Science—Science Festival—Michigan State University

From SciFest Partners:

MSU Extention 84 Easy Science Lessons You can do at Home

Try one of these 84 science activities using supplies you probably already have around the house.

MSU Neuroscience

The Neuroscience Program wants to provide some activites that you can do at home!

Online "Butterflies in the Garden"

Make a virtual visit to our 2020 "Butterfly School" at the 4-H Children's Gardens at MSU.

Online Resources from the Michigan 4-H Children's Gardens at MSU

In a normal year, students would be visiting the 4-H Children's Gardens for Seeds of Science. They would generally visit 3 different days and "experience plants" in lots of interesting ways. Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, all Seeds of Science visits have been canceled, so we are making a number of the activities available online. We hope you will try these activities out, have some fun with them and learn a bit more about how important plants are to all of us everyday.

CANR- Native Plants and Ecosystem Services

Learn how to use Michigan native plants to produce win-win situations for agriculture, communities and the environment.

NSCL Educational Resources

Our goal is to share the excitement of research at the intersection of the largest (astrophysics) and the smallest (nuclei) constituents of our universe, and of unraveling our cosmic history - the origins of the elements we are all made of.

CIGLR Outreach Resources

The days of science remaining in the boundaries of a university campus are something of the past. Not only has research become more collaborative and global, but the relationship between scientists and the public has become extremely important.

Delta College Astronomy

During this time of needed isolation, the planetarium has been using its social media platforms to inform everyone, including children, students, adults and families, of the online (fun!) learning opportunities that are available.

Ford Amateur Astronomy Club | All Sky Cam

Seeing as we can not join you in person to explore the night sky we have decided to bring the night sky to you. Welcome to our all sky camera where you can observe the night sky from your living room, bedroom or any room. This can be watched when sitting at home, or on the go on your cell phone, laptop or tablet.

Nature at Home | Michigan DNR

Nature at School was developed for formal classroom teachers of grades 3-12. Students, whether attending your district virtually or in-person, can visit us for these great programs from around the state.

All Ages:

Cold Spring Harbor's DNA Learning Center

The DNA Learning Center is hosting several live lab sessions (DNA extraction/fingerprinting, bacterial transformation, bioinformatics training) that are useful for science teachers or parents engaging their kids in hands-on lab science.

Cells Alive

Explore Cells, microbes, and the immune system through models, games, and more.

Learn Genetics

Resource covering plants, ecology, neuroscience, cell biology, and more.

innerbody research Human Anatomy

Explore the human body like never before. We have comprehensive guides that explain your Skeletal System, Muscular System, Cardiovascular System, Digestive System, and more.

Adventures in Chemistry

Resource of experiments, games, and more from the American Chemical Society.

Microbe Zoo

Go on a safari to discover microscopic organisms and the habitats in which they live.

Species ID Training

MISIN provides species identification training modules to aid in the education of citizen scientists.

Understanding Evolution

Understanding Evolution is a non-commercial, education website, teaching the science and history of evolutionary biology. This site is here to help you understand what evolution is, how it works, how it factors into your life, how research in evolutionary biology is performed, and how ideas in this area have changed over time.

Understanding Science

Understanding Science is a fun, accessible, and free resource that accurately communicates what science is and how it really works — and that helps K-16 teachers reinforce the nature and process of science throughout their science teaching.

National Institute of General Medical Sciences Science Education

Learn about Cells, being a scientist, molecular structures, tools and techniques and more!

U.S. Library of Medicine ToxTown Science Classroom

Looking for resources to learn about the environment and health for middle school students? Explore Science Classroom to find lesson plans/activities, interactive games, hands-on activities, videos, informational websites, and more.

The Brain Biodiversity Bank

Collection of brain images of humans, sheep, dolphins, and more.

Comparative Mammalian Brain Collections

This web site provides browsers with images and information from one of the world's largest collection of well-preserved, sectioned and stained brains of mammals.

Wildlife & Natural History Q-line

This website will, we hope, be a helpful resource for investigating our native (and sometimes non-native) wildlife and other natural objects and for helping to solve problems when people and wild animals come into conflict.

EarthEcho STEMExplore

Learn and explore careers in STEM in the areas of Biology, Marine Science, Engineering, and more!

EYH Virtual Plant

Plant Biology graduate students at Cornell created this site to help kids learn about plant structures, collections, and female botanists.

