Science on Wheels
Science on Wheels travels across Washington bringing engaging STEM programming to grades K–8 with a focus on interactive and hands-on programs that bring the joy of scientific exploration to life and empower learners to see themselves in STEM.
2025 Bookings
The 2024–2025 school year is full for Science on Wheels bookings. Please feel free to submit inquiries for the 2025-2026 school year and our Registration Team will get back to you once registration opens.
Registration Dates
Summer 2025 bookings: Now open!
2025-2026 school year bookings: Opening in Early Spring
Program Offerings & Logistics
We offer two program categories: Whole-Day Experiences and Partial-Day Experiences.
Download PacSci’s social narrative to learn more about what to expect during your Science on Wheels visit.
If you have any questions, please email our Program Registration Team or call (206) 443-2925. We’ll be happy to help you find the experience that is best suited to you!
| Whole-Day Experiences | |
|---|---|
| Audience | Entire school |
| Duration | 6–8 hours |
| Program Components | Includes: – Live science show for the entire school – 40-minute programs for individual classrooms – Pop-up exhibit |
| Participants Served | 10 workshop: Two educators visit up to 10 classrooms (up to 300 participants per day) 15 workshop: Three educators visit up to 15 classrooms (300-450 participants per day) |
| Price* | – Local 10 workshop: $2,500 – Local 15 workshop: $3,230 – Regional 10 workshop: $3,130 – Regional 15 workshop: $3,800 |
| Location | – Local and Western Washington year round – Eastern Washington seasonally (September–early November and March–June) |
| Partial-Day Experiences | |
|---|---|
| Audience | Community groups, libraries, camps, STEM nights, and more |
| Duration | 1–3 hours |
| Program Components | Choose one: – 45-minute live science show – Three 45-minute consecutive hands-on workshops – 3 hours with a pop-up exhibit |
| Participants Served | – Science Show: Up to 400 participants – Workshops: 1–3 classrooms or groups with up to 32 participants each – Exhibit Exploration: Up to 300 participants |
| Price* | $815 |
| Location | Local only** year round |
| Whole-Day Experiences | Partial-Day Experiences | |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | Entire school | Community groups, libraries, camps, STEM nights, and more |
| Duration | 6–8 hours | 1–3 hours |
| Program Components | Includes: – Live science show for the entire school – 40-minute programs for individual classrooms – Pop-up exhibit | Choose one: – 45-minute live science show – Three 45-minute consecutive hands-on workshops – 3 hours with a pop-up exhibit |
| Participants Served | 10 workshop: Two educators visit up to 10 classrooms (up to 300 participants per day) 15 workshop: Three educators visit up to 15 classrooms (300-450 participants per day) | – Science Show: Up to 400 participants – Workshops: 1–3 classrooms or groups with up to 32 participants each – Exhibit Exploration: Up to 300 participants |
| Price* | – Local 10 workshop: $2,500 – Local 15 workshop: $3,230 – Regional 10 workshop: $3,130 – Regional 15 workshop: $3,800 | $815 |
| Location | – Local and Western Washington year round – Eastern Washington seasonally (September–early November and March–June) | Local only** year round |
**Some partial-day programming is available regionally with additional travel fees. Inquire for more info.
Available PRograms
Programs are designed to support current science standards and spark curiosity and a love of exploration and experimentation in students. We have a catalog of classes for each age group for each theme. PacSci educators bring all of the activity materials for these programs, but schools will need to provide tables.
Paired Digital Discovery Workshop
Deepen the impact of your students’ Science on Wheels experience by participating in a live, 40-minute digital workshop in the days before or after your visit. Focusing on cross-cutting concepts and science and engineering practices, these virtual program prime learners to get the most out of their Science on Wheels program.
These programs can be delivered to up to 50 students at a time with as many workshops as needed to reach every participating student. Digital Discovery Workshops start at $250, with discounts for booking three or more programs. Qualified low-income schools may receive up to 100% off.
Our Registration Team will let you know about your paired Digital Discovery Workshop in your Science on Wheels confirmation. Learn more about Digital Discovery Workshops.
Chemistry
Available only for a Partial-Day Experience.
Radical Reactions: Heat! Light! Gas! Color change! Flames are blue and green, rainbows exist in glass tubes, and dollar bills catch fire. See our presenter throw fire, watch an ordinary Ziploc turn into an exploding yellow bag, and fall in love with the foam fountain finale in this lively yet fact-filled 40-minute live science show! Geared toward Grades 3-8.
Program requirements:
- Access to water and janitors/nonfood prep sink required
- Show must be performed inside (for fire purposes -will not work in wind)
- 12-foot ceiling height required
- Includes controlled fire demonstrations and chemical reactions
Engineering
Whole-Day Experiences – Includes all three components: Assembly, Exhibits, and Hands-On Workshops
Partial-Day Experiences – Choose one component
Assembly: Test! Re-design! Learn about some of the different kids of engineers and help our presenters test a design of their own.
Interactive Pop-Up Exhibits: Connect gears, engineer bridges, and try electrical engineering in this fun exhibit set that encourages problem-solving and building skills. Available in English and Spanish.
