Kick off the Johnson City Wildflower Festival by joining a Q&A with Dennis Fagan at the Science Mill!
Earth is our home, and there’s a lot to learn about it! Guests will learn about fault lines, rocks, and water on this Homeschool Day! Activities include creating water filters, an improv game about geology, and more!
Can you hear that buzz? It’s Pollinator Palooza at the Science Mill!
Join us on April 26 & 27 to celebrate the incredible role of pollinators in our ecosystem. Dive into family-friendly hands-on activities, interactive exhibits, and unforgettable encounters that highlight why these pollinators are essential to our planet!
Spring is here, and it's the perfect time to unleash your creativity and curiosity at the Science Mill! Join us for Spring into STEAM, a vibrant, hands-on event where science, technology, engineering, art, and math collide. Explore our interactive exhibits and dive into exciting hands-on activities that blend the best of art and science.
The Human Body is a complex system, with many different functions and structures. Guests will create model knee braces and lungs, and faculty from UT Austin will lead different student workshops that explore blood coagulation!
Join us at the Science Mill for Engineering Weekend! Tinker, create, and think outside the box as they engage with exciting hands-on activities. With special guests ASCE on February 15.
Think outside the box and use your engineering skills to build and create unique items using only cardboard. This month's theme is Collaborative Cardboard City. Guests contribute to a growing cityscape by designing and constructing individual buildings, landmarks, or infrastructure out of cardboard. The city evolves throughout the weekend, showcasing creativity and teamwork.
Guests will explore different natural disasters, and the engineers that are responsible for designing and creating structures and tools that can help communities survive against them. Activities include building structures that can survive earthquakes, tsunamis, and landslides just to name a few!
To mark our 10-year milestone, we're rolling out something truly special with our friends, the Tinplate Trackers of Austin: a stunning display of model trains! Explore intricate, miniature landscapes, watch as these tiny trains zip around detailed tracks, and discover the science and engineering behind these mechanical marvels.
Bring your imagination and creativity to the Science Mill! Think outside the box and use your engineering skills to build and create unique items using only cardboard, all inspired by our monthly themes. This month's theme is Arctic Animals!
We are SNOW excited for this year’s Snow Day! Join us on Saturday, January 18th, 2025, as we sled into a flurry of fun science activities, including a snow pit with 28 tons of real snow, a mini sled derby, a snowball slingshot, the Fros-TEE Challenge, warm treats, and frosty science demonstrations. Bring your mittens, friends, family, and curiosity for a day full of wintery excitement!
Come tend to the Food Forest and Science & Art Park at the Science Mill on January 12 and 13 (Sun-Mon). Tasks include: cleaning the garden, pulling weeds, and having a good time!
Join us for a festive family workshop at the Science Mill! Get into the holiday spirit by crafting your very own LED ornament to brighten up the season. Enjoy holiday treats like popcorn with a variety of seasonal toppings, then relax with a cozy cup of hot cocoa and classic holiday movies in our theater!
Join us as we kick off this year's winter break with the Fast & Curious event! This month will be jam packed with hands-on STEM challenges, such as the No Hands Cup Stacking Challenge and building a Da Vinci bridge. Guests can catch daily STEM demonstrations, including elephant toothpaste, and even compete against our Science Mill staff in Breath Power Challenge.
Unlock the amazing world of 3D printing! Whether you're a beginner or an experienced designer, this three-session workshop is designed to grow with you. Each session is scaffolded to meet every learner’s level—from first-time users learning the basics, to those ready for more advanced techniques and custom creations.
Explore the relationship between science and art this Homeschool Day. Students will experiment with watercolors, conductive painting, and other art activities!
Watercolor & Rubbing Alcohol - Guests will experiment with watercolor and rubbing alcohol to create paintings that represent alcohol’s hydrophobic qualities
Corona Chalk Art - Guests will learn about the Sun’s atmosphere by creating chalk art that represents the Sun’s corona!
Ages 5-7: Salty Watercolors (10:30am - 11:00am) - Students will experiment with watercolor and salt to explore how salt absorbs water to create stunning masterpieces
Ages 8-10 (11:30am - 12:30pm) and 11-17 (1:00pm - 2:00pm): Egg Tempera Painting - Students will learn about the chemistry of paint and make their own science-themed still life paintings using egg tempera paints
Lorraine Zajac, children’s author and educator, will perform a reading of her book, “Logan’s 3D Printed Surprise.” She will then lead a Tinkercad design activity for students.
Unlock the amazing world of 3D printing! Whether you're a beginner or an experienced designer, this three-session workshop is designed to grow with you. Each session is scaffolded to meet every learner’s level—from first-time users learning the basics, to those ready for more advanced techniques and custom creations.
Enjoy live music from Here Comes Treble at the Science & Art Park at the Science Mill! Happening on December 8, 4:00pm - 5:00pm.
Unlock the amazing world of 3D printing! Whether you're a beginner or an experienced designer, this three-session workshop is designed to grow with you. Each session is scaffolded to meet every learner’s level—from first-time users learning the basics, to those ready for more advanced techniques and custom creations.
Dive into the depths of the ocean this Thanksgiving break at the Science Mill! Learn about bioluminescence, the science behind submarines, and the different ocean zones from November 23 to December 1.
