There is a world of science in your own backyard!
Backyard Science makes science personal and accessible to everyone. Come and discover the diversity of life and the dynamic range of scientific processes that happen every day all around you.
Step into our backyard and discover that it contains a large, diverse population of living things within different habitats and ecosystems. Experiment with scientific processes that teach about the sky, rainbows, weather, geology, patterns in nature, and latitude.
Learn about the invertebrates and vertebrates that inhabit a backyard, see their backyard habitat, and discover how they interact in a backyard ecosystem.
This exhibit includes:
- Species diversity. Compare the species diversity and biomass of insects to other species of animals.
- Why the sky is blue. Learn about a phenomenon called “Ryleigh Scattering” and experiment with the properties of scattered light.
- Rainbows. Make your own rainbows and learn that rainbows in sunlight are actually circular.
- Backyard astronomy. What stars are visible from your backyard? Learn about the complexities of celestial navigation.
- Weather. Learn about different conditions of the air during various weather phenomena.
- Latitude. Learn how the angle of the North Star can be used to determine latitude in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Plant life in the back yard. Learn about plant pollination and how insects work to perform this necessary task.
- The patterns found in life that live in the backyard. Discover patterns that fireflies create during different weather and temperature conditions. Learn why fireflies flash, and that each species has a different signal pattern.
Check the schedule and see when Backyard Science will be near you!
This exhibit was developed by the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, Arkansas. This science exhibition ties in with Arkansas Science Curriculum Frameworks at multiple grade levels.