Explore concepts such as gravity, water, light and shadow, math, and electricity


Explore concepts such as gravity, water, light and shadow, math, and electricity

Explora is a new kind of learning place! We welcome visitors of all ages, and provide real experiences with real things that put people’s learning in their own hands. Explora strives to provide exhibits that nurture thoughtful activity. Science, technology, engineering, art, and math exhibits are designed to engage visitors of all ages.

Explora entices every visitor with wonderfully engaging exhibits around every turn. You can move freely as your intrigue captures you or plan your visit with our handy exhibits guide.

Explora Hours

Monday-Sunday

10am–5pm

Explora is a new kind of learning place! We welcome visitors of all ages, and provide real experiences with real things that put people’s learning in their own hands. Explora strives to provide exhibits that nurture thoughtful activity. Science, technology, engineering, art, and math exhibits are designed to engage visitors of all ages.

Explora entices every visitor with wonderfully engaging exhibits around every turn. You can move freely as your intrigue captures you or plan your visit with our handy exhibits guide.

Explora Hours

Monday-Sunday

10am–5pm

Monday "Toddler Time"

9am–11am



Exhibit News


Mechanics Alive!

Get an up-close look at a collection of curious and compelling automata, mechanical sculptures that animate figurines to tell humorous stories. These intricately hand-crafted artworks are making Explora their exclusive stop in New Mexico. This is the second visit of automata from England's Cabaret Mechanical Theatre to Explora, and there are both new artworks and old favorites included in the collection. The exhibition is now on view upstairs across from the big elevator.

Water Flow Patio 

March - October

Explore properties of water flow with one of our many water flow patio exhibits! Get hands-on experience with solar power, build your own fountain, create a lego dam to withstand the rush of water, and more!





EXHIBIT NEWS

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New Exhibit: Mechanics Alive!

Get an up-close look at a collection of wonderful automata, which are artistic mechanical sculptures. These intricately hand-crafted artworks are making Explora their exclusive stop in New Mexico. This is the second visit of Cabaret Mechanical Theatre automata to Explora, and there are both new artworks and old favorites included in the collection, which will be shown in groupings throughout the museum.
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Water Flow Patio Re-opens

Get an up-close look at a collection of wonderful automata, which are artistic mechanical sculptures. These intricately hand-crafted artworks are making Explora their exclusive stop in New Mexico. This is the second visit of Cabaret Mechanical Theatre automata to Explora, and there are both new artworks and old favorites included in the collection, which will be shown in groupings throughout the museum.



Image

New Exhibit: Mechanics Alive!

Get an up-close look at a collection of wonderful automata, which are artistic mechanical sculptures. These intricately hand-crafted artworks are making Explora their exclusive stop in New Mexico. This is the second visit of Cabaret Mechanical Theatre automata to Explora, and there are both new artworks and old favorites included in the collection, which will be shown in groupings throughout the museum.

Learn More

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Water Flow Patio

March - October

Explore properties of water flow with one of our many water flow patio exhibits! Get hands-on experience with solar power, build your own fountain, create a lego dam to withstand the rush of water, and more!

"We drove from Boulder, CO just to come here. Who needs Disneyland when you’ve got Explora? Thanks."

-Visitor’s Comment

Children experimenting with gravity

Gravity

Engineering Gravity / La ingeniería de la gravedad

Experiment with balls and ramps to slow down the effects of gravity. How can you use friction, slope, and momentum to send a marble down a ramp on a pegboard wall?
Child experimenting with electricity

Electricity

Charges, Currents, and Circuits / Descargas, corrientes y circuitos

Experiment with electricity. How can you make electricity? What does electricity need in order to flow and do the work we want it to do? What happens to electricity transmitted over a distance? How does a switch work? Can you make a light bulb turn on with only two wires?
Child experimenting with air and bubbles

Bubbles

Curious Bubbles/ Burbujas Curiosas

Investigate properties of bubbles. From micro bubbles to giant bubbles and everything in between. Will your bubbles stack? Which size of bubble will float for the longest amount of time?
Child experimenting with water

Paradox Café

Paradox Café/ Café de las Paradojas

Explora puzzles and test your eyes with optical illusions.
Child experimenting with water

Water

Water of Life; Life of Water / Agua de la vida; La vida del agua

Explore water and its unique characteristics. Is water sticky? Can it flow uphill? What patterns will water make when different objects interrupt its flow?

