Exploralab Hardback - 2013

For more than thirty years, kids have loved visiting the Exploratorium, and for good reason: Its hands-on science explorations are incredibly funâÈ'and educational to boot. Now all the action is captured in Exploralab, a book that reinvents the museumâÈçs exhibits and activities to teach readers about the scientific wonder all around them.

Exploralab opens the way every day does: With the instant we open our eyes. It then treats this moment as a âÈêlaboratory,âÈë offering fascinating, fun activities that explore the forces at work around usâÈ'the science behind the sunlight that hits our eyelids, for instance, or the sound of the alarm clock that rouses us from slumber. Readers then embark on a journey through a typical day in the life of most kidsâÈ'from walking down the sidewalk to riding the bus, from sitting in class to hanging out in the parkâÈ'all while encountering and engaging many scientific principles along the way.

But thatâÈçs not all: Most of the bookâÈçs âÈêlaboratoriesâÈë contain special gizmosâÈ'such as mirrored inserts, spinning discs, polarized filters, and moreâÈ'that help readers play with optics, physics, chemistry, earth science, astronomy, social behavior, and more. And a removable magnifying glass on the cover empowers kids with a tool of discovery that they can use inside the book and out.

Table of Contents
Prelims
Introduction
How to Use This Book
Pack A Portable Lab
Document Your Discoveries
About the Museum
Lab # 01: Open Your Eyes
Sunrise in Your Eyes
Clock Take-apart
Ghosts Get in Your Eyes
The SandmanâÈçs Presents
Morning Monster Breath
Phantasgamoric Phosphenes
Throw a Yawn Party
Lend Your Ears a Hand
Squawk, Chirp, Tweet, Croak!
Lab # 02: WhoâÈçs That in the Mirror?
How Do You Look to Other People?
The Kid with Kaleidoscope Eyes
The Goo Inside You
The Goo That Makes You You
The Best Disguise Ever
Conjuring with Combs
Why Does the Floor Feel Cold When the Towel Feels Warm?
Static Magic
The Scoop on Poop
The Asparagus Aroma
Which Way Do the Toilets Go?
Birds Do It, Bees Do ItâÈö
Bubble-o-Rama
Behemoth Bubbles
Hair Dryer Gravity Defier
Lab # 03: Time for Pants
Tactile
Ants in Your Pants
Harmonies in Your Head
The Tiny Pants Challenge!
Dance with Your Sweater
Lab # 04: Eat Your Breakfast
The Juice-Tasting Challenge
Got a Genius Tongue?
Slice a Straw with Water
The Big Eggshell Breakdown
Fruit Salad Surprise
Color Drops Derby
Spin Your Teacup
Lab # 05: The Street Underneath Your Feet
Walk in the Shadows
The Rad Shadow Sketch
ThatâÈçs the Way the Sidewalk Crumbles
Science Meets Art: Andy Goldsworthy
Race along on Square Wheels
Create a Stride Ruler
The Colossal Cookie-Tin Race
Lab # 06: Classroom Hijinx
The Dizzying Desk Chair Demo
Stack It Up
Chop Up Your Memories
Secret Agent Kid
Make a Fake Memory
Shake Up a Sentence Salad
Modern Memory Devices
Twist Your Brain with a Mobius Band
Little Paper, Great Big You
The Exponential Paper Fold
Math, Math Everywhere
Lab # 07: Recess Fun with Friends
Bounce a Water Balloon
The Pendulum Swing
Drop It!
As Heavy as Air
ItâÈçs All at Your Fingertips
Put on Your Game Pace
Check Your Balance
WhatâÈçs in a Baseball?
Pitch a Polar Baseball
Play Pirate Ball
Lab # 08: Gaze Out the Window
Phenomenal Polarized Phun
Spin Your Sunglasses
Chase the Sun
Warp Light with Water
ThatâÈçs Just the Way It Flows
Itty-Bitty Lightning Bolts
Make the Thunder Roar
Create a Cloud Chamber
Mini Grid of Clouds
Where Does the Wind Go?
Guess the WindâÈçs Speed
Bottle a Whirlpool
Lab # 09: That Big Patch of Grass
Tear Up a Tulip
Get the Dirt on Dirt
Loop-the-Loop with a Hoopster
Spot Curious Specks in the Sky
The Size-and-Distance Illusion
Why the Ants Go Marching
How Cute Is That?
Science Meets Art: Nina Katchadourian
Buzz Like a Bee
Arith-Ma-Stick
A Bazillion Blades of Grass
Lab # 10: Riding Downtown
Phenakistoscope & Persistence of Vision
Marvelous Mysterious Motionmobiles
The Road Barf Remedy
Gears experiment with tin cans
Build a Tiny Skyline
The Slinky Shake Quake
Transparent and Reflective
Craft a Catenary Arch
ScreaminâÈç Sirens
Crosswalk Your Eyes
Chase Color in the Gutter
Scramble the Skyline
Many, Many Maps
Lab # 11: Take a Walk by the Lake
Why WaterâÈçs Wet
How Waves Behave
Where Did Water Come From?
The Waterfall Effect
Try a Tide Spinner
Tiptoe through the Tide Pools
Is the Coast Clear?
The Bug ReporterâÈçs Notebook
Lab # 12: Time With Friends
Three-Do It!
The Three Little Pig(ments)
The Coin Conundrum
Draw Your Own Illusions
The Optical Oddity Race
Make a Miniature Roller Coaster
Tear Down Your Toys!
The Rodobug
Lab # 13: Dinnertime/Family
Bake Fake Cupcakes
Size It Up
Stand on Your Head in a Spoon
Wok Talk
Bottle Boogie
Your Dear Old Mum
Cooking Science
Scrape Up a Scrap Garden
Incredible Edible Bugs
Feed Me!
What Lurks Behind the Can?
Lab #14: Nightsky
The Lightbulb Puzzle
The Six-Legged Thermometer
Glimpse the Green Flash
Hunt Down the Full Moon
Play Lunar Ping-Pong
The Man (or the Frog or the Crab?) in the Moon
Ninja Vision
Chart Your Course to the Stars
Spy on Satellites
Trick Out a Telescope
Rig a Rocketship
That Jerk Keeping You Awake
Midnight Rambles and Babbles
Sleep Yourself Smart
Snoring for Survival