The Johnson City Joules will be hosting monthly Robotics Days this fall at the Science Mill! Come by to experience special robotics activities and engage with FIRST Robotics competition teams from across central Texas and guest speakers in STEM careers.
Come join us for our first-ever Sips & STEM Adults-Only Workshop! Guests will learn about the different types of plant propagation and the proper techniques for propagating plants from our very own Science Mill horticulturist - all while enjoying a glass of wine!
Ships! Planes! Treasure chests! Oh my! This month's theme is Trash to Treasure. Create "treasures" that you might find at the bottom of the ocean...Using only cardboard!
Earth’s oceans are home to many unique ecosystems and creatures. Students and guests will explore deep sea vents, ocean currents, and sharks and squids!
Ocean Zone Explorers - Guests will go on a deep sea adventure and complete a scavenger hunt around the museum that takes them to the different zones of the ocean
Surfacing Submarines - Have you ever wondered how a submarine works? Guests can participate in our Surfacing Submarine activity, where they will experiment with and learn about mass, density, and chemical reactions through a hands-on activity. They will also explore how buoyancy affects a submarine's ability to ascend and descend.
Color Changing Squids - Guests will learn about how squids use chromatophores to change color by making a color-changing squid thaumatrope
Oil Spill Cleanup (Ages 5-7, 10:30am - 11:00am) - Students will learn about oil spills, how they affect the environment, and learn how to clean up oil spills using a common household ingredient
Blown Away (Ages 8-10, 11:30am - 12:30pm) - Students will create a model ocean ecosystem and explore how ocean currents affect these ecosystems
Deep Sea Vents (Ages 11-17, 1pm - 2pm) - Students will create model hydrothermal vents and investigate how the transfer of energy affects solids and liquids
Shark or Squid Dissections - Students will follow along with an instructor to dissect their own sharks (or squids)!
STEM Scholars and their families have the opportunity to spend an extra 45 minutes after each Homeschool Day with Science Mill staff, taking deeper dives into the STEM theme of the day along with a variety of STEM principles, STEM careers, and at-home STEM projects.
For this year’s STEM Scholar Project, participants will experience the process of designing a new exhibit for a science museum. From February to April 2025, scholars will conceptualize, plan, and create models of their ideas during STEM Scholar Hour, which they will then present during the last Homeschool Day of the year. Who knows, your kiddos may one day see their exhibits on the Science Mill museum floor!
The Johnson City Joules will be hosting monthly Robotics Days this fall at the Science Mill! Come by to experience special robotics activities and engage with FIRST Robotics competition teams from across central Texas and guest speakers in STEM careers.
Join us for a vibrant evening of great homegrown food, drink, and music at Illuminate, the Science Mill’s annual benefit. Let’s shine a light on the best of the Texas Hill Country as we come together to raise funds to support our future scientists. See you on October 26!
Do you want to experience taking care of a greenhouse AND helping a local nonprofit at the same time? 💚
Come tend to the Aquaponics Greenhouse at the Science Mill on Sunday, October 20!
The Johnson City Joules will be hosting monthly Robotics Days this fall at the Science Mill! Come by to experience special robotics activities and engage with FIRST Robotics competition teams from across central Texas and guest speakers in STEM careers.
Participants will search for Monarch butterflies in our Pollinator Garden areas and attempt to attach official Monarch Watch sticker tags. By doing this, we are helping to track Monarch butterfly migration across the continent! Join us to observe, describe, and marvel at the amazing Monarch butterfly!
Coders and Engineers are needed this Homeschool Day! Students and guests will create and program robots of all kinds, even human robots!
Cardboard Robots - At this station, guests will create their own robots out of cardboard and craft materials!
mBot Mini Golf - At this station, guests will control an mBot to navigate a mini golf course!
Code a Human Robot (Make a Lemonade) - Try to code a human robot to make a glass of lemonade. What seems like a simple task is complicated by the hilarious ways that robot language and thinking is different from our own. Can you translate commands into a form that robots can’t get wrong? Schedule: 11:00am and 12:30pm
Ages 5-7 Lab: Mr. Ozobot’s Neighborhood (10:30am - 11:30am) - Students will learn about inputs and outputs in regards to coding by drawing a neighborhood that an ozobot will drive through.
Ages 8-10 Lab: Spy Mission: Micro Chat (11:30am - 12:30pm) - Students will learn about inputs and outputs by coding a microbit to send messages to each other through radio transmission.
Ages 11-17 Lab: Micro Mission (1:00pm - 2:00pm) - Students will learn about inputs and outputs and computer hardware and software as they explore a tiny pocket sized computer or microcontroller called a Micro:Bit. They will explore the MakeCode Software and create their own programs for the Micro:Bit.
Get an up-close look at some seriously cool robots! Robotics team coach Bradley Gray will present the JC Joules competition robot and talk about complex systems and inputs and outputs. Then, scholars will join our Exhibits Coordinator George Clement to explore the Mars Rover exhibit and talk about exhibit design considerations for robotics.
The Johnson City Joules will be hosting monthly Robotics Days this fall at the Science Mill! Come by to experience special robotics activities and engage with FIRST Robotics competition teams from across central Texas and guest speakers in STEM careers.
Come celebrate Austin Museum Day at the Science Mill and enjoy FREE ADMISSION!
Do you love plants and helping your community? 💚
Come garden with us at the Science Mill this September 22-23! We’ll be tending to the Food Forest and Pollinator Garden.
