We have From Here to There at Sloan from 5/15-9/5/10. Trains, planes, boats, automobiles, and many other modes of transportation were designed over the ages to convey travelers ever more rapidly from point "A" to point "B." Explore the science behind different methods of locomotion. Lift, launch and levitate as you experiment with hands-on exhibits that make learning about gravity, friction, and the laws of motion fun. Visitors can turn up the heat to launch a colorful hot air balloon, and adjust wind speed to form fabric into an airfoil. Check out the promo video here!
A la ca rte Activities: Preschool – Kindergarten
Mom and Me Victorian Tea
June 17, 10am-11:30am
Cost: $8
(child and adult need to register and pay for this activity)
@ Sloan Museum
Kids and their special adult can join us in the courtyard of Sloan Museum for tea, punch and cookies along with crafts and hands-on activities!
Car Safari
June 24, 9:00-10:30am,
Cost: $7
@ Buick Gallery
Explore the Buick Gallery’s collection of classic cars! Get your picture taken behind the wheel of a 1917 Buick Touring Car, go on a picture safari, make a craft and have a snack at the old fashioned snack counter.
Dino Day
June 28, 1:00 – 3:00pm
Cost: $12
@ Longway Planetarium
Learn about the science of paleontology! Dig for bones and other fossils. Make fossil imprints, a fact book and your own dinosaur museum. Play with dinosaur models, discuss their history, and enjoy dinosaur puzzles, games and trivia! Guest Teacher: Tammy Edwards
Animal Coverings
July 8, 9:00 – 10:30
Cost: $7
@ Longway Planetarium
Fur, feathers, scales or skin. What’s your favorite animal in? Find out how animal coverings help animals survive. Make a fish print and texture book to take home and play a fun camouflage game.
Work and Play of Yesterday
July 13, 9:00-10:30am
Cost: $7
@ Sloan Museum
Explore the past while playing with fun hands-on stations! Play stations will include old time toys, chores from the past and outdoor games.
Water Party
July 15, 1:00 – 2:30pm
Cost: $7
@ Sloan Museum
Wear your swimsuit and bring a towel! Cool off with several hands-on stations in Sloan Museum’s Courtyard. Do some laundry the old fashioned way & play some water games. Activities will be substituted and moved indoors in the case of inclement weather.
Opposite Day
July 21, 1:00 – 2:30pm
Cost: $7
@ Longway Planetarium
Experiment with opposites! Use balances to sort heavy and light rocks, play with objects that sink or float, make a balloon that goes up and a balloon that falls down, feel smooth and rough surfaces and see how each surface effects motion.
Science and Art
July 26, 9:00 – 10:30am
Cost: $7
@ Longway Planetarium
Explore color mixing while making blotter bugs to take home. Use an ice cube and tempera paint to explore melting while making a colorful butterfly.
Garden Crafts
August 4, 9:00 – 10:30am
Cost: $7
@ Longway Planetarium
Explore the Planetarium garden while making beautiful crafts to take home. Learn about the parts of a flower while making a flower mask. Use dried flower petals and leaves to make a piece of art. Mix up cement to make a small stepping stone.
A la ca rte Activities: 1ST - 3RD GRADES
Box City
June 18, 9:00-11:30pm
Cost: $8
@ Sloan Museum
Build your own city! You and your team must work together to build a working community. Use your artistic skills and actually build the houses and businesses that will make your city unique. Want a baseball stadium in your city? Build it! How about a garbage dump in your neighbor’s back yard? Maybe not! Don’t forget the roads! This exciting hands-on program will teach young people how communities develop and the value of teamwork.
Gravity and Friction
July 13, 1:00 – 3:00pm
Cost: $8
@Longway Planetarium
Explore how forces can speed things up and slow things down. Make a parachute to slow the fall of an egg, build a ramp and test it to see how far your object can roll.
Solids, Liquids And Gases
July 14, 1:00 – 3:00pm
Cost: $9
@ Longway Planetarium
Freezing and melting, evaporation and condensation; see how you can change matter! Experiment with viscosity as you blow paint around to make a picture, Use a super cold liquid to freeze some ice cream to taste.
