BODYLINK PROGRAMS

Anatomy Exploration I
Grades: 5-8
Capacity: 12 students
The respiratory and circulatory systems will be explored. Build a model of the lungs and find out how much air you can hold in your lungs. See a dissected pig heart and learn how to measure your heart rate.

Anatomy Exploration II
Grades: 5-8
Capacity: 12 students
The digestive and nervous systems will be explored. See how enzymes start breaking down food before it reaches the stomach and find out why you burp. Build a model of a neuron and discover how your senses communicate with your brain.

Planaria Principles
Grades: 9-12
Capacity: 12 students
Planaria are freshwater flatworms that have the ability to regenerate any type of cell in response to injury. By observing planaria at different stages of regeneration, students will learn about stem cells. Planaria are also sensitive to environmental contaminants. Students will also discover how contaminants in our water can affect growth rate and survival.

SCIZONE PROGRAMS
Science exploration travels to a new dimension through hands-on, interactive presentations within the Maryland Science Center's SciZone teaching spaces, where SmartBoard technology is as close as a tap of the finger...

Crab Life Cycle
Grades: 3-6
Length: 45 min
Capacity:20
Live and microscopic specimens of Atlantic blue crabs reveal how this popular resident of the Chesapeake survives to carry out its complex life.

Clam Encounter
Grades: 3-8
Length: 45 min
Capacity:20
Simple on the outside and fascinating on the inside, open a clam to discover how it conducts its life in the sea bottom.

Cricket Magic Lamps
Grades: 4-8
Length: 45 min
Capacity:12
Construct a lamp from a light emitting diode and program a computer to make it control traffic and flash the colors of the rainbow.

Decoding DNA
Grades: 5-12
Length: 45 min
Capacity:24
Gel electrophoresis technology allows us to examine and compare the genetic fingerprints of individuals. Can you identify the status of your patient?

Discovering Water
Grades: 4-8
Length: 45 min
Capacity:20
It’s the water Olympics! Conduct tests and experiments to reveal the physical properties of this amazing fluid.

Electric Circuits
Grades: 3-6
Length: 45 min
Capacity:20
You can make electricity do your bidding if you can set it on the right path. Build a circuit and find out how.

Math Naturally
Grades: 6-12
Explore the patterns and mathematics revealed in nature. Discover how fractal geometry can mimic the natural world.

Mr. Doug’s e-Motor
Grades: 5-8
Length: 45 min
Capacity:24
Make and take a genuine electric motor, learning how it works as you build it.

Pastasaurus
Grades: 3-4
Length: 45 min
Capacity:20
Just as a paleontologist reassembles dinosaur skeletons, you can recreate and take home models of prehistoric creatures.

Pinhole Optics
Grades: 4-12
Length: 60 min
Capacity:20
Experiment with a camera obscura to discover the Principle of Geometric Optics then apply your knowledge to make a photograph through a pinhole.

What’s a Fossil?
Grades: 3-9
Length: 45 min
Capacity:24
Examine actual fossil specimens to uncover the marvelous processes for preserving evidence of past life.

IMAX PRESENTATIONS
Travel to the end of the Earth and beyond on our five story IMAX screen, surrounded by a 38 speaker, 11,000-watt digital sound system…

Please Note: Grade levels for IMAX films are 3rd – 12th, unless otherwise stated.

Africa: The Serengeti
Witness the great migrations of millions of animals across 500 miles of African landscape. Incredible close-up photography from hot air balloons chronicle life in the wilderness.

The Alps
John Harlin III has been haunted by the Eiger, by its mythic allure and its deadly nature, since the day his father died when he was just nine years old. Now, Harlin will face his inner demons and honor his father's memory on a climb that is about so much more than simply a physical achievement.

Antarctica
Travel to Antarctica with explorers to discover the connection between this barren expanse and the survival of life around the globe. Plunge beneath the freezing surface of an ice floe to examine life in the coldest of habitats.

Beavers
Grades: K - 12
Trek through the Canadian Rockies wilderness with a family of beavers as they fell trees, construct their lodge, and evade predators while altering their surroundings as they adapt to the many challenges nature places before them.