Water Flow Patio

Outdoor water exhibits. These exhibits are a little bit wetter than our indoor water exhibits, and offer just as many possibilities for experimentation and investigation into the intriguing properties of water. Can you build a dam out of LEGO® DUPLO® blocks? What happens when you pump water into a water tower that’s ten feet tall? Can you move a solar panel so it powers a fountain of your own design?
LEGO® and DUPLO® are a trademarks of the LEGO Group, which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this web site.
Child experimenting with air and bubbles

Air

Moving Air / Aire en movimiento

Experiment with air and the things it can do. What happens when you squeeze air? What is the best way to cut a paper cup to help it fly? Is there a relationship between air speed and air pressure?
Child experimenting with electricity

Knee-Hi Sci

Knee-Hi Sci

Hands-on area specifically designed for our youngest visitors to safely engage.

Children and a docent interacting with a digital math exhibit

Math

Math Moves! / ¡Movidas matemáticas!

Get a feel for proportion – fractions, ratios, similarity, scaling, and percentages. Can you balance weight the same way you balance an equation? Why might a 120-tooth gear create a 5-segmented pattern when driven by a 24-tooth gear? What might the pattern be when a 36-tooth gear drives the 120? How do the locations of a weight or of pivot points change the force needed to lift a lever?
A hand interacting with a red laser experiment

Light and shadow

Light, Shadow, Color / Luz, sombra, color

Investigate light. Can you make light bounce? What affects how much light will bend? What makes things focused or blurry? What makes a shadow big or small? What produces a yellow shadow?
Children and a docent interacting with a digital math exhibit

Rotary Pavilion

The Rotary Pavilion

How would you build something you can sit inside? What can you transport using a wheelbarrow, a basket, or a 20-foot conveyor belt? In our “Working Together to Build a Village” exhibit area, tabletop and large-scale materials invite experimentation with architecture design, engineering, and construction. Families can build together, while enjoying a view of the Sandia Mountains.
Child experimenting with water

Studio Inventivo

Studio Inventivo/ Estudio Inventivo

Design, create, and share in Explora’s new makerspace. Build with real tools and materials as you explore the current theme.





Explorations

KneeHiSci

Experiments for our youngest visitors.

Arts and Crafts Workshop / Taller de artes manuales y artesanías

Work with recycled materials for making anything you can imagine. Can you make an object that is physically or visually balanced? Can you make something that doesn’t look like anything else?

Experiment Bar / Barra de experimentación

Microscopes, Pigments, Chromatography… You never know what you’ll encounter in our Experiment Bar. Activities change throughout the month, and are available for visitors to drop in and explore during their visit.

Curious Bubbles / Burbujas curiosas

Blow, pop, dip, float, and swirl while you investigate all the amazing properties of bubbles in our bubble exhibit space. We have big bubbles and micro bubbles and everything in between with our exhibits built right here at Explora!


Riding the High Wire Bike two stories high / Montando la bicicleta de cuerda floja a dos pisos de altura

For safety reasons you must meet these requirements:
Height: Taller than 56 inches, but shorter than 6 feet 5 inches
Weight: Less than 225 pounds

Paradox Café / Café de las paradojas

Explore your perception. Are your eyes or your brain telling you the truth? How can our eyes be misled? How do black, white, shades of grey, and shadow affect our brains’ interpretations?

Rotary Pavilion

How would you build something you can sit inside? What can you transport using a wheelbarrow, a basket, or a 20-foot conveyor belt? In our “Working Together to Build a Village” exhibit area, tabletop and large-scale materials invite experimentation with architecture design, engineering, and construction. Families can build together, while enjoying a view of the Sandia Mountains.

Sketch Theater!

Imagine, sketch, and release your very own animated character into the digital world. Watch as it comes to life in teamLab’s interactive installation from Japan. Explora will alternate the Sketch Aquarium with Sketch Town.

Studio Inventivo

Design, create, and share in Explora’s new makerspace. Build with real tools and materials as you explore the current theme.

Visitor Information
Calendar
Membership
Camps and Programs
Visitor Information
Calendar
Membership
Camps and Programs

Our Exhibit Sponsors

Intel
Sandia National Laboratories
Air Force Research Laboratory
City of Albuquerque