Students and teachers use scientific inquiry to explore scientific phenomena in this unique, fun learning environment. RMSC Education staff work directly with you to accommodate your curricular needs, guiding your students' curiosity and discovery.
Click Here for Homeschool Programs
50 minutes long.
$8 per student (includes self-guided visits to exhibitions; due to material costs, a $1 additional fee applies for "Solids, Liquids, and Gases")
Reservations required.
Minimum charge for 15 students applies.
Maximum of 25 students.
Available Tuesday - Friday, 10am-3pm.
In the Carlson Inquiry Room, your students are the scientists and get hands-on! Students will use the inquiry process to…
♦ Make observations.
♦ Discover connections.
♦ Ask deep questions.
♦ Explain scientific phenomena!
♦ Develop a love of learning.
♦ Explore the world.
We will work with you to accommodate your curricular needs.
Inquiry Room Experience
Available for Grades Pre-K
Perfect for PreK or daycare.
Explore science in a less structured setting as you learn and play in the unique Carlson Inquiry Room. Meet our live animals and investigate magnetism. Learn about states of matter as you make your own slime to take home.
A: 1,2 ; ELA: 1,4 ; MST: 1 ,2, 4LE(1,2,3,4,5,6,7), 4PS(3,4,5), 5,6
Suggested Connections: Animals and Plants Around Us; How Things work; Light Here | Light Now; Discovery Stations; Object Theater: Natural Treasures;
Discovering Weather
Available for Grades 2, 3-5, 6
Learn about how heat moves (convection). Experiment with static electricity to learn about lightning. Become a water molecule and travel through the water cycle, making a water-cycle bracelet to take home.
A: 1,2 ; ELA4
MST: 1(1,2), 2, 4PS(1,2,3,4), 4LE(1,3,6), 5(1,2,4), 6(1,2,3,4,5)
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone/Discover Our Weather; Object Theater: Natural Treasures; Live Science: Electricity; Liquid Nitrogen, Pressure; Planetarium: Our Changing Seasons (K-2); Face of Earth (3-6)
Exploring Space
Available for Grades 2, 3-5, 6
Explore the different planets in our solar system. Learn about the phases of the moon. Do hands-on activities about constellations in our night sky.
MST: 1(1,2), 2, 4PS(1,2,3,4), 5(1,2,4) 6(1,2,3,4,5)
Suggested Connections: Planetarium: K-2: Fly Me to the Moon, I See the Sky, Our Changing Seasons, Sun, Moon and Stars, My Planets; 3-5: Cycles in the Sky, Solar System 2013, Fly Me to the Moon, Challenger Learning Center; 6: Solar System 2013.
Fantastic Forces
Available for Grades K-2, 3-5
Experiment with movement and collisions. Learn about friction, gravity, inertia and Newton's Laws of Motion.
A: 1,2 ; ELA: 4
MST: 1(1,2), 2, 4PS(1,2,3,4), 4LE(1,3,6), 5(1,2,4) 6(1,2,3,4,5)
Suggested Connections: How Things Work; KEVA Planks; Raceways; Object Theater: Natural Treasures; Planetarium: Challenger Learning Center (Grade 5).
Simple Machines
Available for Grades K-2, 3-5,
Experiment with pulley systems and ramps. Learn about wheels, levers, gears, screws and more.
A: 1,2 ; ELA: 4 ; MST: 1(1,2), 2, 5(1,2,4), 6(1,2,3,6)
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; How Things Work; KEVA Planks; Raceways; Object Theater: Natural Treasures; Planetarium: Challenger Learning Center (Grade 5)
Simple Machines & Fantastic Forces
Available for Grades K-2, 3-5
Combine these two favorites into one session:
Experiment with pulley systems and ramps. Explore simple machines while learning about friction, gravity, and inertia.
A: 1,2 ; ELA: 4
MST: 1(1,2), 2, 4PS(1,2,3,4), 4LE(1,3,6), 5(1,2,4) 6(1,2,3,4,5,6)
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; How Things Work; KEVA Planks; Raceways; Object Theater: Natural Treasures; Planetarium: Challenger Learning Center (Grade 5)
Insect Investigations
Available for Grades PreK-2, 3-5
Explore the wonder of butterfly metamorphosis. Learn how insects communicate and meet the live critters that make their home in the RMSC Carlson Inquiry Room.
A: 1,2 ; ELA: 1,4 ; MST: 1,4LE(1,2,3,4,5,6,7),5,6
Suggested Connections: Animals and Plants Around Us; Discovery Stations: Bone, Fur, Tooth and Tool, Dinosaur Discovery, Mastodon Discovery, Predator-Prey Discovery; Planetarium: Amazing Journeys
Magnet Exploration
Available for Grades PreK-2, 3-4
Learn about magnetic fields and experiment with materials that are magnetic. Explore attraction and repulsion. Make magnets float.
A: 1, 2 ; ELA4 ; MST: 1(1,2), 2, 4PS(3,4,5), 6(1,2,4,6)
Suggested Connections: How Things Work; Live Science: Electricity; Discovery Station: Magnetism & Electricity Discovery (3-4)
Rocks, Fossils, and More
Available for Grades K-2, 3-5, 6
Explore fossils from the RMSC teaching collection. Sort rocks into three groups and learn about the minerals that make up rocks.
A: 1,2 ; ELA4 ; MST: 1(1,2), 2, 4LE(1,3,6), 6(1,2,3,4,5)
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Expedition Earth; Life Long Ago Timeline (3-6); Stories in Stone (3-5); Rochester's Geology (6); The BUBL Project (Grade 6); Object Theater: Natural Treasures; Planetarium: Challenger Learning Center (Grade 5)
Solids, Liquids and Gases
Available for Grades K-2, 3-5, 6
Explore the states of matter. Do hands-on experiments to compare and contrast solids, liquids and gases. Learn about polymers and make slime to take home.
Due to material costs a $1 per child additional fee applies.
A: 1,2 ; ELA4 ; MST: 1(1,2), 2, 4PS(3,4,5), 6(1,2,3,5)
Suggested Connections: AdventureZone; Expedition Earth; Live Science: Liquid Nitrogen, The Chemistry of Hydrogen, Pressure; Planetarium: Our Changing Seasons (K-2); Solar System 2013 (6)
For more information about the curriculum or customization options, call Kara Verno at (585) 271-4552 x377
For reservations or scheduling questions call (585) 697-1942.