COSI - Columbus, Ohio's Dynamic Hands-On Science Center

Hands-on workshops to add to your COSI field trip

Structure your COSI field trip with a workshop that connects to COSI exhibitions, nurtures scientific inquiry and improves your students’ understanding of science concepts. Includes teacher guides with pre-visit and post-visit lessons, websites and vocabulary words that connect to state standards. For additional structure, add a COSI scavenger hunt. Workshops run 45 minutes unless otherwise noted.

Field Trip Workshops

Space | Preschool
Launch alka-seltzer rockets, make space helmets and create constellations. 20 students.
Supports Science: Space EL.1; Science: Physical Sciences EL.7; English Language Arts: Acquisition of Vocabulary EL.1; English Language Arts: Research EL.4

Make It Go! | Preschool
Learn about simple machines by playing with pulleys, ramps and catapults. 20 students.
Supports Science: Physical Sciences EL.2, 3, 5; English Language Arts: Acquisition of Vocabulary EL.1; English Language Arts: Reading Application EL.1

Roller Coaster Challenge | Kindergarten
Explore force and motion by building your own roller coaster. 20 students.
Supports Science: Physical Sciences K.1, 4, 5; Science: Science & Technology K.2; Mathematics: Measurement K.2

Magnet Fun | Kindergarten
Use the “power of the pull” to move models, go magnet fishing, and make a magnet detector. 20 students.
Supports Science: Physical Sciences K.1, 3, 5; Science: Science & Technology K.2; Mathematics: Geometry & Spatial Sense K.1

Magnets Are Fun | Grades 1-3
Discover how the world around us pushes and pulls, and better understanding of magnetic forces by building and racing a maglev train. 40 students.
Supports Science: Physical Science K.1-5, 1.1, 1.3, 1.5-7, 3.1-4, 4.5, 5.3-4

• Magnets Are Fun Teacher Guide and Classroom Activities (PDF)

Gross Science | Grades 1-6
The “gross” anatomy of runny noses, body odor, and upset stomachs. 40 students.
Supports Life Science 1.1, 1.3, Physical Science 4.2

Spy Intelligence | Grades 3-6
Crack codes and determine "whodunit" by using process skills, scientific inquiry, and intuition.
Supports Science: Physical Sciences 4.1, 4.2; Science: Science and Technology 3.1; Mathematics: Number Sense and Operations 3.3; Mathematics: Data Analysis and Probability 4.13

• Spy Intelligence Teacher Guide and Classroom Activities (PDF)

Cooking with Chemistry | Grades 4-8
Explore chemical and physical changes that are part of cooking, and eat some of your experiments. Peanut-free. 40 students.
Supports Physical Science: 4.1-4, 6.1-4

Garbology | Grades 4-8
Explore the impact trash has on our planet, and redesign a common product to reduce its impact on the earth. 40 students.
Supports Science: Understanding Technology 5.1, 6.2; Science: Science and Technology: 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.2; Science: Physical Sciences: 4.2, 4.3; Science: Earth and Space Sciences: 5.5

• Garbology Teacher Guide and Classroom Activities (PDF)

Crazy Coasters | Grades 4-8
Learn how physics makes roller coasters possible and how physics concepts relate to our world. 40 students.
Supports Science: Physical Sciences 7.2, 8.1, 8.2, 8.4, 8.5

• Crazy Coasters Teacher Guide and Classroom Activities (PDF)

Tech & Culture | Grades 6-8
Explore innovations in science and technology and experiment with hydrogen fuel cell cars. 40 students.
Supports Science: Science and Technology 6.1, 7.1; Technology: Technology & Society Interaction A.6.2, A.7.2, A.8.3

• Tech & Culture Teacher Guide and Classroom Activities (PDF)

Astronomy | Grades 8-12
Roam the universe with a presentation from an Ohio State University astronomer and conduct experiments that reinforce gravitational force and interstellar distances. 40 students. Please note this workshop runs 90 minutes.
Supports Earth Sciences: 8.1-2, 8.5-8, 9.2-3

Catapults, Trebuchets, & Physics, Oh My! | Grades 9-12
Discover force and motion by observing and building medieval machines. 40 students.
Supports Science: Physical Sciences 9.21, 9.22, 9.24, 9.25, 12.5

• Catapults, Trebuchets, & Physics, Oh My! Teacher Guide and Classroom Activities (PDF)

DNA | Grades 9-12
Explore the structure of DNA and how it relates to cellular structure and the expression of characteristics. 40 students.
Supports Science: Life Science: 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 12.1, 12.4, 12.5, 12.6

Field Trip Workshop & Live Show Combos

Students in grades 4-8 participate in a live show led by a COSI educator and then try activities themselves with a hands-on workshop. Includes teacher guides with pre-visit and post-visit lessons, websites and vocabulary words that connect to Ohio Academic Content Standards. Each program runs a total of 75 minutes. One chaperone required for every 5 students.

Chemical & Physical Change
See an explosive show that highlights chemical and physical changes in daily life, and then investigate if changes are chemical or physical.
Supports Science: Physical Sciences: 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4

• Chemical & Physical Change Teacher Guide and Classroom Activities (PDF)

Wild Weather
Touch a cloud during COSI’s Weather Show, check out a weather demonstration and perform weather experiments.
Supports Science: Physical Sciences 4.5; Science: Earth Science: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 7.5, 7.9

• Wild Weather Teacher Guide and Classroom Activities (PDF)

Electricity In Progress
Explore the history of electricity through two 15-minute shows, a 30-minute hands-on exploration and a 30-minute experience in COSI’s Progress exhibition.
Supports Science and Technology 4.1,4.2, 6.1, 7.1, 8.1; Physical Science 5.3, 5.4

Pumpkin Patch Science | Available September 23 through November 24, 2009
Explore the spooky science of the autumn season with a 25-minute explosion show, and then conduct your own chemical and physical change experiments in a 45-minute workshop.
Supports Science: Physical Sciences: 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4

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