Virtual Youth Programming

Online Industrial Story Time

All story times will be streamed via Facebook Live on the museum’s Facebook page.

Previous
Night Train
Where do Steam Trains Sleep at Night?
Alphabet Trucks
I Knew You Could
Pete the Cat and the Super Cool Science Fair

Quotes and Quests

NMIH has partnered with our friends at Bethlehem Area Public Library for ‘Quotes and Quests,’ a youth activity series. These programs are geared towards kids grades 5-8, feature quotes from prominent historical figures, and send kids on a journey to learn something new about industry, science, technology, engineering, or math.

Activity 1 
We will always have STEM with us. Some things will drop out of the public eye and will go away, but there will always be science, engineering and technology, and mathematics. Everything is physics and math.
– Katherine Johnson

Research Activity: Learn more about S.T.E.M. through this video – STEM: What it is and why it’s important?

Action Activity: Go to Code.com and select a project that is age and ability appropriate for you.

Share: How do you see your experience with S.T.E.M. activities preparing you for your future? What aspect is your favorite aspect science, technology, engineering or math? Drop a note on our Facebook feed and let us know!

Activity 2 

“It’s all up to us. Remember, there were people who said the airplane couldn’t fly.” – Grace Murray Hopper, mathematician, computer technology inventor, 1906-1992

Research Activity: Research how the modern day airplane was invented. Who were the inventors involved and how did they iterate and test their inventions?

Action Activity: Make the ultimate paper airplane.  Design a test list to measure the quality of each design. How fast did it fly? How far did it fly? Which one was in the air the longest? You must decide what stats are most important to make it your ultimate flying machine!

If you need some inspiration you can check out some designs and stats here: https://www.origamiway.com/paper-airplane-designs.shtml

Comment to Share: Share your ultimate paper airplane and its stats our Facebook feed for a chance to win a free family membership to NMIH!

Activity 3 

Everybody who’s a physician, who makes vaccines, who wants to find the cure for cancer. Everybody who wants to do any medical good for humankind got the passion for that before he or she was 10. – Bill Nye

Action Activity: Discover what your passion is and how you want to pursue it in the future. Take this aptitude test and see what the results are to get you started: https://www.ucango2.org/publications/student/Career_Interest_Survey.pdf and/or brainstorm a list of things you like to do, ideas you’re passionate about, ways you spend your free time, etc. Once the list is complete see if you can connect any possible careers to the items on your list. 

Research Activity: What was the result of your survey?  What training will you need?  How can you start your path towards your goal right now?

Comment to Share: Tell us what your passion for the future is!

Activity 4
“Some people say that we should study to become climate scientists so that we can “solve the climate crisis” But the climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions. All we need to do is to wake up and change.” –Greta Thunberg

Research Activity:
Watch a video to learn more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtW2rrLHs08Climate Change 101 with Bill Nye

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdiA12KeSL0 – The Best Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Action Activity: How can you make a difference?  Join a local environmental group and/or contact your local representative by email or phone and state your concerns.  Write a letter to a government official about your concerns.  Make a plan of how to improve your (your family’s) carbon footprint and implement it for daily use.

Comment to Share: Share with us what action you took in the comments on our Facebook page!

Activity 5
“Bicycling has done more to emancipate the woman than any one thing in the world…It gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat; and away she goes, the picture of untrammeled womanhood.” – Susan B. Anthony, suffragist 1820-1906

Action Activity: Take advantage of the invention of the bicycle. Go outside and enjoy some fresh on a family bike ride (or anything else with wheels)!

Research Activity: Did you know the wheel is considered the first invention that revolutionized history? Take a look at other inventions that revolutionized history in this list https://interestingengineering.com/19-great-inventions-that-revolutionized-history or research how the wheel changed and evolved through time to create the bicycle wheel.

Comment to Share: Share a picture of you and your wheeled invention of choice!

Activity 6 

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”  –Nikola Tesla

Action Activity: Do a resonance experiment from our friends at the Exploratorium: https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/tag/resonance to explore the concepts of frequency and vibration. 

Research Activity: Research Nikola Tesla and find out why his name was used for the Tesla electrical car.

Comment to Share: Share a picture of your resonance experiment!

 

Activity 7
Codes are a puzzle. A game, just like any other game.” -Alan Turing, mathematician, computer scientist

Action Activity: Design a game with a set of rules. It can be an active sport game, obstacle course, puzzle, board game, etc. Teach your game to someone else and play it together!

Research Activity: Research how Alan Turing was involved in World War II.

Comment to Share: Share a picture of you and a friend playing your new game!

Virtual TinkerTime

Join NMIH and PBS39 for an interactive, live virtual TinkerTime program! These programs are designed to engage kids from Kindergarten through 4th grade and feature a live-streamed program with an educator.  Activities take approximately 30 minutes and the program streams live on NMIH’s Facebook Page.

Previous Virtual TinkerTime Recordings

Kitchen Skyscrapers
The bite-sized version of the world’s tallest architecture. Turn kitchen staples into magnificent skyscrapers. The suggested materials for this activity are marshmallows and spaghetti but other kitchen items with similar qualities will also work.

Tube Town
Calling all budding architects! Let’s create a city out of items from our recycling bin. Follow along to get some inspiration and then create your own to share later.

Wacky Weaves
Turn scrap paper into wonderful weaves as we look at the ins and outs of patterns. You will need one piece of thin cardboard (it can be an piece of an empty box from the recycling bin), scissors, and scrap pieces of colorful paper. Watch the process live and then try your own design to share!

Air Croquet
Turn empty bottles and caps into hours of fun while learning about air pressure. You will need an empty bottle with a squeeze top (maybe an empty water bottle of something from the recycling bin), obstacle course inspiration items, and a small, lightweight object that will be the ball. Follow along live and then design your own to share!

TinkerBots
Raid the junk drawer with me as we find the odds and ends we can twist and bend to make our very own robot friend. Explore with me in the video and then adventure into your own junk drawer to share your TInkerBot creations in the comments afterwards!

Carton Flyers
Recycle your egg cartons while creating hours of fun experimenting with your new flying wonder! All you need to participate is a piece of letter-sized paper, egg carton, and decorating materials of your choice for the carton. Comment afterwards with a picture of your creation and something your observed while experimenting!

Kitchen Casting
Explore the changes in states of matter while replicating the process of steel casting with edible castings. See some examples in the video and come up with your own to share afterwards!

Graham Cracker Fairyland
We will use simple architecture concepts to build a graham cracker house and decorate to accommodate our fairy friends. Go through the structural process in the video and add your own exterior design to share in the comments after!