directed activities involve engineering or creating something that, once completed, demonstrates a scientific concept in a fun way. Projects usually require creativity and problem solving to both understand the concept and optimize the finished product. We have a variety of fun topics, and can develop new ones to meet your needs. Many (with links bellow) can be found on our Try Science at Home page or YouTube channel.
Cool Science often visits local schools, libraries, museums, festivals, and parent/student activity nights to present fun and engaging hands-on science Activity Tables. We can set up several activities that surround a common scientific topic (such as electric charges or the science of sound), and have a myriad of activities you can choose. Activity tables offer a great opportunity to interact with students one on one- the student can ask any question that might arise, and we are able to tune our explanations to their age level. Activity Tables can take as little or as much time as the child wants, depending on how interested and involved they become.
Directed Activities include many of those that we also use in our activity tables but we devote more time and focus on the science so they are ideal for classrooms as well as after-school STEM/STEAM clubs and library programs. One or two Cool Science volunteers will lead a group of students, often as a team, to complete the project. Directed activities involve engineering or creating something that, once completed, demonstrates a scientific concept in a fun way. Projects usually require creativity and problem solving to both understand the concept and optimize the finished product. We have a variety of fun topics, and can develop new ones to meet your needs. Many (with links bellow) can be found on our Try Science at Home page or YouTube channel.
Examples include: CD balloon hovercrafts; boomerangs; penny racers & screaming balloons; static electricity forces and levitation; simple electric motors & electromagnets; super-hydrophobic surfaces (Water Marbles); siphons & water pressure; 3-D stereo photography; hoopster gliders; baby diaper dissection and polymers; slime & silly putty; dry ice bubbles & vibrations (#2, #3); liquid nitrogen & Dragon's Breath; milk chemistry (including milk fireworks, making butter, cottage cheese, ice cream and Dippin' Dots); instant freeze super-cooled water; film canister rockets; Oobleck & cornstarch monsters; paint blot fractals; Möbius Loops; marbling with shaving cream; candy chromatography; iron in cereal; giant soap bubbles; jet boat racers; pin-hole cameras; gum-drop towers; mini catapults; Cartesian divers; fizzy lava lamps; tongue depressor harmonicas; sound and waves vibrations (#2); airbrush painting; mini stomp rockets; pop rockets; DaVinci bridges; microscopes; abacuses; maze topology; Turing Tumbles; mushroom life cycle; sundials and many more. We add new projects constantly.
Generally speaking, Directed Activities deal with a topic qualitatively while our Labs and Workshops take a more quantitative or experimental approach (dictated by the age of the students) and are best suited for individual classes, particularly grades 1-8. These are also ideal for after-school STEM/STEAM clubs. Many of the Directed Activities listed above can also be presented as laboratory lab experiments or workshops (for example students might experiment with changing the standard recipe), as well as others like our hugely popular Rocket Chemistry lab, Crime Scene Investigation, Bungee Barbie, Cabbage Juice pH, Chicken Foot Dissection, Owl Pellet Dissection and Bionic Finger. Cool Science also often presents these for Saturday or Summer camps, scout troops and other groups.
Generally speaking, Directed Activities deal with a topic qualitatively while our Labs and Workshops take a more quantitative or experimental approach (dictated by the age of the students) and are best suited for individual classes, particularly grades 1-8. These are also ideal for after-school STEM/STEAM clubs. Many of the Directed Activities listed above can also be presented as laboratory lab experiments or workshops (for example students might experiment with changing the standard recipe), as well as others like our hugely popular Rocket Chemistry lab, Crime Scene Investigation, Bungee Barbie, Cabbage Juice pH, Chicken Foot Dissection, Owl Pellet Dissection and Bionic Finger. Cool Science also often presents these for Saturday or Summer camps, scout troops and other groups.
Find out how our hands-on labs align with the 2020 Colorado Academic Standards for Science
To help cover our operating expenses and material costs, we use the following fees as a guideline:
- Hands-on Science Activity Tables - $100/table (1-5 activities)/hour, $500/day max
- Hands-on Science Directed Activities (including after-school STEM/STEAM clubs) - $300/session (typically 30 min - 1 hour), $500/day max
- Hands-on Science Labs or Workshops (including after-school STEM/STEAM clubs) - $400/session (typically 60 min - 3 hours), $750/day max
