TEK-based Activities
Please choose a TEK-based activity for your class field trip.
The price of the activity includes each child's admission to
SPARK! and the SPARK! Creative Playground.
Design Your Own Light-up Planet
Design Your Own Light-Up Planet allows participants to learn about the planets in our solar system, how they relate to the sun, and recognize patterns in the sky. They then create a painting of one of the planets and have time to create their own unique light-up planet.
Suitable for grades 2-5.
Fine Arts & Science
$14
Roller Coaster Design Challenge
This activity inspires ingenuity by combining simple materials such as flat wooden sticks with physics. Participants learn about force, motion, gravity, and energy while team working to design and build a roller coaster track for a marble. Participants can illustrate a creative expression through their roller coaster design and show original artwork.
This activity is only suitable for groups of 50 or fewer participants, grades 4-9.
Fine Arts, Science, Mathematics & Engineering
$14
Picasso Perspective
Participants will learn how Pablo Picasso used geometric shapes to create works of original artwork through creative expression. They will learn how to identify obtuse, right and acute angles and then draw and create a cubist-inspired painting using the angles.
This activity is suitable for grades 5 – 9.
Fine Arts & Mathematics
$14
Mondrian Math
Participants will discover the popular artistic style of Piet Mondrian, a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. They will discuss Mondrian's use of grids and right angles, then learn how to identify obtuse, right and acute angles. Using their knowledge, they will create their own Mondrian-style painting on canvas boards, using acrylics and painter's tape.
This activity is suitable for groups of 50 or fewer participants, grades 5 – 9.
Fine Arts & Mathematics
$14
3D Construction: Homes, Buildings and Skyscrapers
Participants will review 2D images of buildings that have integral 3D shapes to create their own buildings, skyscrapers, and or homes. They will then identify and practice construction skills using various art materials to create their original 3D designs as a creative expression.
This activity is suitable for groups of 50 or fewer participants, grades 5-9.
Fine Arts, Science, Mathematics & Engineering
$13
Castles & Catapults
Participants work in groups to design and build castles and catapults using simple materials such as cardboard boxes, flat wooden sticks, and rubber bands. This lesson reviews force, motion, energy and the changes that occur. After they build their catapults, they test for distance and accuracy. Then, they use iteration to improve their designs, take ideas from their environment and have creative expression. They learn about the physics of stored energy and how fulcrum points change the results. When their catapults and castles are complete, they try to take down their opponent’s castle by launching their boulder/fluff balls.
Suitable for grades 4-8.
Fine Arts, Science & Engineering
$13
Candy Cars
Participants plan and test model vehicles using various materials and learn about force, motion, gravity, and energy while working in teams and creating original designs as a form of creative expression. Participants then review the parts of the scientific method and use it to test their vehicle and learn about independent, dependent, and controlled variables.
Suitable for grades 4-8
Fine Arts, Science & Engineering
$13
Aboriginal Dot Art
Aboriginal Dot Art allows participants to learn social studies skills by creating visual materials as a form of expression through dot art and iconic symbols. Participants learn about animals that live in Australia including kangaroos, lizards, koalas and platypus, and how Aborigines used dots and symbols to create original artwork and stories.
Suitable for all grades.
Fine Arts & Science
$12
Geometric Monsters
Participants use geometric shapes to design imaginary monster characters. They then write down the details of the character they drew, discuss the personality of their monsters, and other characteristics to be used in creating a story.
Suitable for grades 2-4.
Fine Arts & Mathematics
$12
Butterfly Lifecycle Collage
Participants learn the different stages of the butterfly, an insect with unique stages during the life cycle. Participants review and create small drawings of each phase. After finishing, participants then use their drawings and other materials to create a 3D butterfly life cycle collage.
Suitable for grades 2-3.
Fine Arts & Science
$12
Frankenstein Insects
Students learn insect body parts and use various materials to build their own insects.
Recommended for all grades.
Fine Arts & Science
$12
Picasso Picado
Picado is the popular Mexican folk-art of paper cutting. Participants in this activity will learn how Pablo Picasso used geometric shapes to create works of original artwork through creative expression. They learn how to identify obtuse, right and acute angles and then draw and create a cubist-inspired illustration of an animal using the angles.
Suitable for grades 2-4.
Fine Arts & Math
$12
SPARK-tacular Zoo
Students learn about animal classifications while creating a team zoo that includes a mammal, bird, fish, reptile or amphibian. Within their individual artwork, they include facts about their animal classifications as well as any unique adaptations their animal may have to their environment.
Suitable for grades 2-4.
Fine Arts & Science
$13
Water Cycle Spinners
Water Cycle Spinners teach a recognizable pattern in the natural world on Earth. Participants review the different stages of the water cycle – precipitation, accumulation, evaporation, transpiration, and condensation – and create creative expression drawings of each phase. After finishing each phase, participants transform their phases into a spinner with a transparent spinner with sparkling, moving “water droplets.”
Suitable for grades 3 and up.
Fine Arts & Science
$12
Thaumatropes: the Science of Illusion
Thaumatropes are optical illusions that operate by switching between two images so rapidly that the images appear as one image. This unit explores continuous streams of motion and illusions of motion. Participants learn that forces cause change and energy exists in many forms by investigating the phenomenon of persistence of vision. We create thaumatropes that go along with your unit, or from the examples provided. Students can do express-motion animation through their self-created art thaumatrope as an original artwork.
Suitable for grades 2 and up.
Fine Arts & Science
$12
Fractions with Pixel Puppies
Students will learn about fractions by creating pixel art. A variety of template with different characters will be made available, or students can create their own designs.
Suitable for grades 3 and up.
Fine Arts & Math
$12
Two-frame Animation
A 2-frame animation is an optical illusions that operate by switching between two images so rapidly that the images appear to move. This unit explores continuous streams of motion and illusions of motion. Participants learn that forces cause change and energy exists in many forms by investigating the phenomenon of persistence of vision. Students will create 2-frame animation through their self-created original artwork.
Suitable for grades 2 and up.
Fine Arts & Science
$12
