This Homeschool Day, 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!
SPECIAL ACTIVITIES
Mini Landslide - Guests will take on the role of engineers to explore how different materials—such as sand, gravel, and lava rock—affect the severity of landslides.
Tower of Power - Guests will work in teams to test their creative problem solving abilities to see how many different towers they can construct using only 6 cups and NO hands.
Tinker Thinkers - Guests will become engineers and create inventions using household items and craft materials inspired by the book Mazie’s Amazing Machines.
LEARNING LABS
(Ages 5-7, 10:30am - 11:00am) Raise the Roof: Students will create a home that can withstand high winds.
(Ages 8-10, 11:30am - 12:30pm) Survive that Tsunami!: Students will play an interactive tsunami simulator and then create a physical model of a coastline village that can survive a tsunami.
(Ages 11-17, 1:00pm - 2:00pm) It’s Groundbreaking: Students will play an interactive simulator and then create a structure that can survive an earthquake.
STEM SCHOLAR HOUR (2:30PM - 3:30PM)
Students will brainstorm a new exhibit design for the Science Mill to pitch in April as part of the annual STEM Scholar Project.
STEM Scholars 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!