Activities

Explore UT is open to the general public with online programming that is accessible to all. Activities specifically designed for K-12 students include an indication of a suggested grade level, denoting the difficulty of the concept or activity presented. Some programs will require participants to join virtual platforms (Zoom, Brazen, etc.). Children who are participating in these programs must be monitored by an adult chaperone (parent, guardian or a teacher) in order to join the virtual platform. Some may require verification that a chaperone will be present in order to register for participation.
 
Anytime

Designing Super Paper Planes

Learn the basic science of air travel and test your engineering skills by creating a super paper plane.  The guide will provide design tips that may help your plane fly farther.  Once you've tested it in flight, you may want to choose to change the design to make it better.  The sky is the limit. 

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
Anytime

Urban Safari

This video tour, an Urban Safari of the UT Austin campus, explores the natural world of our urban spaces and includes common – and not so common – organisms that can be found on campus.  It highlights challenges facing urban nature and spotlights areas where there has been success in encouraging plants, animals and microbes to flourish.

College of Natural Sciences Science
Anytime

Connect with IT@UT

Come learn about the technology we use everyday! We have two different sets of activities based on grade level. For our middle, junior, and high school students, we have a technology crossword and word search. For our younger elementary students, we have two activities. The first is a presentation about S.M.A.R.T. safety tips when using technology and the internet. 

Information Technology Services Science
Anytime

Civil Engineering 101

Join us to learn more about Civil Engineering, what we do in ASCE, and how to build a bridge out of popsicle sticks!

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
Anytime

Discover how Plants Talk, Move and Feel

Join Greg Clark from the Freshman Research Initiative Cell Signaling team to discover how plants have unexpected abilities to sense and respond to stimuli and "talk with" each other and with animals. Learn how plants sense and respond to changes in their environment and how plants are able to communicate using a chemical language.

College of Natural Sciences Science
Anytime

Emergency Preparedness for Families

The discovery module on emergency preparedness will help teach kids and families about how to be prepared for emergencies such as fires, floods, winter storms, and man-made disasters. This short program will cover important information, such as a checklist on how to build an emergency kit, tips to remain safe in different types of emergencies, the dos and don’ts of certain unsafe situations, emergency numbers to keep on hand, and a mix of games and quizzes to engage viewers and facilitate learning. By being aware of the different roles, resources, and responsibilities involved in emergency preparedness and disasters, you can help keep yourself, your family, and community safe.

School of Nursing Science
Anytime

Build a Lung Model

Building a model of the human lungs and diaphragm using balloons to understand how they work. Our lungs are vital to our body's respiratory system and our ability to acquire oxygen. The bottom balloon works like your diaphragm, which is a strong muscle that expands and contracts, causing the lungs to fill with air and then emptying it.

Cockrell School of Engineering Science
Anytime

DNA Extraction Extravaganza

Ever wondered why you look similar to your parents, siblings, cousins, or grandparents? Ever wondered what makes you unique? Ever wondered what makes something living? The answer to all of those questions is deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. Learn what makes you unique by extracting DNA from fruits.

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
Anytime

Fun with Optics

Join the Biomedical Optics Graduate Organization (BOGO) to see fun and understandable experiments illustrating different properties of light. Examples of demonstrations will show how certain objects absorb light, how some materials glow when exposed to light, how light can be bent, and more!

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
Anytime

Design a Puffmobile

The Challenge: Create a racecar entirely powered by your breath. Setup a racetrack and race with your family and friends. The winner is the Puffmobile that gets across or reaches the finish line first. Huff and Puff and blow to get your racecar to move. Good luck and have fun!

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
Anytime

Mapping Organ Systems

Learn about the human body in this fun lesson on organ systems!

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
Anytime

Design a Lava Lamp

Design Your Own Lava Lamp. Create a lava lamp using oil and water. To create the lava lamp, you will learn how a chemical reaction generates the lava lamp effect.

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
Anytime

Meet Our Underwater Neighbors

In this series of short videos, you’ll meet members of the main groups of invertebrates that live in the ocean—anemones, corals, snails, shrimp, crabs, sea stars and sea urchins. And just for fun, you’ll also meet some of the most popular vertebrates on the 40 Acres: residents of the UT Turtle Pond.

College of Natural Sciences Science
Anytime

Choose Your Own Nature Tour

This virtual nature tour of the UT campus and around Austin utilizes the format of a choose-your-own-adventure game. Players can choose where to go, what to see, and with which systems they want to interact. Along the way, adventurers can discover the variety of ecosystems that exist and the organisms that inhabit them.