Hands-On Workshops:
- Grades K-2: Machine Makeover, Super Structures, Radical Robots
- Grades 3-5: Bridge the Gap, Get in Gear, Radical Robots
- Grades 5-8: Bridge the Gap, Enviro-Sleuths, Wired Up
Paired digital Discovery Workshop
Think Like an Engineer
What do bakers, astronauts and accountants have in common? They all need to think like engineers! In fact, we all do sometimes. Connect to your Science on Wheels experience while building important skills in empathy, reflection, and collaboration. Can you use these skills to think like an engineer in a design challenge – making the perfect sweater? (Grades K-8; content adapted to fit participant age)
Human & Animal Biology
Whole-Day Experiences – Includes all three components: Assembly, Exhibits, and Hands-On Workshops
Partial-Day Experiences – Choose one component
Assembly: Physiology is fascinating! Delve into the human body: examine the skeletal system, plot the path of a red blood cell through the circulatory system, and mull over how messages travel through the nervous system.
Interactive Pop-Up Exhibits: Circulate among exhibits that cover an amazing body of knowledge: biology! How steady is your balance? Where is your ulna? Assemble skeletons, analyze x-rays, and scrutinize skulls. Tease your mind with optical illusions and then look inside a real human brain! This exhibit includes real organs from both humans and animals. Available in English and Spanish.
Hands-On Workshops:
- Grades K-2: Animal Adventure, Bone Zone, You’ve Got Nerve
- Grades 3-5: Bone Zone, Piece of Mind, Visual Eyes
- Grades 5-8: Main Frame, Piece of Mind, Visual Eyes
paired digital discovery workshop
System Sleuths
Discover the systems all around us as we investigate what makes something a system. Explore a real heart specimen as we uncover the innerworkings of our circulatory system parts and how they work together. Reinforce key concepts of human body systems while exploring content from your Science on Wheels visit with crosscutting concepts in mind. (Grades K-8; content adapted to fit participant age)
Physics
Whole-Day Experiences – Includes all three components: Assembly, Exhibits, and Hands-On Workshops
Partial-Day Experiences – Choose one component
Assembly: This assembly pops with exciting and amazing demonstrations using a mystery liquid (liquid nitrogen) and a Van de Graff generator. Focus on physics as lids mysteriously pop off cans and hairdos become electrified!
Interactive Pop-Up Exhibits: It’s not magic; it’s physics! Explore amazing phenomena, from magnetism to magnification and from pendulums to periscopes. Can you overcome the strength of an electric magnet? Watt does it take to make an electrical circuit? Physics has it all: light, sound, electricity, and motion! Available in English and Spanish.
Hands-On Workshops:
- Grades K-2: Good Vibrations, Leaping Lenses, The Force
- Grades 3-5: Charged Up, Good Vibrations, Refraction Action
- Grades 5-8: Pulley Power, Refraction Action, Electric Magnets
Space Science
Whole-Day Experiences – Includes all three components: Assembly, Exhibits, and Hands-On Workshops
Partial-Day Experiences – Choose one component
Assembly: Help our astronaut-in-training prepare for a trip to the moon! This assembly takes off with a mind-blowing demonstration about balloons in the vacuum of space. Contemplate the real size of the moon and investigate astronomy tools like spectroscopes and telescopes.
Interactive Pop-Up Exhibits: Explore meteorites, constellations and Jupiter’s storms. You can be an astronomer when you manipulate a robot arm or look at the surface of Mars. What would the Big Dipper look like from the other side of the universe? How much do you weigh on Venus? Find out answers to these questions and more when Space Odyssey visits you! Available in English and Spanish.
Hands-On Workshops*:
- Grades K-2: Lighten Up, Your Place in Space, Up in the Sky (In Portable Planetarium)
- Grades 3-5: Cosmic Colors, Plan It Mars, Roving Robots, Star Search (In Portable Planetarium)
- Grades 5-8: Lunar Logic, Plan It Mars, Spectacular Spectra, Roving Robots, Star Search (In Portable Planetarium)\
*There are only two planetarium domes and can serve a maximum 240 students per day if the school meets the physical space requirements to host both planetariums.
paired digital discovery workshop
Starry Exploration
Get ready to blast off into the amazing world of astronomy! Discover how making observations and asking questions has expanded our understanding of the cosmos. Practice these essential skills while exploring real-world careers and building science identity in connection with the themes covered in your Science on Wheels visit.
Cancellation & Rescheduling
Preparation of staff and materials for your Science on Wheels program is extensive. If you need to cancel within 4 weeks of your scheduled visit, you will be invoiced for 50% of the program cost. If you cancel within 2 weeks, you will be invoiced for 100% of the program cost. If you need to reschedule your program, there is a 15% cost of the program fee to reschedule.
Offerings Map
1 – Local (Yellow)
- Whole-day experiences year-round
- Partial-day experiences year-round
2 – Western Washington Regional (Purple)
- Whole-day experiences year-round
- Partial-day experiences may be available seasonally
- Minimum of two program days required. Please book on consecutive dates with a nearby school.
Email our registration team to learn what is available in your area.
3 – Mountain and Eastern Regional (Red)
Whole-day experiences seasonally:
- September-early November
- March-June
- Minimum of two program days required. Please book on consecutive dates with a nearby school.
During the winter months, it is unsafe to travel over the mountain passes so we cannot offer programming during that time.
download our Educator Guide
Meet our PacSci Educators, learn more about our programs, and book a program for your students today!
Contact Us
To learn more about Science on Wheels for your students, please fill out the Science on Wheels Inquiry Form or email Education.
Generous support provided by
Additional support comes from The Baker Foundation, Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation, Verizon, Bamford Foundation, Hazel Miller Foundation, Hubbard Family Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee, Pacific Power Foundation, an anonymous donor, NASA under award No. NNX16AB86A and more than 1,500 individuals, companies and foundations that donate to Pacific Science Center each year, as well as more than 13,000 member households from every corner of Washington State and around the country. Learn more about ways you can support Science on Wheels and Pacific Science Center.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.