Mad Science. Nature of Things Bugs! Digging for Dinos Exploring Ecosystems Wiggly Wriggly Worms

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1 Mad Science Workshops Here is a list of the workshops we have available for Indianapolis and the surrounding areas. The following pages give descriptions of each workshop. Workshops are a wonderful way to give your kids a hands-on science experience that will encourage their interest in learning while having fun! Each workshop lasts around 60 minutes and includes something for each child to take home. Remember most workshops can also be made appropriate for 30 or 45 minute preschool classes! Body Strong Be Tobacco Free Healthy Choices Mission: Nutrition Nature of Things Bugs! Digging for Dinos Exploring Ecosystems Wiggly Wriggly Worms Modern Science Detective Science Fantastic Flyers Lights Color Action! Movie Effects Science of Magic Chemistry Corner Che-Mystery Dry Ice Get Crazy with Chemistry Harnessing Heat Kitchen Chemistry Matter of Fact Slippery Science Earth, Wind, & Waves Earthworks Harness the Wind Magnetic Magic Mineral Mania Wacky Water Walloping Weather Junior Engineers Electricity Fun damental Forces Mad Science Machines Measure for Measure Science of Toys Super Structures Virtual Volume Watts-Up? Sensory Overload Optical Illusions Sonic Sounds Tantalizing Taste Space Age* Atmosphere and Beyond Living in Space Planets and Moons Space Phenomena Space Technology Space Travel Suns and Stars Secret Agent Lab* Agent Undercover Crime Lab Discover Detection Fibers, Flames & Fingerprints Funky Forensics Sleuths on the Scene Spy Academy Whodunit? *These workshops are best done with ages 8 and older. For more information or to schedule a workshop, please call You can also Carol@indymadscience.org, or visit our website at

2 Workshop Descriptions Body Strong Breathe Easy: Investigate the consequences of tobacco use and air pollution with experiments that compare the function of healthy and unhealthy lungs. Measure your lung capacity and use a stethoscope to listen to your heart. Healthy Choices: Learn how making good choices can help us be healthy! We will take a look at the "My Plate" food guide, discover where our food really comes from, and see what part exercise plays in building a strong and healthy body. Mission Nutrition: Build a nutritional pie chart using life-size food replicas. Conduct hands on experiments to improve your understanding of how bile breaks down fats and watch as we burn calories with a simplified calorimeter. Chemistry Corner Che- Mystery : Eliminate the mystery in chemistry! Explore one of the most exciting and fundamental sciences as you conduct chemical and physical changes. Experiment with Mad Science Magic Mud, a non-newtonian fluid! Dry Ice: Explore the 3 states of matter. Turn water into ice in 30 seconds! Have FUN as we create some of the same awesome smoke illusions and special effects used in the movies! You ve never seen carbon dioxide like this before! Get Crazy with Chemistry: This class is jammed-packed with the best chemistry has to offer. Watch paper vanish in a flash, participate in the disappearing peanut race, and see a wig head melt before your eyes! Top off the fun by making your own polymer to take home. Harnessing Heat: Watch an ice cube melt in seconds! Learn how molecules move at different temperatures and how thermometers work. Enjoy a tasty experiment when we use heat and centrifugal force to transform sugar into cotton candy! Kitchen Chemistry: Children get clued in on the differences between chemical and physical reactions. Experiment with yeast and sugar to produce a gas-filled balloon reaction. Discover different acids and bases found in the kitchen. Dinnertime will never be the same! Matter of Fact: Explore the three states of matter. Delve into the nuts and bolts of the universe as we explore molecules and how they are held together. Investigate dramatic differences between physical and chemical changes. Slippery Science: This class demystifies one of the most fascinating molecules known to mankind Polymers! Learn how these giant molecules are made as you make your very own polymer!

