NEW COSI Science Spot
We deliver energy and excitement to your event! COSI's all-new Science Spot traveling science exhibition gives your guests the opportunity to play, explore, and learn about science together. Science Spot is perfect for festivals, fundraisers, corporate and school events!
COSI's Science Spot consists of colorful hands-on kiosks that you can rent by the hour (3-hour minimum). Activities are suitable for adults and children and can be set up indoors or outdoors.
Available Science Spot themes include:
Force & Motion | Structures | Amazing Magnets
Puzzling Puzzles | Space | Gadgets & Gizmos
A trained COSI Team Member will set up, staff, and take down the exhibition at the site of your event. All you provide is an open, level area of approximately 20 feet by 20 feet per five Science Spot kiosks, plus one volunteer to help load and unload. COSI's Science Spot can be scaled to match the scope of your event. Rent as few as five kiosks (perfect for birthday parties and smaller events), or as many as 20 (for larger events and festivals). A three-hour minimum is required.
For pricing information or to make your reservation, use our online reservation form or call 614.228.2674 to speak with a Call Center representative.
| Science Spot Topics |
| Force and Motion |
Ball Launcher
Participants use air pressure from a heavy weight to launch a foam ball high into the air.
Roller Coasters
Participants use a magnetic wall and Frigits to build a track for a marble to roll down and see the force of gravity in action.
Pendulum
Participants swing a ball back and forth while also turning an image of the Earth underneath. They also witness the unpredictability of a chaotic pendulum by swinging several hinged legs back and forth.
Air Cannon
Participants press against a rubber membrane that covers a large drum. As the pressure builds within the drum, air shoots out the hole in the bottom and blasts passers by with a puff of air.
Newton's Laws of Motion
Participants use a Newton's Cradle to witness the transfer of momentum between a swinging and stationary cue balls. They also use two intersecting inclined planes to see what happens when to rolling cue balls collide. |
| Structures |
Be A Builder
Participants use two dimensional blueprints and wooden blocks to build a three dimensional structure. Blueprints come in a variety of levels of difficulty ranging from Easy to Very Difficult.
Puzzling Plans
Participants are challenged to correctly arrange colored blocks in the correct order using two dimensional blueprints. Blueprints come in a variety of levels of difficulty ranging from Easy to Very Difficult.
Skyscrapers
Participants use Velcro sticks to build the tallest tower. They are also challenged with building the tallest hockey puck tower on top of an unstable tabletop surface.
Center of Gravity
Participants fall a challenge of balancing as many steel nails as possible on the top of a nail head. They are also shown how to best balance a weighted stick upon the palm of their hand.
Arches
Participants are asked to rebuild small Catenary and Roman arches using only the wooden blocks provided. |
| Amazing Magnets |
Ferrofluid
Participants see how iron fillings suspended in a liquid form an interesting creation called ferrofluid, which, when placed near a strong magnet, create interesting designs/forms.
Magnetic Poles
Participants see magnetic poles repel and attract by attempting to bring strong magnetic poles together. They also see how iron fillings in a container react to a magnet's pull just like a favorite kid's toy called the Magna Doodle.
Magnetic Levitation
Participants can see how strong magnetic poles can repel each other with these floating discs. As they press down on the disc, they can feel the magnets forcing the disc skyward. They also see how magnetic levitation can be used for such new technology as maglev trains.
Magnetic Power
Participants construct a three dimensional structure using only the attraction of magnets to hold the pieces together. They also witness the mysterious force of a magnet sliding through a copper tube. The eddy current created slows the fall of the moving magnet quite dramatically.
Light the Night
Participants spin a magnet and discover that moving a magnet over a coil of wire creates an electrical current significant enough to light a small bulb. |
| Puzzling Puzzles |
Pyramids
Participants construct two pyramids using only the few wooden blocks provided.
Cubes
Participants attempt to reconstruct a jigsaw puzzle made of wooden blocks.
Chicken, Fox, Corn
Participants attempt to cross a river with a chicken, fox, and corn. However, you can only cross the river with one item at a time.
Tangrams
Participants use 7 shapes to create a vast array of different images.
Towers
Participants are challenged to find the fewest number of moves to transfer discs from one rod to another. |
| Space |
Ferrofluid
Participants see how iron fillings suspended in a liquid form an interesting creation called ferrofluid, which, when placed near a strong magnet, create interesting designs/forms.
Geodomes
Participants attempt to build a dome made of magnetic materials that is capable of withstanding the crushing pressure of various planets' atmospheres.
Air Pressure
Participants witness how astronauts deal with the lack of air pressure in space by creating a vacuum in a jar.
Planetary Mass
Participants find out that different planets have different masses and therefore different gravitational pulls. They are then asked to guess what weighted apple represents what planetary mass.
Rocket Transport
Participants discover that the weight of cargo on a spaceship relates directly to the amount of fuel needed to lift the rocketship over 126 miles into space. Can you balance the necessary cargo with the necessary fuel? |
| Gadgets & Gizmos |
Gears
Participants use magnetic gears to make various combinations of gears on a magnetic board.
Screws
Participants find that a screw is simply an inclined plane wrapped around a vertical rod. They also use an Archimedes Screw to lift marbles from a lower to a higher container.
Pulleys
Participants wrap a rope around various pulleys to determine how additional pulleys reduce the amount of work needed to move an object.
Generator
Participants turn the handle of the generator and witness how incandescent bulbs use more energy than halogen bulbs.
Pneumatics
Participants use syringes and tubing to discover the strength of air power by lifting an object. |
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