Classroom Connections

Discover the amazing work of honey bees! Students will learn how bees pollinate flowers, help plants grow, and support the foods we enjoy through interactive, hands-on exploration.

Dive into an exciting journey where your students will uncover the wonders of air through a hands-on adventure! In this captivating program, kids will explore the essential attributes of air and then unleash their creativity by crafting their own air dragons. Watch as they put their newfound knowledge to the test, experiencing the magic of air movement firsthand. Book this dynamic classroom experience now to inspire curiosity and hands-on learning in your students!

Bring Kansas to life in your classroom! Students will explore our state's unique symbols through an engaging story, hands-on activities, sensory exploration, and a creative craft. This interactive program introduces young learners to the people, places, plants, and animals that make Kansas special.

Dive into the colorful world of Eric Carle with our captivating program! Students will explore the life of this beloved author and illustrator, followed by an engaging storytelling session and a hands-on craft activity that brings his enchanting books to life.

Ignite your students’ imagination with an out-of-this-world journey through our solar system. Through captivating stories and hands-on activities, they’ll discover the sun’s fiery energy, the moon’s magical phases, and the sparkling stars that light up our night sky. This interactive program brings science and literacy together to inspire curiosity, critical thinking, and a lifelong love of space exploration. Perfect for sparking wonder in any classroom!

Bug out about bugs! In this hands-on program students will discover what truly makes a bug a bug, from unique anatomy to fascinating habitats and quirky behaviors. Then, they’ll step into the role of being junior entomologists, closely observing real preserved specimens and documenting their findings through field notes and scientific sketches. Perfect for connecting science with observation, inquiry, and creativity. This is one buzzworthy experience your class won’t want to miss!

Flashing colors, fluffing feathers, roars, rumbles, dancing, and chattering: all types of creatures have a lot to say! In this program we will learn all about communication, who does it, and how it’s done. We used to think that language separated us from other animals, but it turns out that there are many ways to send messages, and we are just one of many creatures that “talk”.

How big were the dinosaurs really? How do fossils form and what do they tell us about these giant and not so giant animals? We will have fun measuring and comparing sizes before students design their own dinosaurs.

Today, basketball is one of the most popular sports in the United States and around the world! But just over a hundred years ago, it was a simple gym activity created by Dr. James Naismith for his students. Discover the origins of basketball, then use your creativity to design a brand new sport using your very own ball and cup game craft!

Discover the colorful world underneath your feet as we explore minerals in this creative program! Students will learn about what minerals are, where they come from, how scientists classify them, and be introduced to a rainbow of minerals. We’ll finish by painting a bookmark with mineral-based paints and getting hands-on with some mineral specimens. 

Sound is all around us, but we can't see it! In this activity, your class will explore how energy, vibrations, and waves create sound. Students will learn how sound is produced and travels through the air using visualizations and models. At the end, they’ll apply their knowledge to create a straw pan flute to take home.

Find out about some of humanity's oldest measurements and how they lead to our modern day units. Students will also be tasked with creating their own unit of length and measuring items around their classroom.

Let’s become cave explorers as we investigate how Earth's natural processes create underground landscapes and shape the living things that inhabit them. We will experience how groundwater can dissolve or deposit rock to create caverns and cave formations like stalactites. We will also compare surface and cave habitats and animals’ adaptations to each, with a specific emphasis on Kansas bats. Students will create a paper cave populated with bats to take home.

We will be exploring animal life cycles simple to complex. Students will dive into food chains and energy pyramids while playing interactive games.

Students will learn about the history of Topeka. Starting with Native Americans and going throught the mid 20th century, this program focuses on some of the most important moments in Topeka history. After learning about the Capitol city, students will make a recreation of the capitol building dome out of foil.

Get ready for a creative word adventure! Students will explore the magic of poetry by diving into syllables, synonyms, and vivid imagery. Through playful word games and inspiring examples, they’ll unleash their creativity and write their own beautiful poems. This hands-on program builds language skills and sparks imagination. Perfect for any classroom looking to make poetry fun and meaningful.

Many Kansas communities rely on groundwater every day—but where does that water come from, and how does it get underground? Let’s explore the water cycle, aquifers, wells, and the importance of conserving one of Kansas's most valuable natural resources. Students will discover how water travels beneath their feet and why protecting groundwater matters for the future.

Students will learn how living organisms are classified and given scientific names through binomial nomenclature. This includes the who, how, and why of naming species, along with fun examples like animals named after cartoons, books, and celebrities. Students will also become "pastaologists," sorting pasta by physical traits and creating names for new pasta "species."

Ignite your students' curiosity with an inspiring exploration of Amelia Earhart's adventurous life and the science of flight! This engaging program not only dives into the story of the pioneering Kansan aviator but also lets students design, build, and test their own paper planes, making science come alive in their classroom.

Learn about Earth’s ancient past as we study exotic extinct animals. We’ll discuss a zoo of fossilized life from an “abnormal shrimp” to one of the first fish that crawled onto land. Students will get to practice their paleontology skills and uncover their own fossils to take home.

Bring the vibrant heritage of Kansas to life in your classroom with our immersive State Symbols program! Students will engage all five senses as they explore and interact with Kansas's unique symbols, uncovering fascinating facts and experiencing the rich tapestry of our state's identity. This hands-on, sensory-rich adventure will captivate young learners and deepen their connection to Kansas.

Let’s go global. Students will be introduced to globes and maps, including different map projections, cardinal directions, and map scales. Students will craft a compass before we explore a map of Topeka and even get to do some sneaky math!

Discover Kansas’ ancient past. Students will explore our three state fossils and imagine swimming with mosasaurs or roaming with saber-toothed tigers. They will also get hands-on experience using real paleontology techniques to repair fossils bringing science and history to life in a fun, interactive way!