3 Earth, Wind & Waves Earthworks: Explore the powerful processes that shape our planet and form remarkable rocks, magnificent minerals, and glittering gems! Perform an earthshaking experiment and find out what is on Mother Earth s plate (tectonics that is). Harness the Wind: Observe the creation of wind and discover how it can be harnessed for flight, to power a mill, and luckily for skydivers, to break a fall. Test out our sail cars and create a wind wheel to catch a stream of air. Magnetic Magic: Experience the attractions of magnetism as you investigate the powers and daily uses of magnets. Test for magnetic fields, find out if magnets can float in midair, and build the world s simplest motor. Mineral Mania: Peek beneath the Earth s crust and see what it s made of. Recreate the process of rock formation and devise ways to identify and classify rocks and minerals. Experience the thrill of panning for gems; the gems you find you can take home. Wacky Water: Children explore this fascinating fluid s many facets including density, water pollution, and wave motion. Build density stackers and test objects to see if they float, sink, or flink. Walloping Weather: Discover how clouds, tornadoes, and lightening form, and how powerful they can be. Get charged up as you witness a demonstration of indoor lightening, become a meteorologist and make your own pet tornado to take home you ll be swept away! Nature of Things Bugs: Learn all about the world s most abundant animals and their role in the ecosystem. Get a glimpse of the world from the perspective of an insect, delve into the diverse defenses they use to protect themselves, and find out why all bugs are insects, but not all insects are bugs. Digging for Dinos: Become a junior paleontologist as you enter the world of dinosaurs! We ll get hands-on as you examine fossils, dig for a dinosaur bones, and experience how large some dinosaur feet were. Exploring Ecosystems: How do we fit in? We ll learn how plants and animals interact to create an ecosystem, and how human behaviors have an impact. Take home a grass head make sure you give it a good haircut from time to time. Wiggly Wriggly Worms: Become well acquainted with some squirmy, slimy wiggly, worms! Learn how to act like a worm, then meet and greet a living worm as you discover how these master soil engineers benefit our lives!

4 Junior Engineers Electricity: Excite some electrons as you construct some serious circuits (parallel and series, to be specific). Test various materials for conductivity with space-age plasma balls. Apply your newly found skills and knowledge to create and play an electronic game. Fun -damental Forces: Gravity inertia centripetal force who could ever imagine that an introduction to physics could be so much fun? We ll experience these awesome forces for ourselves and build some cool devices to watch them at work! Science of Toys: Test, play, and ponder of what makes toys work. Spin into action with kinetic tops, find the center of gravity with balance toys, and gear up as we investigate motorized toys. Both classic and novel gadgets are explored. Super Structures: Discover the strengths of triangles, cylinders, and arches. Learn how combinations of these shapes make for sturdy homes and skyscrapers. Use teamwork to build your own super structures as well as an earthquake-proof building! Virtual Volume: Examine the incredible world of volume. Test your understanding with our color mixing experiment. Use displacement to find out how much water a foot could hold! Watts-Up: Learn about electricity, its properties and its role in natural phenomena. Make indoor lightning while conducting hair-raising experiments with our electrostatic generator! Mad Science Machines: We ll check out the six simple machines we use everyday. Launch with levers, secure with screws, work with wedges. Learn about forces and work and how simple machines make work easier by allowing us to push and pull less strenuously but over a longer distance. Measure For Measure: Investigate how your body can be used as a ruler. Experiment with weighty issues using balances. Apply your sharpened skills as you look for treasure on a Measure Hunt.