College of Natural Sciences Science
Anytime

Computing for All

The Texas Advanced Computing Center at UT Austin is home to some of the fastest supercomputers in the world. Researchers and students use cutting-edge technologies to help advance knowledge on climate change, space debris, and urban waterways.

Texas Advanced Computing Center Science
March 5, 2021, 9 to 9:30 a.m.

Everybody Chill Live Performance

Join the UT Austin Physics Circus as they use do extremely "cool" science demos to show how temperature relates to the three states of matter. They might even show you how to turn a banana into a hammer.

College of Natural Sciences Science
March 5, 2021, 9 to 9:45 a.m.

How to Stay Safe During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Nursing students explain the basics of what the COVID-19 virus is, how it spreads and how to stop the spread, including information on the COVID-19 vaccine.

School of Nursing Science
March 5, 2021, 10 to 10:30 a.m.

Science Up Close

In this interactive game, participants will test their skills at identifying scientific objects and organisms from super-zoomed-in images.

College of Natural Sciences Science
March 5, 2021, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Design and Create a Lightbulb Circuit on TinkerCad

Join members of Texas Engineering World Health (TEWH), a project-based solutions organization, to learn how to design and create a lightbulb circuit using the online 3D modeling program, Tinkercad. It is easy to use, and you can discover what it takes to create a fun Light Up Squishy Circuit.

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
March 5, 2021, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Tinfoil Boats with Longhorn Racing

Create a boat using only foil. Gently place your boat in the water and then add your weights (pennies, small rocks, etc.) one at a time until your boat sinks. Count how many pennies it took to sink your boat. Redesign your boat and try again to see if you can create a boat to hold even more weight.

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
March 5, 2021, 3 to 4 p.m.

Medical Jeopardy

Join students from UT Austin's Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) in a medical "jeopardy" game to see how much you know about the human body and learn more about medicine.

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
March 6, 2021, 10 a.m. to noon

Design your own Google Logo!

Use your creativity and imagination to bring the Google logo to life using code. Make the letters dance, tell a story, or create a game. You can learn the basics of coding with this activity and learn all about how the professionals do it! If you finish this activity, head over to the Hour of Code website and choose whichever coding activity you’d like! With Scratch and CS First, anyone can become a designer and programmer for the day!
Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
March 6, 2021, noon to 2 p.m.

Draw a Robot Design Challenge

Join us to see Dance Bot, hands down UT's cutest robot, show off a few moves. You'll learn how Dance Bot and other robots work and discover how Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) can be used. Then, take the Robot Design challenge to draw a robot that will accomplish a specified task. 

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
March 6, 2021, noon to 4 p.m.

Girl Day at UT Austin: Interactive Booths, Live Broadcasts, Interactions with STEM Role Models

Explore 50 booths with hands-on STEM activities, demonstrations, videos, and role models available for one-on-one video chats with participating families. Students with an adult can choose which activities they'd like to explore and come and go during the "live" virtual booth experience from noon to 4 p.m. CT. Girl Day at UT Austin, including Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day and the Girl Day STEM Festival, is a free STEM event hosted virtually through Sunday, March 7, 2021.

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
March 6, 2021, noon to 4 p.m.

Twinkie Coring

Learn how Petroleum Engineers find oil through our fun, simple, and edible activity: Twinkie Coring!

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
March 6, 2021, noon to 12:30 p.m.

UT Austin Physics Circus "The States of Matter" Live Show

Watch our live show on "The States of Matter" from 12 - 12:30 p.m. This show is part of the Girl Day at UT Austin experience. Learn more and register to join in.
College of Natural Sciences Science
March 6, 2021, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Fire, Tungsten Wire, Glass Tubing and a One of a Kind Light Bulb

Join in for video demonstrations of glass blowing and live Q&A with UT Austin glassblowers. This show is part of the Girl Day at UT Austin experience. Learn more and register to join in.

College of Natural Sciences Science
March 6, 2021, 1 to 3 p.m.

Scratch That, Let’s Code

Join us to learn how to make an animation using Scratch. Scratch is a free programming language that uses command blocks and characters, known as sprites, to allow users to design games and animations. Start by learning the basics of Scratch, such as the different kinds of sprites you can use and how command blocks interact with each other.  Use your imagination and have fun.

Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering
March 6, 2021, 1 to 3 p.m.

Coding Challenges with IEEE

Activities for Beginners - Intermediate Coders! We are UT Austin’s official chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the largest ECE organization at UT! IEEE UT encapsulates all the extracurricular activities needed for an ECE student by providing social, professional, and technical outreach opportunities. It serves as the all-in-one org for ECE majors! Design Challenges: Clapping Heart, Electronic Pets, MakeCode Microbit Coding Challenges.
Cockrell School of Engineering Engineering