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

Bugs  |  Preschool
Explore insects and arachnids as your class meets a LIVE hissing cockroach. 20 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Science: Earth and Space Science EL.3; Science: Life Science EL. 1, 2, 3, 5; Math: Data Analysis and Probability EL.1, 2; English Language Arts: Research EL. 1, 4.

The Body  |  Preschool
Investigate the five senses and the sound of our own heart as we explore our bodies from the inside out. 20 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Science: Life Science EL. 1, 2, 3, 5; Science: Science & Technology EL. 1, 3, 4; English Language Arts: Research EL. 1, 4.

Space with The Zula Patrol  |  Preschool
The Zula Patrol will guide your class through an exploration of space! We’ll learn about rockets, planets and stars as we zoom through the galaxy. 20 students. $5 per student with group rate admission. Visit ZulaWorld.com to learn more about The Zula Patrol. Science: Space EL 1; Science: Physical Sciences EL. 7; English Language Arts: Acquisition of Vocabulary EL. 1; English Language Arts: Research EL. 4

Magnets with The Zula Patrol  |  Kindergarten
The Zula Patrol will help you explore the properties of magnets. Use the power of a magnet to attract and repel to move model cars and trains, go magnet fishing, and make a magnet detector. 20 students. Visit ZulaWorld.com to learn more about The Zula Patrol. $5 per student with group rate admission. Science: Physical Sciences K.1, 3, 5; Science: Science & Technology K.2; Mathematics: Geometry & Spatial Sense K.1

Roller Coaster Challenge  |  Kindergarten
Explore force and motion as your class works together to build a roller coaster. Put the force of gravity to work in COSI's marble challenge. 20 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Science: Physical Sciences K.1, 4, 5; Science: Science & Technology K.2; Mathematics: Measurement K.2.

The Body  |  Kindergarten 
Investigate the five senses and the sound of our own heart as we explore our bodies from the inside out. 20 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Science: Life Science K. 1, 4, 5, 6; English Language Arts: Research K. 1, 3, 4; Science: Science & Technology K.3

Fight Germs, Stay Healthy  |  Grades 1-3
Discover how our bodies protect us from germs and what we can do to keep germs from making us sick. 35 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Also available as a traveling workshop in central Ohio. Life Science: 1.5, 2.2; Scientific Inquiry: 1.1-3, 2.1-5, 3.1-2, 3.4; Scientific Ways of Knowing: 1.2, 1.3, 2.4, 3.4, 3.5

Magnets Are Fun | Grades 1-3
Discover how the world around us pushes and pulls, and gain a better understanding of magnetic forces by building and racing a maglev train. 35 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Also available as a traveling workshop in central Ohio. 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)
  

Stream Morphology  |  Grades 3-5
Uncover the processes that create and shape a stream by creating a model that demonstrates the dynamic interactions between water and substrates. Earth Science: 3.3, 3.5, 4.8 – 10, 5.6; Scientific Inquiry: 3.1-2, 3.4, 4.1, 5.1; Scientific Ways of Knowing: 3.4, 3.5, 4.1, 5.2

Spy Intelligence  |  Grades 3-6
Crack codes and determine "whodunit" by using process skills, scientific inquiry, and intuition. Also available as a traveling workshop in central Ohio. 35 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. 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)

Gross Science: Inner Workings of the Human Body | Grades 4-6
Students will gain a better understanding of blood, runny noses, and upset stomachs. 35 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Also available as a traveling workshop in central Ohio. Life Science: 6.1; Scientific Inquiry: 4.1, 5.1, 6.2, 6.3; Scientific Ways of Knowing: 4.1, 5.2, 6.3, 6.4

Cooking with Chemistry  |  Grades 4-8
Explore chemical and physical changes that are part of cooking, and eat some of your experiments. Peanut-free. 35 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Also available as a traveling workshop in central Ohio. 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. 35 students.
$3.50 per student with group rate admission. 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. 35 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Supports Science: Physical Sciences 7.2, 8.1, 8.2, 8.4, 8.5

• Crazy Coasters Teacher Guide and Classroom Activities (PDF)
  

Sugar: Friend or Foe   |  Grades 5-8
Examine a simple food chain to understand how photosynthetic cells convert solar energy into chemical energy in food.  35 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Also available as a traveling workshop in central Ohio. Life Sciences: 5.1-4, 7.7; Scientific Inquiry: 4.1, 5.1, 6.2, 6.3, 7.3, 7.4, 8.; Scientific Ways of Knowing: 5.2, 6.3, 6.4, 7.3.

Changing Earth’s Surface  |  Grades 6–8
Discover how landforms are created by unearthing the amazing world underneath our feet. Earth Science: 8.13; Scientific Inquiry: 6.2, 6.3, 7.3, 7.4, 8.1; Scientific Ways of Knowing: 6.3, 6.4, 7.3

Tech & Culture | Grades 6-8
Explore innovations in science and technology and experiment with hydrogen fuel cell cars. 35 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Also available as a traveling workshop in central Ohio. 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)

Processes That Change the Earth  |  Grades 9-10
Explore how plate-tectonic activity and sea-floor spreading create the Earth’s surface. Earth Science: 9.5-7; Scientific Inquiry: 8.1

DNA: The Foundation for YOU   |    Grades 9-12
Explore the structure of DNA and how it relates to the cellular structure and expression of characteristics. 35 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. Also available as a traveling program in central Ohio. Life Science: 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 12.1, 12.4, 12.5, 12.6.

Catapults, Trebuchets, & Physics, Oh My! | Grades 9-12
Discover force and motion by observing and building medieval machines. 35 students. $3.50 per student with group rate admission. 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)

Field Trip Workshop & Live Show Combos

Students in grades 4-12 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. One chaperone required for every 5 students.

Chemical & Physical Change | Grades 4-8
See an explosive show that highlights chemical and physical changes in daily life, and then investigate if changes are chemical or physical. 75 minutes. $4.50 per student with group rate admission. 45 students. 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 | Grades 4-8
Touch a cloud during COSI’s Weather Show, check out a weather demonstration and perform weather experiments. 75 minutes. $4.50 per student with group rate admission. 45 students. 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 | Grades 4-8
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. 75 minutes. $4.50 per student with group rate admission. 40 students. Supports Science and Technology 4.1,4.2, 6.1, 7.1, 8.1; Physical Science 5.3, 5.4

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; 90 minutes. $4.50 per student with group rate admission. Supports Earth Sciences: 8.1-2, 8.5-8, 9.2-3

Have Questions?

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