5th Grade

Imagine changing the color of your skin or even your shape in an instant. If you were a cephalopod, you wouldn't have to imagine it--you could to it! Scientists are closely studying them to learn how to mimic their...

The Horten Ho 229 was an experimental German airplane created by the Nazis. They believed its innovative design would help them win the war. Although this experimental aircraft never worked as planned, it's still...

How do you build a reusable spacecraft that is strong enough to hold up in outer space, but is light enough to fly? How do you design it to meet the needs of the astronauts it carries? In the 1970s, NASA...

Many butterfly species are in decline. Fortunately, people can see butterflies up close at butterfly exhibits. What steps are required to plan and create a butterfly exhibit? Learn about the challenges that...

Visitors from across the country and around the world flock to U.S. national parks to explore their beauty. Little do they know that the National Park Service (NPS) has been guiding and enhancing their experience for...

Many people go to museums to see dinosaur fossils. But visitors would never get to see these displays without the work of paleontologists. They locate fossils, dig them up, and send them to a lab to be cleaned and...

Electric vehicles, or EVs, have been around for over 100 years. The first EV that people could buy went on sale in 1894. The "Electrobat" could go 25 miles on one battery charge. Today's EVs are light, speedy,...

Volcanoes can burn hotter than anything on the Earth's surface. But there is no doubt that nothing is cooler than a volcano! Volcanologists are scientists who study volcanoes. Learn about this fascinating STEAM...

Ancient Polynesians were some of the best navigators in history. They sailed double-hulled outrigger canoes across great distances and settled in all the major islands in the Pacific Ocean hundreds of years before...

The Inka were master farmers, builders, and planners who lived in the Andes Mountains. This challenging environment required the Inka to develop innovative engineering solutions in order to farm, live, and thrive...

How much life can fit in one cubic foot? Photographer David Liittschwager and zoologist Chris Meyer learned the answer is: quite a lot! Learn how studying life in just one cubic foot can teach us about life on the...

What is it like to eat, sleep, and work in space? Find out as you read about life in a space station orbiting above Earth! Discover how astronauts function in a challenging environment that includes weightlessness,...