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HomeWorkshop: Junior Scientists

2025-2026 After School Junior Scientists 1-3

For students who love science in grades 1 through 3, the After School Junior Scientist workshops are fun and educational enrichment activities.  Space is limited. We will accept approximately 6 students in each 3-week session. We also have After School Workshops for older students.

+ Register for any of these Wednesday sessions, 4:00-5:15 pm.
#1 Sep 3, 10, 17#2 Sep 24, Oct 1, 8#3 Oct 15, 22, 29.
#4 Nov 5, 12, 19
#5 Dec 3, 10, 17#6 Jan 7, 14, 21.
#7 Jan 28, Feb 4, 11
#8 Feb 25, Mar 4, 11#9 Mar 18, 25, Apr 1.
#10 Apr 8, 15, 29
#11 May 6, 13, 20#12 May 27, Jun 3, 10

+ We will choose one STEM activity from the list below for each session, depending on supplies, weather, and other variables.  Activities will be an exploration of STEM topics that will introduce students to new concepts and challenge them to think and learn.

 

+ The lead instructor has been a teacher for 46 years and has taught math, algebra, Latin, English, chemistry, astronomy, earth science, electronics, coding, woodworking, graphic design, photography, amateur radio. Adult instructors go through CORI/SORI verification.

 

+ Parents are welcome to stay during the workshop to assist their own children, or to hang out in another room. WIFI access and a ready supply of coffee, tea, and snacks is available.


Please schedule a tour and interview before registering. We want to be sure there is a good match with your child's interests and temperament to the program. This is not a program for children who need extra supervision or behavioral correction. Sign up for one of our regular open houses. We want you and your child to be comfortable with our facility and program.


NOTICE:

For safety and proper supervision, NO OTHER CHILDREN may be in the facility except those registered and participating in the classes.


For proper planning of lessons and allocating materials, please register and pay at least 3 days before the first class of a session starts, or call to inquire about late registration. No, we do not take walk-ins.



In addition to registering for this workshop, please fill out the Student Permissions Form. PLEASE DO THIS.

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Junior Scientist Workshop - Themes and Topics

 

RADIO - Exploring Radio Waves – talk through portable radios, understanding the speed of light and astronomical distances.

RADIO - Exploring Communications – how Morse Code works, how to send by light or sound. Make a portable Morse Code keyer.

RADIO - Learn about Amateur Radio – how people communicate through radio, how waves travel, how radio works.

SPACE - Exploring Rocketry – building air-powered paper rockets, launching them outside and learning about propulsion and physics.

SPACE - Exploring Earth-Sun Motion – solar system, apparent motion vs. real motion, how we get day/night. Make a portable sun dial.

SPACE - Exploring Star Patterns – constellations and how they got their names, mythology vs science. Design your own constellation and myth.

SPACE - Exploring Meteorites – rocks from space, experiment with them to see what they’re made of. Hold a rock from the moon.

SPACE - Exploring The Solar System – scale modeling, size-distance, names and order of the planets, rocky vs gaseous. Make a scale model.

SPACE - Exploring Telescopes – refractor vs. reflector, how does light travel? Watch planetarium show about photons and the human eye.

ENERGY - Exploring Temperature – motion of molecules, what is heat, what is cold, phases of matter. Experiment with Liquid Nitrogen.

ENERGY - Exploring Temperature - Endothermic and Exothermic reactions. Conduction and Insulation. Make an Ice Pack.

ENERGY - Exploring Energy - What is hotter, red star or blue star? Yellow flame or Blue flame? Make a ... (TBD)

LIGHT - Exploring Light and Color – understanding the visible spectrum, refraction, and color. Make a kaleidoscope.

LIGHT - Exploring Mirrors and Lenses – learning how light reflects and refracts, how microscopes and telescopes work. Make a periscope.

LIGHT - Exploring Spectroscopy - learning about the colors of the rainbow, spectra, diffraction, and prisms. Make a spectroscope.


CHEMISTRY - Exploring Atoms and Molecules – what things are made of, reactions, compounds. Make molecules of H2O, CO2, and O2.

CHEMISTRY -
Exploring Chemistry – chemical reaction of baking soda and vinegar. Make exploding baggies and mini soda rockets.

CHEMISTRY - Exploring Oobleck – experiment with a non-newtonian fluid (cornstarch & water), make it come alive with sound, take some home.

ELECTRICITY - Exploring Static Electricity – explore +/- charges, make static using balloons and friction, use a Van de Graff generator.

ELECTRICITY - Exploring Electricity and Magnetism – create an electromagnet and lemon battery, understanding electromagnetism.

ELECTRICITY - Exploring Electric Circuits – understanding current electricity, voltage, LEDs, and resistance. Make an LED nightlight.

ATMOSPHERE - Exploring Air Pressure – atmospheric pressure, suction cups and hovering beach balls, Bernoulli principle, and more.

ATMOSPHERE - Exploring Tornadoes – how tornadoes form, air vs. water, tornadoes on other planets. Make a tornado with bottles and tornado tube.

ATMOSPHERE - Exploring Weather – how winds travel in the atmosphere, how rain and snow forms, make clouds in a bottle.

PHYSICS - Exploring Physics of Collisions – how to land a rover on Mars, or drop a rover with an egg from 3 stories up and have it survive.

PHYSICS - Exploring Friction – concept of aerodynamics with vehicles, friction of moving air and tires. Build a pinewood race car.

PHYSICS - Exploring Geometry – shapes and angles, identifying regular polygons, angles of reflection. Play a billiards game and practice angles.

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