School/Library Outreach STEM Programs

Program Pricing
The base price for a visit, $95, includes 30 min setup and 30 min packing time, travel within 10 miles of our Natick location, and a single class program from our standard offerings. Additional class programs on the same day are $45 each. Program blocks should typically be 50 to 60 minutes for the best value and full program.

Additional Travel Pricing
Travel to/from a local metro west location, within 10 miles of our Natick location, is free. Each additional mile beyond the first 10 miles is billed at $5/mile to cover both time and expenses. Mileage is calculated on Google maps using the most efficient route the instructor will take from our Natick location.

When you are ready to book an event, please fill out the School/Library Outreach Inquiry Form and reserve a date/time block below.

60-minute Astronomy Exploration Program – our most popular custom program, ready to order.
  – Small telescope is set up indoors to look through and learn how they work (view an object across the room).
  – On a warm, sunny day we can set up a Solar Telescope to view the sun safely (sun spots and solar prominences).
  – 75-lb and 5-lb meteorites for students to hold/touch and learn about (nickle-iron meteorites from the asteroid belt).
  – Special request for a lunar meteorite so students can touch and learn about a rock from the moon.
  – A Moon Scale lets students weigh themselves "on the moon."
  – We offer a 25-minute powerpoint program about astronomy, scale and distances, telescopes, meteorites, and current events in space science.
  – The show ends with 3-D glasses and a tour of space, planets, and the moon in 3D.


50-minute Fossils Exploration Program – an enrichment program for biology or astronomy classes.
  – Dinosaur Eggs – touch or hold a real egg from a Hadrosaurus; 65 million years old! Learn how an astronomical event caused dinosaurs to go extinct.
  – Megalodon Teeth – hold a giant tooth from a dinosaur-era shark.
  – Amber with mosquitos – discuss whether "Jurassic Park" could really happen.
  – Petrified wood – a piece to a tree that has turned to stone.
  – Other fossil items available; no replicas, these are real.
  – 5-lb meteorite to hold/touch and learn about dinosaur extinction (nickle-iron meteorite from the asteroid belt)

50-minute Spectroscopy Exploration Program – an enrichment program for chemistry or astronomy classes. (gas-tubes, no flames)
  – Learn about prisms, diffraction gratings, Sir Isaac Newton, electromagnetic spectrum, wavelengths of light, structure of atoms, electron shells, periodic table, quantum energy.
  – Use spectroscopes to view white light from the overhead lights to see a full spectrum.
  – Use spectroscopes to view various gases to see the unique spectrum of each element.
  – Learn about the spectrum of Hydrogen, Helium, Nitrogen, Neon, Argon, and several others.
  – Learn how electrons absorb and give off quanta energy to create the colors of the spectrum we see.
  – Learn how astronomers use observed spectra to know what elements exist in distant stars.

Other 50-minute Exploration Programs that we can bring to you: 

  – SPACE - Exploring Rocketry  – building air-powered paper rockets, launching them outside and learning about propulsion and physics. 
  – SPACE - Exploring Star Patterns (2025-09-16) – constellations and how they got their names, mythology vs science. Design your own constellation and myth. Explore Stellarium, a planetarium software you can use at home.
  – SPACE - Exploring Meteorites – rocks from space, experiment with them to see what they’re made of. Hold a rock from the moon. 
  – LIGHT - Exploring Mirrors and Lenses – learning how light reflects and refracts, how microscopes and telescopes work. Make a periscope.
  – CHEMISTRY - Exploring Atoms and Molecules – what things are made of, reactions, compounds. Make molecules of H₂O, CO₂, and O². 
  – CHEMISTRY - Exploring Chemistry – chemical reaction of baking soda and vinegar. Make exploding baggies and mini soda rockets. 
  – CHEMISTRY - Exploring Polymorphism – experiment with a plastic material that changes phase so you can mold it, insert an LED, and make beautiful light-up ornaments to take home.
  – ELECTRICITY - Exploring Static Electricity – explore +/- charges, make static using balloons and friction, use a Van de Graff generator. 

60-minute Electronics Concepts program – a non-soldering activity in basic DC circuits and components.

  – An Introduction to basic Direct Current (DC) circuits using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and speakers
  – Students quickly create a couple of simple circuits that illustrate diodes, polarity, voltage, current, resistance.
  – Students are given specific tasks that "experiment" with resistance and diode polarity.
  – We then jump to a fun, yet challenging concept, the "space gun" that makes noise using a speaker.
  – When the circuit is ready, tests show a steady "pew, pew, pew" sound like in every sci-fi movie ever.
  – Now students are given various disc capacitors to add to the circuit to change the pitch of the sounds.
  – Next the students experiment with various electrolytic capacitors to vary the delay and make siren sounds.
  – The room will become noisy with sirens and student chatter and laughter.
  – We will end the session by demonstrating a homemade LED nightlight and handing out take-home kits.

50-minute Solar Telescope program – an astronomer will bring solar telescope for an outdoor educational event.

  – A solar telescope is used to look at the sun safely during the day, weather permitting.
  – A powerpoint presentation shows how the sun works and what you can see through the telescope.
  – See the turbulence of the sun's surface as Hydrogen fuses into Helium.
  – Solar flares bigger than the Earth can be viewed leaping off the surface of the sun.
  – Learn about how the sun's fusion works and the difference between fission and fusion.
  – Learn about the electromagnetic spectrum and how fast light travels.
  – Learn how long it takes the solar wind (particles) to reach Earth and how it affects us.
  – Learn about the Earth's magnetosphere and how it protects us.