5 Sensory Overload Optical Illusions: Learn why seeing is not always believing! Children are introduced to concepts of refraction, science of optics, and the biology of sight through hands-on experiments and astounding demonstrations. Fantastic Fliers: Follow in the steps of the Wright brothers - they weren t wrong to pursue their dreams of flying machines. Discover the fundamental principles of flight as you experiment with and create different designs that fly. Lights Color Action!: Uncover the hidden components in ordinary light observe demonstrations that blend colors to produce white light, and others that separate white light into colors. Experiment with prisms and diffraction lenses as you explore the color spectrum of various light sources. Sonic Sounds: Explore how sounds are created and transmitted. Hear church bells ring through your fingers and discover other ways household items can be used to create sound effects. You won t believe your ears! Tantalizing Taste: Develop a true taste for science! Take an up-close look at your taste buds, see how much sugar is used in our favorite beverages, and experiment with links between taste and smell. Modern Science Detective Science: Investigate the fundamentals of forensics and discover how science is used to solve real crimes! The case kicks off with a crime scene investigation. Examine fingerprints, mystery powders, ink samples, and teeth impressions. It s so much fun, it s criminal! Movie Effects: Movie effects is an exciting introduction to the science involved in the spectacular special effects and technology that are behind motion picture magic. Learn the science application in film making from the acoustics of Foley artist sound effects to the optics of 3-D technology. Science of Magic: Magic? No it s science! This class will leave you astounded, amazed and educated. Natural curiosity leads the way to the ultimate in inquiry-based learning as children as, How d they do that?!? Optical illusions, polymers, mirrors and misdirection are all part of the learning experience.

6 Space Age Space Technology: Explore spacerelated technologies used on Earth. Steer a laser beam through a laser maze, find hidden mountains using the principles of radar technology, and see the technological advances that improve our exploration of the universe. Atmosphere and Beyond: Join us as we venture out on a mission to uncover the properties of the air around us and explore the atmospheres of Earth and those of planets beyond. Accept the challenge to keep an Aquanaut dry during an underwater walk. Take part in a demonstration to discover how scientists find out about exoplanets. Space Travel: Launch into an investigation of propulsion systems. Use the compressed air inside balloons to create thrust - race a balloon rocket and design your own car engine. See the principles of propulsion at work in a real rocket launch liftoff. Living in Space: Set out on a mission to experience life in space! Investigate astronaut training, mobility, and life support. Form a ground control to space mission team to make space station repairs. Planets & Moons: Explore the farthest reaches of our solar system in a mad planetary tour that includes planets, moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets. Discover the planets relative sizes and distances from the sun. Create lunar and solar eclipses along the way. Space Phenomena: Explore the phenomenal events that take place in the night sky. Create impact craters and observe as meteors fall through a model atmosphere. Watch a comet form out of household materials right before your eyes. Sun & Stars: This stellar program is your ticket to the stars! Watch stardust burn, investigate the life cycle of stars, compare star sizes, and find out where we are in the Milky Way. Practice navigating by the stars so you don t get lost on your travels throughout the universe.

7 Secret Agent Lab Agent Undercover: Calling all agents, calling all agents! Get into gear with Agent Undercover and learn what it takes to be successful in the spy world. Lots of handson experience with tools of the trade including a spy bug! Crime Lab: Got clues? Analyze clues and get hot on the trail of a culprit with the Crime Lab program. Students will perform ph tests on a variety of liquids and conduct chromatography tests. Funky Forensics: Figure out the science of forensics in this hands-on look at crime scenes. Evidence collection and puzzle making will lead students to understand why forensic scientists like to understand the complete picture before they make decisions. Sleuths on the Scene: Suspects, schematics, and sleuths - on my! Connect the dots using science to help solve a crime in this hands-on investigation of the science of sleuthing. Students will use simulated blood to test for the characteristics of different blood types. Discover Detection: Step into the shoes of a detective -- uncover the science involved in evidence gathering and analysis. Students will create, collect, and analyze evidence and discover what skills are necessary to be a crime scene lab technician. Spy Academy: Look out the Mad Science Spy Academy is in session! From secret dead drops and decoding clues, students will have the opportunity to check out the skills that spies have in this handson journey into the world of espionage. Fibers, Flames, & Fingerprints: Are detectives really scientists in disguise? Students will hone their powers of observation as they examine properties of various fiber samples and fingerprints. Whodunit?: Want to know who did it? Test your skills and learn how the pros do it through careful observation and techniques to handle evidence properly. Students will examine and chart evidence to reveal the guilty suspect.