HomeSchool/Library Outreach STEM Programs

School/Library Outreach STEM Programs

Read carefully all the details before booking an event. (Quicklink: https://nescitech.org/schools)

We bring the science to you!

Would you like New England Sci-Tech to provide an educational workshop on a science topic that is too hard or expensive to conduct at your school or library? Our programs are combined demonstrations and hands-on activities optimized for students in grades 3 and up. (Also see the Outreach Traveling Planetarium page.)

Most Popular Programs
Our most requested and popular program, Space Rocks!, is a 40 min time program with a 15 min PowerPoint about the Solar System, the Milky Way, and our place in the Universe (concluding with 3D glasses segment) followed by a 10 min discussion of Meteorites and Asteroids. Another 10 min is for passing around meteorites including a 5-lb iron meteorite from the asteroid belt a rock older than any on Earth. We can adapt the program to your curriculum and include a tour around the night sky with Stellarium to examine planets, the moon, constellations, nebulae, and galaxies. We also can discuss current events in rocketry and space science, if desired.

In another often requested program, Rocketry Explorer, we make paper rockets that launch with air pressure in a ballfield or courtyard, and we talk about current events in space science and the plan to send astronauts to the moon and Mars. We talk about gravity and demonstrate propulsion (using air power), and examine several models of the current rockets being launched (NASA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, etc.) as well as the historic Apollo-era Saturn V and Space Shuttle. At the end of the workshop students launch their rockets outside and take them home.

STEPS to Inquire about or Reserve an Outreach Program

STEP 1: Read carefully all logistics information on this page.

STEP 2: Fill out the School/Library Inquiry Form so we can calculate the logistics for your event.

STEP 3: Reserve a DATE in the Scrolling Calendar below.

Traveling Spectroscopy program

Program Pricing
The base price for a visit, $125, includes up to 30 min setup and 30 min packing time, travel within 10 miles of our Natick location, and a single class program of up to 60 minutes 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.

Seasonal Availability
From Sep 15 to Jun 15 we can travel on many Mon, Wed, or Fri mornings, 7:30 am to 2:00 pm, which includes setup and packing time. Occasionally we can do an evening program for school STEM fairs. In the Summer from Jun 15 to Sep 15 we cannot do daytime shows.

Travel Distance
We usually take requests only within the Metrowest Boston area because extra travel time cuts into our busy schedule. If your event is within 12 miles travel distance from 16 Tech Circle, Natick, as calculated on Google Maps, then you may reserve a time in the calendar. If outside that radius, please email first to inquire if we can make an exception. A travel charge applies to each mile beyond the first 12 at $5/mile ($2.50/mi each way).

Check Us Out
You or your teachers are invited to visit New England Sci-Tech to meet your instructor and see what materials or equipment we will bring to your school. Email us to arrange for a date or choose an Open House and Tour from our calendar.

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)

60-minute Cryogenics Exploration Program – a popular custom program. Extra charge of $20 per class.
– Freeze flowers - learn about liquid Nitrogen, heat vs. cold, Celsius vs. Kelvin scale, while freezing leaves or flowers.
– Freeze balloons - learn about air pressure and phase changes while submerging balloons in liquid Nitrogen.
– Hovering magnets - learn about low temperature magnetism and quantum pinning, while experimenting with superconductors.
– Mag-Lev track - learn about mag-lev trains and imagine other possibilities while racing superconductors on a track.
– Freeze Nitrogen - we use a vacuum chamber to freeze Nitrogen solid to replicate the surface of Pluto.

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. Work with teammates to break water into Hydrogen and Oxygen with electrolysis lab experiment.
– 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.

Portable planetarium shows – live star shows or educational multimedia shows.

The 5-meter diameter dome requires a room with open floor space of at least 20×20 feet by 11 feet high.

There is no bottom, so students sit on the floor on a large cushioned mat. Floor MUST be vacuumed and clean.

Assuming a class with 1 teacher, there is room for approximately 26 elementary school children, 20 middle school children, or 16 high schoolers or adults.

Because of the expense and complexity of the planetarium, we must charge rental as shown on the Outreach Traveling Planetarium page.

Outreach_Planetarium_at_Sprague_School_Wellesley_2024-04_IMG_6474.jpeg