Mechanical Marvels at the Science Mill this Spring Break!

Bring your family! Bring your friends! Guide robots through an obstacle course, and check our our tech spin on K’Nex. Let your imagination inspire new creations! Special Spring Break stations will include an mBot obstacle course, where up to four drivers at once will use iPads to drive their mBots through lots of twists and turns. We’ll also have joystick-controlled machines made of K’Nex. Once you’ve mastered operating those, you can try your hand at inventing and coding your own creation. Put your knowledge of physics and engineering to work, and see what your machine can do!

Special activities will run from 11:30am-2pm on the following dates:

•  Tuesday, March 12

• Wednesday, March 13

• Thursday, March 14

• Friday, March 15

• Tuesday, March 19

• Wednesday, March 20

• Thursday, March 21

• Friday, March 22

Don’t miss the brand new Aquaponics Greenhouse during your visit! Walk into a working aquaponics system to see how fish, plants and microbes work together to create healthy food. Discover fruit, vegetables and tropical plants in vertical growing tubes, floating rafts and a giant living wall. This unique ecosystem represents the technology, beauty, practicality and science for sustainable agriculture and healthy eating.

Make a customized avatar passport before you explore the Science Mill’s 50+ hands-on exhibits, and see a 3D movie, during our special Spring Beak hours!

Hours for both weeks (March 12-17 and March 19-24):

• 10am-5pm, Tuesday-Saturday

• Noon-5pm on Sunday

Additional Parking is available during Spring Break.

Careers in Environmental Science
We won’t have a society if we destroy the environment.  --Margaret Mead

Career Expert
11:00, 12:00, 1:00

 This month, Corey Batson, Executive Director of Urban Interface, joins us! He will share what it’s like to work with wildlife in educational and conservation settings, including his experience in wildlife rehabilitation and environmental interpretation.

Mr. Batson is also bringing a couple special guests: a great horned owl and a peregrine falcon! Together, we will examine how they interact with their handlers and the public for educational purposes.

The Urban Interface was founded in 2013 and is dedicated to providing continuing education and conservation of wildlife and nature.

Hands-on Activities

Stations run continuously from 11am-2pm

Urban Interface
Urban Interface will be here with birds of prey! You will get to meet friends like Valkyrie the Peregrine Falcon, Hermes the Great Horned Owl, and possibly a Swainsons Hawk or Red Tailed Hawk.

Bird Beak Buffet
Step up to the buffet table and choose a tool that representing a type of bird beak! See how much “food” you can collect in 20 seconds.  Is the “beak” you chose better suited for eating certain types of food?

Water Cycle Bracelet
Come play the Incredible Journey! You will be a drop of water and each roll of the dice shows where you are traveling in the water cycle (clouds, river, lake, plants, soil, ocean, groundwater, glacier, animals). As you travel this incredible journey through the water cycle, you will collect a colored bead at each location. String all of your beads together on twine to make a bracelet representing your personal journey through the water cycle!

Learning Labs and Pricing:
$5 for non-members
$4.50 for members
Learning Labs are included for STEM Scholars

Due to the popularity of Learning Labs, reservations are strongly encouraged. Space is limited! Email fieldtrips@sciencemill.org to reserve your child's spot.

 K-2 - Gettin’ Buggy With It, 10:30am, lasts 45 minutes: Come learn how scientists classify living things!  Observe and classify a set of specimen blocks in different ways. Then make your own classification criteria, sort your specimen blocks and graph your new data!

3-5 - Nature Sound Mapping, 11:30am, lasts one hour: Have you ever made a sound map? Join us as we venture into the LBJ Settlement to experience the nature all around us, and use our “fox” ears to really listen to the sounds that nature makes! Create your very own sound map as we immerse ourselves into the environment that surrounds us.

6-8 - GPS Scavenger Hunt, 1pm, lasts one hour: Come learn the basics of using a Garmin GPS to mark waypoints. Then explore nature at the LBJ Settlement as you participate in an environmental science scavenger hunt. Read clues, find your locations, and mark waypoints along the way as you learn about several different careers in this science field. Once you complete the scavenger hunt, use your GPS waypoints to make a map of your adventure and highlight nature you experienced along the way!

Check back soon for details on hands-on activities, special guest speakers and Learning Labs.