Dinosaurs Alive! 3D
Join renowned paleontologists as they discover new fossils and uncover new evidence that dinosaur descendents are still among us.

Forces of Nature
Watch first hand as volcanoes erupt, earthquakes tremble and tornadoes lash the sky, and explore the origins and effects of these fascinating natural forces.

The Human Body
Grades 5-12
Witness the many hidden miracles that happen every day inside the male and female body, using remarkable inner body photography.

Hurricane on the Bayou
Shot in the midst of Katrina, Hurricane on the Bayou makes a musical journey with four musicians as they sound the call to restore the vital wetlands of Louisiana and give New Orleans hope for the future.

Sea Monsters 3D
Follow Dolly, a curious and adventurous dolichorynchops, as she travels through life's stages, and encounters long-necked pleisosaurs, giant turtles, enormous fish, giant sharks, and much more. Join scientists working as detectives as they try to answer questions about this ancient and mysterious ocean world.

Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure
Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure recounts a true story of epic proportions of Sir Ernest Shackleton's now legendary 1914-1916 quest to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent. This expedition has become a larger-than-life testament to heroism and human endurance, with all 28 men surviving nearly two years in the barren, frigid Antarctic while their ship, Endurance was caught in a pack of ice and eventually crushed.

Space Station 3D
Feel what it's like to fly in space, experience the fury of a Shuttle launch, the thrill of floating in micro-gravity and the view of planet Earth from orbit.

Whales
Grades: 1st - 12th
Explore the underwater domain of some of the largest creatures to ever live on Earth, including the Humpback, Right, Blue, and Orca whales, as well as other wondrous creatures that share their undersea habitat. Produced by the National Wildlife Federation.

DAVIS PLANETARIUM PRESENTATIONS
The night sky becomes illuminated with over 8,500 stars under the 50 foot dome of the Davis Planetarium, while special effects simulate the surface of the Sun, supernovas, and other celestial phenomena.

Dark Matters – NEW THIS YEAR!
Grades: 5-12
Time: 35 minutes
Capacity: 140
Explore a mystifying new topic in astronomy – Dark Matter. Dark, empty space between the stars in galaxies contains mysterious “dark matter.” We don’t know what it’s made of, and we can’t see it, but we detect its influence and are trying to understand it. This program is funded by a National Science Foundation Informal/Public Science Education grant through The Johns Hopkins University.

Meet the Moon
Grades: 3-12
Length: 35 minutes
Capacity: 140
Gain a new understanding of our closest celestial neighbor. Get a handle on some basic facts about the Moon such as how and why we see phases and eclipses. Gear up for when today’s youth become tomorrow’s astronauts traveling to the Moon. Explore our Moon and some of the 100 plus other moons in the solar system.

The Sky Tonight
Grades: 2-5
Time: 40 minutes average
Capacity: 140
Presents seasonal constellations, the Moon and planets visible on the day of your visit. Students receive a STARMAP for use in the Planetarium and at home.

LEARNING LAB PROGRAMS
Lead your early learners down new pathways of learning while engaging in hands-on, interactive, science discovery. Learning Lab programs have a capacity of 20 students unless otherwise stated.

Animal Armor
Grades: preK-2nd
It's a harsh world out there! Learn how animals protect themselves from the elements and from their predators. Examine fur, feathers, and more and discover how and why different animals use their bodies to their advantage.

How the Earth Works
Grades: preK – 2nd
Explore the size, shape, and make-up of this place we call home.

Matter of Fact
Grades: K-2nd
Roll up your sleeves and explore the differences and similarities between everyday objects and discuss their properties from shape to weight. Learn about solids, liquids, and gases as we conduct experiments and record our findings the way scientists do. Investigate further and discover what gravity, magnetism, and humans have in common-a force, of course.

Rain, Rain, Go Away
Grades: K-2nd
Discover how the sun and the Earth influence seasons, temperature, and air currents. Put down your umbrella and pick up your barometer as we learn how storms are formed and experiment our way around the water cycle. As a young meteorologist, you’ll learn how to observe, measure, and predict the weather.

Sensational Science
Grades: preK – 2nd
Utilize your five senses to investigate a scientific problem and learn what it takes to become a scientist. We will try our hands at making predications, testing our theories, and drawing our own scientific conclusions.

