Homeschool Science Program
The 2011-2012 workshops have reached capacity, and we are unable to accept any other students at this time. We hope to see you for the 2012 - 2013 program!
CCMR's Educational Programs Office (EPO) and the Ithaca Sciencenter Museum have formed the Homeschool Science Program (HSP) partnership. This program, which presents materials science workshops, takes place at the Sciencenter in Ithaca, NY. The science workshops are hands-on and encourage students to explore how materials interact with each other. Workshops are led by Cornell faculty, post doctoral associates, graduate and undergraduate students.
The 2011 - 2012 program runs during the school year, select Thursdays of every month from 2:00pm - 3:00pm in the second floor classroom of the Sciencenter in Ithaca, NY. All programs are free to the homeschooling community and include free admission to the Sciencenter at the conclusion of the workshop. Due to the popularity of the program and the limited space registration is required. To reserve your spot in any of the upcoming activities contact us by email at outreach@ccmr.cornell.edu or by phone at (607) 255-9547. Please be sure to include the name and age of the participating child, name of the accompanying adult and either a contact email address or phone number.
Workshops are recommended for children ages 6-13. We ask that parents accompany and participate with their child(ren) so that it is a family learning experience.
Schedule of 2011 - 2012 workshops and topics:
- Novemeber 17, 2011: Polymers: Explore a variety of activities that demonstrate how polymers give rise to the incredible properties of plastics, including making silly putty, testing the strength of grocery bags, and creating a polymer-plaything with Shrinky-Dinks.
- December 15, 2011: Magnetic Mad Libs: Learn how hard drives work! This activity will review basic principles of magnetism and help you understand how digital electronics store information in binary. Then we'll act like hard drives by communicating messages with magnets.
- January 19, 2012: Microworld: Investigate the world on a smaller scale and see how objects can look a lot different when you view them closer up.
- February 16, 2012: Friction: Friction is a part of our everyday life. Nearly every movement we make involves friction, and we have instinctively learned to take advantage of friction, or the lack there of. Learn what friction is and how to decrease and increase it. Students will build a vehicle that uses friction to be the slowest, then use their vehicle in a "Tortoise Always Wins" race.
- March 15, 2012: States of Matter: Investigate how temperature affects states of matter in this delicious demonstration of liquid nitrogen ice cream
