Toy Factory: Surprise!

Career Connection: Industrial Engineer, Packaging Designer

You’ve discovered that you’ve inherited your secretive neighbor’s toy business! The problem? You have a major order due in 20 minutes! Can you assemble and code the components needed to make it to market in time?

Unmake It

Career Connection: Product Designer, Machinist

Sometimes the best way to learn about technology is to take it apart. We will disassemble a simple consumer machine, investigate how it works, and then try to recreate it in different electronics!

Invasive Art

Career Connection: Conservation Specialist, Botanist

In this two-part activity, we’ll take a closer look at specimens of invasive plants and learn why they harm our local ecosystems. We’ll talk about how we can fix it, then use the plant specimens to make art using sunlight. Take home a conversation piece that spreads the word about invasive plants (and not the seeds!).

Animal Encounter

Career Connection: Wildlife Biologist

Meet the animal ambassadors of Da Vinci Science Center! During this interactive presentation, students will have the unique opportunity to meet two of our education animals up close and learn about their habitats, adaptations, behaviors, and the importance of conservation. Learn about and practice research techniques that wildlife biologists use to study and conserve wildlife populations.

This interaction is more than just an animal encounter—it’s an educational experience that fosters empathy, curiosity, and a deeper appreciation for the natural world.

Newton Cars

Career Connection: Physicist; Aerodynamics Engineer

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Test Newton’s Third Law with these unusual tabletop vehicles. We’ll experiment with vehicle body shapes and extensions to see how they affect motion.

Paper Circuits

Career Connection: Electrical Engineer, Lighting Designer

Learn how to make a circuit on paper to light an LED bulb, then incorporate the light into a piece of 2D or 3D paper art! (Bonus points for multiple bulbs on a single battery!)

Be an Athletic Trainer

Career Connection: Physical Therapist, Orthopedic Surgeon

Athletes ask a lot from their bodies, and they need special care to perform (and recover) at a peak level. Create an exercise plan for members of a soccer team, and design and test a stabilization device for a broken bone!

Note: This program was designed by the Franklin Institute through the GSK Science in the Summer Program

Virus Modeling

Career Connection: Epidemiologist, Pharmaceutical Chemist

Learn how researchers create and use models of viruses to better understand their structures, how they infect humans, and how we might develop the antivirals to stop them before they make us sick. Students will build model viruses and determine their infection rates by literally throwing them. This workshop makes infectious disease research easy to understand and is, honestly, a lot of fun.