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Field Trip Add-ons
There’s a hands-on lab for nearly every subject and learner! Scroll through for full descriptions and supporting content. Hands-on lab programs are available Tuesday through Friday from Sept. 5, 2024, through June 6, 2025.
45 Minute Hands-on Labs
These lab programs are free to all school groups and take place in specific exhibits. Reservations are strongly encouraged. Minimum of 10 students required to reserve an Innovation Lab.
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Social Robots
Grades: 1+
Junior robotics engineers work as a team to “debug” a non-functioning robot and create an algorithm to help others with troubleshooting.
Duration: 45 minutes
Maximum capacity: 16 students
Location: Social Robots (Lower Level)Social Robots Lab
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Sustainable Cities
Grades: 4+
Student engineers work in teams to design and test their own approach to creating a sustainable city.
Duration: 45 minutes
Maximum capacity: 20 students
Location: Solve For Earth (Lower Level)Sustainable Cities is presented by Ford. This lab has been made possible in part by a grant from Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Donor Circle for the Environment.
Sustainable Cities Lab
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Bridgetopia
Grades: 3+
New for 2024-2025!
Student engineers work in teams to design and build a transportable bridge to cross the divide between islands.
Duration: 45 minutes
Maximum capacity: 16 students
Location: The Tech Studio
60 Minute Science Labs
These lab programs are fee-based and take place in designated classroom spaces. Please see pricing options at the bottom of this page. Minimum of 16 students required to reserve a Science Lab.
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Chemistry of Plastination
Grades 8-12
More than just anatomy, Body Worlds Decoded is also a display of advanced chemical processes. Students investigate and experiment with some of the chemistry behind the preservation process of Body Worlds.
Lab Guide
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Make it Matter
Grade 2 only
Play with the building blocks of the universe: matter! Students explore and experiment with the properties of matter using everyday chemicals and compounds.
Lab Guide
90 Minute Science Labs
These lab programs are fee-based and take place in designated classroom spaces. Please see pricing options at the bottom of this page. Minimum of 16 students required to reserve a Science Lab.
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Advanced Physics of Roller Coasters
Grades 9-12
Calculate the thrills and excitement of your own roller coaster prototypes! Students build their prototypes, then determine the kinetic and potential energy of their designs.
Lab Guide
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Advanced Down the Drain
Grades 8-12
Students will become civil engineers and environmental technicians working to protect our waterways by designing different types of storm drain grates to keep trash out of the Bay’s watershed. Students discover how water systems function and how to use science and their own ideas to protect Earth’s natural resources.
Lab Guide
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Chemicals of Innovation
Grades 5-8
Investigate chemical properties and bring the periodic table to life. Students experiment with chemical reactions and explore real-life applications and innovations featuring the elements of life.
Lab Guide
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DNA and Genetics
Grades 6-12
Investigate the wonders of DNA and genetics. Students extract their own DNA, examine their own cells, and discover some of their own hidden genetic traits.
This lab was created in partnership with the Stanford Department of Genetics.
Lab Guide
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Down the Drain
Grades 3-8
Design and construct different types of storm drain grates to keep trash out of the Bay’s watershed from San Jose to the Pacific Ocean. Students discover how water systems function and how to use science and their own ideas to protect Earth’s natural resources.
Lab Guide
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Engineering for Earthquakes
Grades 4-8
Construct seismically sound structures to survive “The Big One.” Students work as teams to practice structural design and the engineering process as they learn about one of California’s greatest natural threats: earthquakes.
Lab Guide
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Physics of Roller Coasters
Grades 2-8
Discover the science and engineering behind thrill rides! Students explore kinetic and potential energy, friction and the engineering process by designing and prototyping their own roller coasters.
Lab Guide
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Simplicity of Electricity
Grades 4-8
Explore properties of static and current electricity with everyday objects. Students investigate conductors and insulators as they tinker with electricity through the creation of circuits.
Lab Guide
Educational IMAX Films
One education IMAX film is included with general admission.
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“T. REX”
For over a hundred years dinosaurs have inspired and thrilled audiences, commanding blockbuster status in museums and at the box office. But among them towers a king — a tyrant lizard king. With leaps in CGI wizardry and revolutions in tyrannosaur paleontology over the past twenty-five years, the time has come to revisit rex in the world’s prestigious museum cinemas.
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“Cities of the Future”
Cities of the Future invites you to step into the future and discover the exciting innovations engineers are working on right now to help meet the challenges of a changing world.
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“Jane Goodall’s Reasons for Hope”
Drawing on decades of work by the world’s most famous living ethologist and environmentalist, Jane Goodall-Reasons for Hope, is an uplifting journey around the globe to highlight good news stories that will inspire people to make a difference in the world around them.
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“Deep Sky”
Where did we come from? How did the universe begin? Are we alone? 13 billion years in the making, Deep Sky reveals the universe as we have never seen it before; immersing audiences in the stunning pictures beamed back to earth by NASA’s new Webb telescope — and capturing their vast beauty at a scale that can only be experienced on the giant IMAX screen.
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“Fungi: The Web of Life”
Much of life on Earth is connected by a vast, hidden network that we are only just beginning to understand. Out of sight, between the world of plants and animals, another world exists — the kingdom of fungi.
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“Dinosaurs of Antarctica”
Journey to the south polar landscapes of Antarctica hundreds of millions of years ago. Join Antarctic scientists on a quest to understand the ice continent's profound transformation, and predict the future as humans drive dramatic change.
Pricing for Field Trip Add-ons
Title I Schools*
IMAX educational film: $6 per student, $6 per chaperone, $6 IMAX Snack Pack**
60-90 Minute Science Lab programs: $240 per class; minimum of 16 and maximum of 32 students required. Price includes admission. **Science Labs are half-off in September, October, and January!
45 Minute Hands-on Lab programs: Free with admission; minimum of 10 students required. Check lab title for maximum capacity.
Non-Title I Schools
IMAX educational film: $10 per student, $6 per chaperone, $6 IMAX Snack Pack**
60-90 Minute Science Labs: $475 per class; minimum of 16 and maximum of 32 students required. Price includes admission. **Science Labs are half-off in September, October, and January!
45 Minute Hands-on Labs: Free with admission; minimum of 10 students required. Check lab title for maximum capacity.
Finished Planning Your Field Trip?
60 and 90 minute Science Labs are offered at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on school field trip operating days from Sept. 5, 2024 - June 6, 2025. 45 minute Hands-on Labs are offered on the hour from 10 am to 12 pm on school field trip operating days.
*If 40% or more of the students in your program meet the federal guidelines for free or reduced-price lunch, your program is eligible for this subsidy.
A $50 deposit is required per lab at the time of booking. This deposit will be applied toward your total cost of labs and/or admission.
Canceling a lab within three weeks of the scheduled date will result in forfeiture of your deposit, unless cancelation was due to a public health directive.
To reserve a lab program, please indicate your interest on our Request a Field Trip form. When a Group Reservations specialist calls to schedule your trip, they will guide you through the booking process.
Standards Connections
All of our labs support Next Generation Science Standards. Details on connections to grade-level standards:
What Lab for What Grade? (PDF)
Second Grade Standards Connections (PDF)
Third Grade Standards Connections (PDF)
Fourth Grade Standards Connections (PDF)
Fifth Grade Standards Connections (PDF)
Middle School Standards Connections (Grades 6-8) (PDF)
High School Standards Connections (Grades 9-12) (PDF)