Do you have a curious child?
Keep them engaged with our Citizen Science Summer! Each month we will feature a different Citizen Science project that your family can explore together. Follow along with us on social media as we delve into interesting articles, play games, offer at home activities and more. Or, come into the Lab to participate in some hands-on experiments related to each topic!
June – Have you heard the Buzz? The Brood X Cicadas are here! Download the Cicada Safari app for your phone and follow along with us as we offer activities, games, and ways to explore all things Cicada!
July – Open Oceans - Our oceans and waterways are some of our most valuable resources. Download the Marine Debris Tracker and make a difference! Track debris anywhere in the country, then record it in the app. Throughout the month, we will be highlighting other ways to protect our oceans, with lots of ways to get your family involved!
August – Things are getting hot! Learn all about the sun in Solar Science. This app has you participating in heat mapping which has a significant effect on our world. DIY a sundial, learn about using solar energy and more in our month dedicated to the sun.
Join us as we become Citizen Scientists with the Cicadasafari.org app. Use your smartphone to map the fascinating Brood X cicadas that have arrived.
Learn cool facts and submit pictures too. In addition, follow along with us on social media for our events and activities:
Friday, June 4 - Look for our One Page at home activity all about bugs.
Monday, June 7 - Facebook Live Budding Bookworm Author reading of Cicadas Don't Bug Me.
Friday June 18 - Facebook Live Cicada Activity with our STEM Educators Starting.
Starting Monday, June 19 - Our Lab is back and open to the public on weekends. Come see our own creepy crawlies" because you can relate scorpion, cockroaches, and tarantula to cicadas. There will also be cicada and other bug samples in the Tinker Shop as part of the build a bug activity to see their body parts up close.
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Join us for a month of Open Oceans! We will highlight resources to learn more about how to conserve and protect our waterways and the creatures within them. Get out and get practical with the Marine Debris Tacker App and join us for Shark Week! Follow along with us on Social Media and come to the Lab for one of our Weekend times to explore!
July 6 – Look for our One-Pager Activity all about the ocean
July 16 – Join us for a Facebook Live event
July 20 – Join us for a Facebook Live event
July 19 – 25 – Celebrate Shark Week with us at the Children’s Science Center and take home shark teeth! (1 per child visitor 12 and under while supplies last)
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Our final Citizen Scientist App is Heat Mapping. Extreme heat creates a ripple effect in how we go about our daily lives. It impacts agriculture, infrastructure, and most importantly, health! Working with scientists, communities can gather data to pull together Heat Maps.
These maps can then be used to educate citizens and help direct research toward effective solutions.
Follow along with us on Social Media and come to the Lab for one of our Weekend times to explore!
August 13 - 10am - Facebook Live! Explore Glow Slime with our STEM educators
August 17 - 10am - Facebook Live! Meet Malfoy, our Asian forest scorpion that glows under UV lights!
If your school conducts a science fair give your students a chance to practice! Students from Kindergarten through 12th grade are invited to take part in a “Mock Science Fair” at the Children’s Science Center Lab!
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Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day with special activities and STEM exploration.
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Join Joann and Carly for an hour of tips, suggestions, and resources as we brave the new world of virtual learning together! Our seasoned educators will teach you ways to help your elementary student(s) navigate the social and emotional components of online learning as well as organizational and time management skills for a successful start to the school year.
Learn MoreLearn ways to help your elementary student(s) navigate the social and emotional components of online learning as well as organizational and time management skills for a successful start to the school year.
Learn MoreLearn ways to help your elementary student(s) navigate the social and emotional components of online learning as well as organizational and time management skills for a successful start to the school year.
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Want to put some FUN back into Mondays? Join us on Indigenous Peoples’ Day as we explore inventions and creations and build some of your own, too!
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Celebrate one of our favorite times of the year! Although the Haunted Lab is temporarily closed, you can still join us for our virtual LIVE Spooky Science Show!
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Registration is FREE for this Monday School Holiday Program, designed for students K - 5th. Space is limited.
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Get into the holiday STEM spirit and explore the world of 3D design to create your very own cookie cutter!
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Start your weekend by staying in your Pajamas, grab a cup of hot cocoa, and join us for some COOL science!
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Zoom into the New Year with the kids during our Noon Year's Eve Celebration! Our team will meet you in a secured Zoom party room to make a celebratory confetti popper, engage in science demonstrations, count down to 12 o'clock - noon and ring in the New Year with a BANG! Toast in 2021 with your child's favorite beverage of choice and the Children Science Center!
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This 2 hour event will explore the science inside the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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2 hour engaging Virtual event that explores ectothermic animals and their adaptations.
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Join us as WUSA9 Chief Meteorologist Topper Shutt returns for our annual Winter Weather Workshop!
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Celebrate Valentine’s Day by getting up close and personal to dissect an animal heart! Learn all about the heart and how it works to pump blood throughout your body by witnessing a virtual dissection of a preserved animal heart.
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This 45 minute interactive Animal Encounter allows you to meet some of our reptile Animal Ambassadors.
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Look at famous vaccines in history and explore the science behind how viruses replicate DNA.
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Crash, bang, boom! What makes a clock tick? Or a volcano explode? Come find out and put the FUN back into Mondays with Monday Funday! Enjoy the day off from school by exploring the Amazing World of Chain Reactions!
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Put the fun back into Mondays! Join us for a day of creative creations – all online!
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Earth Day is right around the corner, and what better way to celebrate it than the Children Science Center’s Earth Day Extravaganza! Join us for an exciting virtual opportunity on April 18th to have a blast while learning about the Earth!
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May Day! May Day! Calling all coders! We need YOUR help to design a robot to help save the world! Have the whole family join us for an hour of hands-on robotics fun on Science Saturday!
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Chemicals, color changes, bubbles, oh my! Have the whole family join us for an hour of hands-on chemistry fun on Science Saturday!
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Author read Budding Bookworm on Facebook Live
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Join us as we create a model that demonstrates the effects of an aquatic rich environment.
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The Lab is open to the public this Friday, September 3 - Monday, September 6, for 2 hour timed-entries.
Learn MoreThe Lab is open to the public this Saturday, September 4 - Monday, September 6, for 2 hour timed-entries.
Learn MoreThe Lab is open to the public this Friday, September 3 - Monday, September 6, for 2 hour timed-entries.
Learn MoreThe Lab is open to the public this Friday, September 3 - Monday, September 6, for 2 hour timed-entries.
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Save the Date! Bring the family for a not-so-spooky evening at our Haunted Lab! With STEM fun, games and costumes prizes, it is sure to be a fantastic time! Tickets will be available to purchase shortly.
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Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that operates the Children's Science Center Lab at Fair Oaks Mall and STEM programs traveling to schools and other community venues across the region. The Foundation is also developing the Northern Virginia Science Center in Dulles, VA, a world-class, interactive regional science center for families, students and learners of all ages made possible through a pivotal public-private partnership. Learn more about our mission today at childsci.org and our vision for the future at novasci.org.