Time Scavengers

Climate change is one of the biggest problems facing humanity and life on Earth today, and one of the most fundamentally misunderstood scientific theories is evolution. You’ve probably heard about climate change and evolution in the news and on social media, but what are these concepts, and how do we know they’re ‘real’? We’ve made the site to help you understand more about both of these concepts and answer some questions.

The Neotropical Rainforest

Rain forests occur in regions of the world where over 100 inches (2500 mm) of rain falls annually. Two distinct classes of rain forests exist: Temperate and tropical. The tropical rainforest the most diverse ecosystem on Earth, with an estimated 70% of the Earth's species. Learn all about it on a site created by MSU professor Gerald R. Urquhart.

Physics@Home

Just how does your world work? The word "physics" is loaded with intimidating terms such as "quantum" and "relativity." In reality, though, physics is at work all around you, all of the time.

MARVIN AND MILO

Over 80 “Do try this at home!” experiments featuring Marvin and Milo, the Institute of Physics’ intrepid cat and dog team.

Colorful Rain Activity

You will discover how water collects in clouds and falls to the ground in this hands-on activity.

4-H Kitchen Science Activity Guide

Explore 11 fun science experiments you can do in your kitchen from Utah State University Extension.

Quantum Activity Pack

Activity Pack for kids to learn about quantum computing at home.

Earth Day Games

A great list of a lot of games to help you celebrate Earth Day!

CERNland

Learn about the Globe of Science and Innovation and what CERN is and does.

The Particle Adventure

A game that takes you on an interactive tour of quarks, neutrinos, antimatter, and more from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Quarked

A game that takes you on an adventure through the subatomic universe.

'Monarchs & Math' Module

In this activity, you will learn about monarch butterfly biology and how math models can help understand the many threats to their population. See how the monarch population may increase or decrease with a hands-on modeling experience, which allows you to adjust the amount of plant resources on the landscape, climate conditions, and other environmental variables. Watch the model results on your computer screen!

Ask a Biologist Games

Sometimes the best way to learn biology is by playing a game or using a simulation.

Ask Dr. Universe

Ask Dr. Universe is a science-education project based out of Washington State University.

Rader's CHEM4KIDS

It's not just for kids, it's for everyone. If you are looking for basic chemistry help and information, stay on this site. We have information on matter, atoms, elements, the periodic table, reactions, and biochemistry.

PubChem Periodic Table Game

Can you find all the elements on the periodic table? And then without the abbreviations?

Planet Maker

PlanetMaker allows you to create and tweak your own planet using image textures, lighting, and more importantly, your imagination.

Solve the Outbreak from the CDC

Get clues, analyze data, solve the scenario, and save lives! In this fun game, you get to be the Disease Detective.

Neuron Galaxy

Neuron Galaxy is the animated, interactive story of a lonely little neuron who wants to connect with other neurons. The story will help children to understand the basic function of the brain and appreciate what a wonderful, amazing organ their own brain is — one of the most remarkable things in the galaxy!

Brain Play

Brain Play is a free app that introduces Morphonix’s NeuroPlay Adventures series. You meet characters representing important parts of your brain through a song bursting with energy and enthusiasm.

Science Museum Games and Apps

Explore our collection, complete brain-teasing puzzles or learn about science with our range of science games and apps.

US EPA Games, Quizzes, and Videos about the Environment

Play games and find other activities to do online, including crossword puzzles and word searches.

Michigan Invasive Species Virtual Escape Room by Erin Guesno

The goal of this virtual escape room is to learn to identify some of the invasive species in Michigan. An invasive species is an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native.

Space Explorer Training- Digital Escape Room

This Digital Escape Room is suggested for Teens ages 11 and up or Families. Complete on your own or with a group! We hope you have fun!

Bird Academy Play Lab

Birds are awesome. Play games that explore flight, song, dance, feathers, and so much more. Brought to you by the Cornell Lab, Bird Academy is continuing a century-old tradition of sharing the wonder and joy of birds far beyond our walls.

Smithsonian Science Education Center Game Center

We offer free Smithsonian STEM games and simulations online or for download! Our games are designed with clear learning objectives, vetted by our team of curriculum experts, and are used by students around the world!

Reef Rider Journey Game

Experience a coral reef through the eyes of a sea turtle to understand its unique role in maintaining nature’s balance.

Particle Adventure

The Particle Adventures apps for iOS and Android are games for kids to learn about particle physics.

PHYLO

An exercise in crowdsourcing, open access, and open game development to create a trading card game (TCG) that makes use of the wonderful, complex, and inspiring things that inform the notion of biodiversity.