What’s Bugging You?
July 28, 1:00 – 3:00pm
Cost:$8
@ Longway Planetarium
Go on a bug hunt in the Planetarium garden. Use craft materials to make models of insects and spiders. Work together to build a spider web. Get up close and personal with
Longway’s classroom pets; Madagascar Hissing Roaches!
Fabulous Flowers
August 4 1:00 – 3:00pm
Cost:$8
@ Longway Planetarium
Go on a garden scavenger hunt while learning why flowers are so important. Make a flower model while dissecting a real flower. Use dried flowers to make a piece of art to take home.
Take Apart!
August 9 1:00 – 3:00pm
Cost:$8
@ Longway Planetarium
Ever wonder what the inside of a toaster looks like? Grab a screwdriver and investigate the insides of small appliances and electric devices.
The Fossil Dig!-Two Days
August 11 & 12
Day 1 (Sloan) 10am-Noon, Day 2 (Ligon) 10am- Noon
Cost: $15
Sloan Museum & Ligon Nature Center Discover the fascinating world of fossils in this two part program. Learn about fossils and create your own at the Sloan Museum. Then, on day 2, we’ll travel to Ligon Outdoor Center and experience an actual dig-site. Once at Ligon, we’ll dig-up and identify rocks, minerals, crystals and fossilized remains! Note-participants need to provide their own transportation to Ligon Outdoor Center (Clio)
A la ca A la ca rte Activities: 4th - 6th GRADES
Animal Tracks Challenge
June 22 & 23
Day 1 (Sloan) 10am-Noon
Day 2 (Ligon) 10am- Noon
Cost: $15
@ Sloan Museum & Ligon Nature Center
Why do animals have different kinds of feet? How do their special foot features help them to survive? In this two part program we’ll investigate some of the creatures that inhabit our Michigan Forests. Day one will be at Sloan Museum, then we’ll travel on day two to Ligon Outdoor Center and hike through the trails to look for tracks left by our animal friends! Note: participants need to provide their own transportation to Ligon Outdoor Center (Clio).
Crash Chemistry Course
June 29, 9:00 – 12:00noon
Cost:$8
@ Longway Planetarium
Become a Jr. Chemist as you learn about the periodic table, survive the measuring challenge, make edible molecules, and explore physical changes through mixing a drinkable potion and making chemical changes with polymers such as goo, slime, and silly putty! Parents, be sure to come back at 11:50am for an Element Fashion Show. Don’t forget your camera. Students, dress for mess! Guest Teacher: Tammy Edwards
Air
July 7, 1:00 – 3:00pm
Cost: $8
@ Sloan Museum
Visit the exhibit “From Here to There” to explore how air can move things. Then join us in the classroom for hands-on air activities. Investigate air pressure while making a device that will spray water at your friends. See what happens to a marshmallow and other objects when you remove air pressure with a vacuum pump. Make and race a sail car.
Rocket Science
July 12, 9:00 – 12:00noon
Cost: $12
@ Longway Planetarium
Build and launch a bevy of rockets! Start in the classroom for some rocketry basics while using a launcher to fly straw rockets. Build and launch water-powered rockets as well as a solid fuel model rocket.
Edible Science
July 16, 10:00am – 12:00pm
Cost: $8
@ Longway
Explore many earth, life and physical science concepts while making and eating cookies, candies and yes, Mom, even your vegetables! (Please be aware that we will be using peanut butter during this activity)
Water Wise
July 19, 1:00 – 3:30pm
Cost: $9
@ Longway Planetarium
Where does your water come from? Where does waste water go? Make dirty water clean while learning about filtration, make a well water model and explore sources and uses of water. Learn about waterborne illnesses while playing a game to track down the source of tainted water.
Geology Rocks!
August 2, 1:00 – 3:30pm
Cost: $12
@ Longway
Calling all rock hounds! Explore igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks and the rock cycle. Investigate weathering, erosion and the impact of acid rain. Make a piece of mineral jewelry and take home some rock, mineral and fossil samples to add to your collection.