Speaking for the Trees
Grades: K-2nd
Join us as we explore the lessons of Dr Seuss and The Lorax. Learn about pollution, ecosystems, and what it takes to be a true caretaker of the environment.

Special Programming for the very youngest learners …these experiences invite adults and children to lean together through stories, movement, songs, and activities, and are designed for children 2 – 4 years of age…

Digging in the Mud
Ages 2-4
Discover what really goes on beneath your soil, where wiggly worms, plant roots, and a variety of creatures live and grow.

All Learning Lab programs last approximately 40 minutes

MSC THEATER PRESENTATION

Physics Pheats
Grades: 3-12
Length: 45 min
Capacity: 140
Marvel at the array of physical science phenomena available in the MSC Theater. This live presentation explores topics related to matter, energy, forces, and motion.

OBSERVATORY PRESENTATIONS
View the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars through the eye of the Maryland Science Center’s Alvan Clark & Sons antique refracting telescope.

The Observatory is not a climate controlled environment-the temperature inside is the same as the temperature outside. Please dress according to the day’s weather.

Our Star, the Sun
Capacity: 25
Grades: 3rd – 12th
Discover the Sun's secrets while exploring sunspots, prominences, layers of the Sun, solar flares and the solar wind. Students use the Observatory's telescope to safely view the Sun, if the sky is clear.

SPACELINK PROGRAMS
Explore cutting-edge research and the latest, up-to-date discoveries in space science from the SpaceLink gallery.

Missions: Possible – NEW THIS YEAR!
Grades 4–12
Length: 50 minutes
Capacity: 15
Blast off for an out of this world experience! Work together just like a team of real engineers to design and plan a manned mission to space covering everything from how to get where you’re going to what you’ll need to get there!

It’s Only Rocket Science – NEW THIS YEAR!
Grades 4–12
Length: 50 minutes
Capacity: 15
Don’t let gravity keep you down! Have a blast discovering that rocket science is really quite simple! We’ll discover how and why rockets work, and then you launch your own!

Roller Coaster Physics – NEW THIS YEAR!
Grades 4–10
Length: 50 minutes
Capacity: 15
Explore the ups, downs and all arounds of roller coasters! Discover how physics and energy helped earn roller coasters their nickname of “scream machines!” Then design and build your own!

The Sun: Our Fiery Neighbor
Grades: 3-12
Time: 50 minutes
Capacity: 24
Learn the answers to your burning questions about the Sun in this two part program presented by SpaceLink and the Observatory. Students will discover the secrets of our Sun and, on a clear day, venture to the roof top to safely view the Sun through our telescope!

TERRALINK PROGRAMS
The Maryland Science Center's newest "Link" gallery explores our dynamic planet and the global affects of the forces of nature.

Please Note: All TerraLink programs can accommodate a maximum capacity of 15 students. Program duration is 50 minutes.

Ocean Outlook
Grades 4-8
Capacity: 15
What is the future of our oceans? How are human activities changing the waters and the critters within? Play our fishing game to see whether our oceans will survive.

Healthy Planet, Healthy People
Grades 5-9
Capacity: 15
How does “save the planet” help save ourselves? Find out just how that greenhouse effect affects us with an active outdoor experience.

Finding Earthquakes–NEW THIS YEAR!
Grades 7-12
Capacity: 15
Learn how to turn those crazy squiggles from seismographs into location and size of earthquakes.

Survival Island–NEW THIS YEAR!
Grades 4-12
Capacity: 15
How would you get fresh water if you were stranded on a desert island, or in a hurricane-ravaged seaside city? Find out in this hands-on challenge.

Hurricane Strike–NEW THIS YEAR!
Grades 7-12
Capacity: 15
How does a hurricane get its fuel? Map real hurricane paths and chart what happens to the ocean as these mega-storms pass by.

WHAT ELSE SHOULD I KNOW?
Maryland Science Center membership does not apply to the Home School Event. If you decide to participate in school group programming, a per person fee does apply.

QUESTIONS?
Phone our Talk-to-a-Teacher Information Line at 410-545-5890, or e-mail us with any questions concerning programming options for your children and/or group.