Edgerton Explorit Center

Strobe Alley features the life and work of Harold “Doc” Edgerton. The Alley is the home of  Edgerton’s historic photographs, including the famous “Milk Drop Coronet” and the “Bullet  through Apple” photos, as well as his laboratory equipment and information about his work at MIT and explorations with Jacques Cousteau. There are also hands-on  exhibits that show Doc’s work with the electronic strobe flash as well.

Visitors of all ages enjoy the experience of our live interactive science demonstrations  presented by the Edgerton Center’s lead educators in our theatre. Each demonstration will get  everyone excited about learning science with unique experiments and audience participation.  The demos can be done for small groups or entire schools and are great supplements to  classroom learning. Two demonstrations are included in the price of field trips to the center.  Edgerton On The Move Programs can be just one demo up to a Science Explosion event that  includes up to 10 Demonstrations and labs over two days. The demonstration descriptions are  available at this link https://edgerton.org/events-programs/demonstration-descriptions/.

The Explorit Zone was created based on Harold “Doc” Edgerton’s philosophy to “…teach people  in such a way that they don’t realize they are learning until it is too late.” The Zone does this  with interactive exhibits that are designed to provide insight into hands-on STEAM (Science,  Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) principles. Our Zone puts STEAM into students’  hands by letting them explore, imagine and create as they play and find answers to questions.

A lower level continuation of the Explorit Zone. This space add an additional floor of fun,  interactive exhibits to explore.

This is a smaller traveling version of the Explorit Zone that we bring to you. It has over 35  hands-on STEAM activity stations students can rotate through. Typically, it is set up on twelve  to fifteen tables in a decent sized room or location that works best 

for your school or organization’s event. The Traveling Explorit Zone can be set up for small  groups or entire schools including Family Nights where parents and siblings can participate as  well.

The Edgerton Explorit Center offers hands-on lab activities both at the Center in Aurora and  offsite with our Edgerton On The Move Programs. Lab descriptions and suggested age ranges  for those labs are available https://edgerton.org/on-the-move/lab-descriptions/. 

The Edgerton Explorit Center annually serves 36,000 people at our center in Aurora, Nebraska  and an additional 140,000 students, teachers and parents in schools in all 93 counties of  Nebraska with our Edgerton On The Move program (EOTM). We offer field trips to the center  where your students get a chance to explore our hands-on exhibits and get two live science  demonstrations. This is a link to our demonstration descriptions https://edgerton.org/events programs/demonstration-descriptions/. EOTM Programming takes our award-winning science  curriculum on the road. The EOTM Program has options that include science demonstrations,  classroom labs, traveling hands-on science exhibits. and the expertise of our highly skilled and  trained education staff.  

The Eagle has landed! The Edgerton Explorit Center is excited to announce an addition to our  Raptorology Program – a male Bald Eagle. We just received our Federal Permit to add the Eagle  to our raptor program, which already includes a Screech Owl, American Kestrel and a  Swainson’s Hawk so we have 4 out of the 5 birds of prey categories represented. We are the 

only Nebraska organization with a bald eagle education ambassador. The Raptorology Program  is available at the Center with field trips and with our EOTM Program.  

An interactive tour of the night sky, with our portable planetarium, we literally bring the  universe to you! Our inflatable dome and projection system cannot only show you the  night sky as it appears from Earth, but we can travel throughout the Solar System as  well. We can even recreate a view of the sky from the Moon. Shows last thirty minutes  and are performed every forty-five minutes. Planetarium requires a room at least 20 feet  per side with a ceiling of 10 feet high.

Nine-hole portable science-themed miniature golf course with a twist. Test your science skills by playing our Get STEAMED miniature golf course. Each hole has science questions at that allow players to take strokes off their score if they get them correct.  This portable nine-hole course can be customized to your space and has LED battery powered lights so can be set up and play after dark. Minimum space required for set up  is 400 square feet. Can be setup indoors or outdoors.

In 2023, Beyond School Bells and the Edgerton Explorit Center began a partnership for  expanded learning opportunities (ELO’s.) The Edgerton Explorit Center has had a long history of  offering a successful afterschool program. A key component to our success is the involvement  of our high school students. These helpers not only supervise younger students in our  afterschool program but also provide support by writing curriculum, teaching sessions, camps,  and serving as mentors to our younger students. The High School Helpers developed summer  camp and hands-on labs which can be downloaded from this link 

https://beyondschoolbells.org/curriculum/edgerton-explorit-center.html.  

As an incentive to have schools utilize our curriculum, we are offering scholarships for Edgerton  Programming to schools (Priority given to Title 1 Schools) who use the Beyond School Bells curriculum and are willing to do a follow-up survey to provide feedback.  

Please contact Mary Molliconi, Executive Director, if you have any questions or if you need  additional information at 402-694-4032 or mary@edgerton.org.