SPACE IS LIMITED Please send in your registration and payment now. Registration deadline is one week prior to activity. If you have any questions, please call 810.237.3409.
A la carte Activities: 5th - 8th GRADES
Frogtastic Activities
June 30, 1:00 – 4:00pm
Cost:$10
@ Longway Planetarium
Become a frog expert as you learn all about frogs while making models, playing games, eating fun snacks and dissecting a frog! Guest Teacher Tammy Edwards. Dress for mess!
Microscopes
July 19, 9:00 – 11:00am
Cost: $10
@ Longway
Visit stations that will help you learn the basics of microscope use. Learn microscope parts, how to prepare dry and wet mount slides and observe single celled organisms.
Solar Power
July 22, 9:00 – 10:30am
Cost:$15
@ Longway Planetarium
Explore how energy from the sun can be harnessed to do work! Make and take your own solar powered car using the supplied parts and instructions.
Shipwreck Science
July 23, 1:00pm-3:00pm
Cost: $8
@ Sloan Museum
Join award winning film producer Ric Mixter, as he tells of undersea adventure and ghostly shipwrecks on the Great Lakes.
Rocket Science – 2 Day Class!
August 2 and 3, 9:00 – 12:00 each day
Cost: $22
@ Longway Planetarium
Build and fly your own model rockets! On day 1 we will learn what makes a successful model rocket and construct “Alpha” and “Viking” rockets. On Day 2, we will launch our rockets; first with a smaller “test” engine, and if everything checks out, a second launch with a much more powerful engine. No prior model rocket building experience needed.
Historical Reenacting 101
August 6, 1:00pm-3:00pm
Cost: $8
@ Sloan Museum
Want to learn more about how people lived 150 or 200 years ago? Try wearing their clothes and walking in their shoes! This fascinating hobby involves learning about our ancestors and understanding their daily lives. Discover the world of historical reenacting and march through history at the Sloan Museum!
Longway Planetarium
May & June
Super Sky Show
Saturday & Sunday at 12:30pm
A tour of the nighttime sky with host Seymour Sky and guests including the Sun, Moon, Queen Cassiopeia, and a MYSTERY guest! Recommended for children 4 and older.
WSKY: Radio Station of the Stars
Saturday & Sunday at 2:00pm
Experience talk radio of the future as Dr. Cosmos answers questions on everything from shooting stars to black holes. Cruise the cosmos while listening to a crazy traffic report, wacky weather forecast and a couple of chart topping tunes. Recommended for ages 10 and older.
The Planets
Saturday & Sunday at 3:30pm
“The Planets” looks at the planets of our Solar System and reveals what is currently known about them. Beyond our own neighborhood, we look at the exoplanets, worlds orbiting other suns. Narrated by Kate Mulgrew; Captain Janeway of “Star Trek: Voyager”. Recommended for ages 10 and older.
July-August
Solar System Safari
Mon-Fri at 12:30, Sat & Sun at 12:30pm & 3:30pm
A jungle adventurer uses a magical camera to take visitors on an exciting safari through the Solar System. The sun, moon, planets, and dwarf planets come to life, taking on unique personalities and describing their own characteristics and eccentricities. Students will learn about the characteristics of planets, as well as the current planetary status of Pluto. Recommended for ages 5 and older.
Destination Moon
Mon-Fri at 2:00pm, Sat & Sun at 2:00pm
Destination Moon is a planetarium show that opened in July 1999 at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It depicts the triumphs of the Apollo missions, knowledge gained from scientific studies, and visions for possible future human lunar exploration. Recommended for children 9 and older.
Buick Automotive Gallery
Orphan Car Collection
May 29 – Nov
For all ages
$6 per adult, $5 per senior, $4 per children (3-11)
FREE Annual Pass Holder Club Member
Witness an amazing display of vehicles whose brands are no longer around; Whiting, Little, Monroe, Pontiac and Dort just to name a few.
