Workshop Topics by Grade

Click here to view the Minnesota Early Childhood Indicators of Progress and Minnesota K-12 Science Standards/Benchmarks addressed in these workshops.

Pre K + Kindergarten

60-minute workshop/$9.25 per student

Start Your Engineers 
Preschoolers will read a story, explore with materials and tools, and create a project.

Two topics are available:

  • Float objects in wind tubes and construct a sail car.

  • Engineer a bridge and create a bridge-building kit to take home.

Our Pre K workshops are intended for students who will be starting kindergarten the following fall (4 and 5-year-olds). These workshops are not a good fit for children under 4 due to developing fine motor skills and small pieces that can be put in mouths. Please request these workshops ONLY for Pre K and kindergarten students. Thank you!

Children and adults gathered around a table with small wooden boat models and colorful paper flags, in a room with bright green walls, participating in a group activity or game.
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Kindergarten - Grade 2

30-minute workshops/$8.75 per student

  • Experiment with the reflection and absorption of light. Design and build a colorful kaleidoscope to take home.

  • Become an aerospace engineer, and engineer your own aircraft catapult launching system similar to the ones found on the Navy’s aircraft carriers. When the plane is ready to go, send it flying! Great fit with Kindergarten and 2nd grade Science Benchmarks..

60-minute workshops/$9.25 per student

  • Learn about the flow of electricity and hook up different circuits to create a light to take home. Great fit with 1st grade Science Benchmarks.

  • Explore with our K’NEX building pieces. Practice sorting them and putting them together, then complete a building challenge. Great fit with Kindergarten and 2nd grade Science benchmarks.

  • Experiment with the reflection and absorption of light. Design and build a colorful kaleidoscope to take home.

  • Practice the engineering design process and use a glue gun to construct a small catapult. Find out how far you can fling an object. Great fit with 2nd grade Science Benchmarks.

  • Test different tools and materials, and use what you learn to figure out what tool works best with what material. Solve the mystery tool challenge.

  • Explore buoyancy with different materials, then build your own boat. Evaluate and improve your design, just like a real engineer!

  • Start with vibrations and the science of sound. Explore patterns and relationships of sound created by different materials. Construct an ear harp to take home. Great fit with 1st grade Science Benchmarks.

90-minute workshops/$11.75 per student

  • Learn how Dakota, Hmong, Mexican, Ojibwe, and Somali communities have traditionally engineered their homes. Investigate building techniques, experiment with materials, then design and create your own mini-dwelling. Great fit with 1st and 2nd grade Science Benchmarks..

A small catapult model made of cardboard, Popsicle sticks, and a plastic cup with a blue object inside, placed on a purple mat on a white table.
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Grades 3-6

30-minute workshops/$8.75 per student

  • Experiment with the reflection and absorption of light. Design and build a colorful kaleidoscope to take home. Great fit with 3rd grade Science Benchmarks.

  • Become an aerospace engineer, and engineer your own aircraft catapult launching system similar to the ones found on the Navy’s aircraft carriers. When the plane is ready to go, send it flying! Great fit with 5th grade Science Benchmarks.

60-minute workshops/$9.25 per student

  • Examine how light travels, changes direction, and is refracted. Build and engineer a colorful kaleidoscope to take home. Great fit with 3rd grade Science Benchmarks.

  • Practice the engineering design process and use a glue gun to construct a small catapult. Find out how far you can fling an object. Great fit with 5th grade Science Benchmarks.

  • How does electricity work? Experiment with the components of simple circuits: power, loads, wires, and switches. Test out ways that motors can be used, wire a circuit, and build your own motor-powered fan or wiggle bot to take home. Great fit with 5th grade Science Benchmarks.

  • Discover how engineers work to reduce erosion in the environment. Build a hillside out of dirt, then design an erosion mitigation plan using rocks, fabrics, wood, sand, and other materials. Test your design in a rain shower, then see if you can improve it. A great fit with 4th grade Science Benchmarks.

    This workshop was developed in partnership with our friends and engineers at Barr Engineering.

  • Become a Mechanical Engineer and explore the physics of motion with marbles. Investigate how energy changes with speed when objects collide, then build and take home your very own Newton’s Cradle. Great fit with 5th grade Science Benchmarks.

90-minute workshops/$11.75 per student

  • Use the engineering design process to design and construct your own maze, pinball, or pachinko game. Experiment with changes in speed and direction and the effects of gravity and friction. Uses hot glue guns. Great fit with 5th grade Science Benchmarks.

  • Work in teams using pasta, hot glue, and the Engineering Design Process to build the strongest bridge you can. Test how much weight it can hold before it breaks.

  • Learn how Dakota, Hmong, Mexican, Ojibwe, and Somali communities have traditionally engineered their homes. Investigate building techniques, experiment with materials, then design and create your own mini-dwelling. Great fit with 4th grade Science Benchmarks.

  • Discover the properties of electromagnetism by building an electromagnetic fishing pole and sorting game to take home. Great fit with 4th grade Science Benchmarks.

A purple and white pinwheel with the logo of the Works Museum and a green square in the center, placed on a wooden surface with a purple background.
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School-Age Care

The following workshops work well for mixed-age groups K-5.

30-minute workshops/$8.75 per student

  • Experiment with the reflection and absorption of light. Design and build a colorful kaleidoscope to take home.

  • Become an aerospace engineer, and engineer your own aircraft catapult launching system similar to the ones found on the Navy’s aircraft carriers. When the plane is ready to go, send it flying!

60-minute workshops/$9.25 per student

  • Examine how light travels, changes direction, and is refracted. Build and engineer a colorful kaleidoscope to take home.

  • Practice the Engineering Design Process and use a glue gun to construct a small catapult. Find out how far you can fling an object.

  • How does electricity work? Experiment with the components of simple circuits: power, loads, wires, and switches. Test out ways that motors can be used, wire a circuit, and build your own motor-powered fan or wiggle bot to take home.

  • Explore buoyancy with different materials, then build your own boat. Evaluate and improve your design, just like a real engineer!

  • Start with vibrations and the science of sound. Explore patterns and relationships of sound created by different materials. Construct an ear harp to take home. 

90-minute workshops/$11.75 per student

  • Learn how Dakota, Hmong, Mexican, Ojibwe, and Somali communities have traditionally engineered their homes. Investigate building techniques, experiment with materials, then design and create your own mini-dwelling.

A young boy holding a small geometric puzzle piece, smiling at the camera inside a classroom with tables, scissors, tape, and educational posters.
Request a Field Trip