Killer Snails

Use our games to find new ways to enrich children’s lives with entertaining-engaging-educational STEM content where players roleplay as scientists and learn critical thinking and analytical skills necessary to become thought leaders and change-makers to one day find cures and vaccines that may help save lives.

Smithsonian Learning Lab

Understand history, art, culture, and the sciences through inquiry and analysis.

Nature Lab

The Nature Conservancy and its 550 scientists have created Nature Lab: to help students learn the science behind how nature works for us and how we can help keep it running strong.

Glencoe Labs

The Biology Corner website has a list of every Glencoe virtual lab ever created, broken down by science discipline. Ignore the note at the top, many links still work if you have flash.

Phet

This website from University of Colorado has a ton of physics and chemistry simulations.

NMSU Virtual Labs

This site has 8 virtual labs that help students learn basic laboratory techniques and practice methods used by lab technicians and researchers in a variety of careers, using specific food science lab processes.

HHMI Biointeractive

This site has virtual labs that are geared toward high school learners and up, exploring evolution, genetics, and molecular biology.

Learn Genetics

University of Utah's Learn Genetics site has 5 virtual labs that deal with DNA, PCR, and electrophoresis.

Virtual Dissections

Resources are broken down by animal

California State University

Has a list of virtual labs broken down by content area

Molecular Workbench

Has 100's of simulations for all content areas

NOVA Labs

Includes virtual labs on the sun, energy, RNA, clouds, and evolution.

Bioman

Games and virtual labs for biology

Tragedy of the Commons Simulation, Ecoocean

Tragedy of the Commons Labs

Chemistry Simulations

From Oneonta University

Virtual Titration

Great titration practice before doing the real thing in your chemistry class.

CK-12

Has chemistry and physics simulations.

States of Matter Simulation, Photosynthesis and Respiration, Ecology

My HRW Simulations

BioDigital

The BioDigital Human is an interactive 3D software platform for visualizing anatomy, disease and treatment.

Chem Collective

It is designed to help students link chemical computations with authentic laboratory chemistry. The lab allows students to select from hundreds of standard reagents (aqueous) and manipulate them in a manner resembling a real lab.

goReact from Museum of Science and Industry Chicago

Experiment with chemistry virtually with goREACT! In this drag-and-drop laboratory, combine elements from the Periodic Table to create chemical reactions and discover the chemistry in the world around you!

Virtual Chemistry Experiments

Virtual Chemistry Experiments are a collection of interative web-based chemistry tutorials.

Virtual Scanning Electron Microscope

Molecular Expressions has teamed up with award-winning electron microscopist Dr. Dennis Kunkel to produce a series of interactive tutorials that explore various aspects of virtual Scanning Electron Microscopy (vSEM).

Virtual Labs Media Library

Interactive tutorials and hands-on activities for Biology, Medicine, Health, and Humanities.

Virtual Microscope

The Virtual Microscope is a NASA-funded project that provides simulated scientific instrumentation for students and researchers worldwide as part of NASA's Virtual Laboratory initiative.

Algodoo

Algodoo is a unique 2D-simulation software that allows anyone to explore physics, build amazing inventions, design cool games or experiment at home.

VirtualMicroscope

The Virtual Microscope for Earth Sciences Project aims to make a step change in the teaching of Earth Sciences by broadening access to rock collections that are currently held in museums, universities and other institutions around the world. The intention is to engage and excite students in schools or higher education, and anyone interested in materials that make up the Earth’s surface. The virtual microscope allows users to examine and explore minerals and microscopic features of rocks, helping them to develop classification and identification skills without the need for high-cost microscopes and thin section preparation facilities.

Ecolearn

EcoLearn is an educational research group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education that explores the use of advanced immersive technologies to support learning about the complex causal dynamics of ecosystems.

Entomology Games and Other Activities

List of resourcesby The University of Nebraska-Lincoln students/faculty.

Polinator Virtual Learning

Design Your Own Landscape, Flower and Pollinator Dissection, Plight of the Forager Bee, and Visit to the Royal Palace interactives.

Botany Depot

a global website for creative ideas and materials for teaching botany in the 21st century for all ages and levels.

At Home Science | Flinn Scientific

Flinn At Home is a collection of resources to ensure that students stay engaged with science learning, no matter where they are.

Science

From SciFest Partners:

All Ages:

Tragedy of the Commons Simulation, Ecoocean

CK-12

States of Matter Simulation, Photosynthesis and Respiration, Ecology

Especially For Kids: