exhibits

exhibits

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

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

Balance a ball on a stream of air and notice the forces that keep it afloat.
Send a paper rocket flying and wonder how design shapes its path.
Watch a rainbow on the surface of a bubble.
Observe the quiet curiosity of an axolotl.
Transform ordinary materials into a new invention.

With more than 250 hands-on exhibits, Explora welcomes visitors of all ages to explore, reflect, and rediscover the world through science, technology, engineering, art, and math—one question, one experiment, one moment of wonder at a time.

Explora Hours

Monday-Sunday

10am–5pm
Become a Member

Balance a ball on a stream of air and notice the forces that keep it afloat.
Send a paper rocket flying and wonder how design shapes its path.
Watch a rainbow on the surface of a bubble.
Observe the quiet curiosity of an axolotl.
Transform ordinary materials into a new invention.

With more than 250 hands-on exhibits, Explora welcomes visitors of all ages to explore, reflect, and rediscover the world through science, technology, engineering, art, and math—one question, one experiment, one moment of wonder at a time.

Explora Hours

Monday-Sunday

10am–5pm

Monday "Toddler Time"

9am–11am
Become a Member

Download Explora Visitor's Guide

DOWNLOAD EXPLORA VISITOR'S GUIDE

English
Tiếng Việt / Vietnamese
Español / Spanish
中文 / Chinese
English
Tiếng Việt / Vietnamese
Español / Spanish
中文 / Chinese

Water Of Life; Life of Water

Agua De La Vida; La Vida Del Agua

Explore the wonders of water with our refreshed collection of liquid-based exhibits! Play with waves and water drops, build streams and waterfalls, and create eddies, vortices, bubbles, and more. Experiment with brand-new experiences and have fun with familiar classics. Make a splash at Explora!

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Internal Waves

What do you see in a slowly moving wave?

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Turn Vortex

Create a water tornado!

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Air Rings

Can you pump the lever to make a ring of bubbles?

Exhibit News

Permanent Exhibits

Water Flow Patio 

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!

The Water Flow Patio will officially close for the season on Sunday, November 9.
The last day to visit the area will be Saturday, November 8, before it reopens in March.

Tiguex Park Transformed Into Unique Outdoor Classroom

Explora and the City of Albuquerque’s Parks and Recreation Department are bringing new permanent STEAM exhibits to Tiguex Park.

These nine hands-on installations are designed for all ages and invite visitors to explore shapes, patterns, numbers, wind, light, and sound. You’ll discover optical illusions, mirrored towers, pebble harps, wind turbines, and more—all in a fun, outdoor setting near the museums.

The project is based on community feedback and encourages curiosity, creativity, and learning together. You’ll also find more activities online and in the museums to keep the fun going.

Installation began in August and is expected to be complete by the end of September. We’re excited to welcome you to a new way to learn and play at Tiguex Park.

The Science of Kindness 

Explora is proud to have partnered with The Jennifer Riordan Foundation to develop, fabricate, and install a new exhibition called The Science of Kindness at Explora. The Science of Kindness provides a distinctive interactive opportunity for New Mexico families and visitors to explore neurochemistry, psychology, and other science related to the giving and receiving of kindness. It also gives the occasion to experience Jennifer Riordan’s mantra of being kind, loving, caring, and sharing. Numerous hands-on exhibits such as the Make an Emotion kiosk, the ever-evolving Kindness Cactus, and Your Brain on Kindness, a massive interactive neuron model, work together to:

  • Illuminate how scientists in a range of fields study kindness and its effects on the body, mind, and community;
  • Create new, engaging opportunities for families to explore the exchange of kindness with others in compelling ways; and
  • Prompt self-reflection and meta-cognition on how giving and receiving kindness can affect our perceptions of ourselves and our actions toward others.

EXHIBIT NEWS

Permanent Exhibits
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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.

Water Of Life; Life of Water

Agua De La Vida; La Vida Del Agua

Explore the wonders of water with our refreshed collection of liquid-based exhibits! Play with waves and water drops, build streams and waterfalls, and create eddies, vortices, bubbles, and more. Experiment with brand-new experiences and have fun with familiar classics. Make a splash at Explora!

Image

Internal Waves

What do you see in a slowly moving wave?

Image

Turn Vortex

Create a water tornado!

Image

Air Rings

Can you pump the lever to make a ring of bubbles?

EXHIBIT NEWS

Permanent Exhibits
Permanent Exhibits
Image

Tiguex Park Transformed Into Unique Outdoor Classroom

Explora and the City of Albuquerque’s Parks and Recreation Department are bringing new permanent STEAM exhibits to Tiguex Park.

These nine hands-on installations are designed for all ages and invite visitors to explore shapes, patterns, numbers, wind, light, and sound. You’ll discover optical illusions, mirrored towers, pebble harps, wind turbines, and more—all in a fun, outdoor setting near the museums.

The project is based on community feedback and encourages curiosity, creativity, and learning together. You’ll also find more activities online and in the museums to keep the fun going.

Installation began in August and is expected to be complete by the end of September. We’re excited to welcome you to a new way to learn and play at Tiguex Park.

Image

The Science of Kindness

Explora is proud to have partnered with The Jennifer Riordan Foundation to develop, fabricate, and install a new exhibition called The Science of Kindness at Explora. The Science of Kindness provides a distinctive interactive opportunity for New Mexico families and visitors to explore neurochemistry, psychology, and other science related to the giving and receiving of kindness. It also gives the occasion to experience Jennifer Riordan’s mantra of being kind, loving, caring, and sharing. Numerous hands-on exhibits such as the Make an Emotion kiosk, the ever-evolving Kindness Cactus, and Your Brain on Kindness, a massive interactive neuron model, work together to:

  • Illuminate how scientists in a range of fields study kindness and its effects on the body, mind, and community;
  • Create new, engaging opportunities for families to explore the exchange of kindness with others in compelling ways; and
  • Prompt self-reflection and meta-cognition on how giving and receiving kindness can affect our perceptions of ourselves and our actions toward others.
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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

Explora's Permanent Exhibits

Download a map of Explora's exhibits
Download a map of Explora's exhibits
Children experimenting with gravity

Ball Run

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.

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

Go to Intel homepage
Go to Sandia National Laboratories homepage
Go to Air Force Research Laboratory homepage
Go to City of Albuquerque homepage