Discover our previous Maker Space programs and set up our design challenges at home or in your classroom!
SparkLab
Session times:
9:30am, 10am, 10:30am, 11am, 11:30am, 12pm, 12:30pm, 1pm, 1:30pm, 2pm, 2:30pm, 3pm
About the exhibition
Be a scientist
Ignite your imagination in SparkLab, an interactive science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) space, ideal for 6 to 13 year olds!
Explore 40 interactive exhibits across three zones and discover the wonder of STEM in your everyday world! See live experiments at the Science Bar and get hands-on to create and solve challenges at the Maker Space.
Follow your curiosity and bring out your inner scientist as you question and wonder about the world around you.
Play and investigate your way through SparkLab, using many of the same skills that scientists, engineers and mathematicians use everyday.
- Explore your curiosity as you play with the exhibits.
- Ask questions, test out your ideas and make observations of what is happening.
- Design, build and make using your imagination.
- Share your thinking with others and build on new ideas and questions.
Visitor numbers to SparkLab are strictly limited to ensure a safe space and increased access so you can get the most out of your visit. We highly recommend you purchase tickets online in advance, particularly during school holiday peak period to avoid disappointment.
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Our world and how it works
Wonder at the changing world around us and investigate how matter moves, behaves and changes.
Explore Earth’s place in the wider universe and how this impacts our world and daily lives.
This zone includes our popular Science Bar and Science on a Sphere.
How do we perceive our world? Do we all perceive it the same way?
Play with light and sound as you question, test and discover how we all see and hear the world differently. Compare your perception in relation to other people and animals.
How can we change our world? What does this change do?
Explore forces, energy and structures, and use your imagination to design and build solutions to challenges. This zone includes our popular Maker Space.
Maker Space
Imagine and design solutions to challenges at the Maker Space. Make your creation from a range of materials provided, test out your design and share your thinking with others to build on ideas. Maker Space activities are included as part of your SparkLab ticket.
Current Maker Space activity
Catch the Breeze!
18 July 2024 – 12 February 2025
How will you make something that will fly, hover, spin or just simply move in the breeze?
Grab a base or stand and build your design around it.
Make sure it’s securely attached and then bring it over to one of our test zones to see how it moves in the airflow created by our powerful fans!
This activity invites you to follow a design process. Below are some of the questions that will help you at each stage of the process.
Think of some solutions
- What ideas do you have for your design?
- How will your design move in the air flow?
- Will your design spin?
- How will you anchor or secure your design to a base or stand?
- Will your design make a noise as it moves?
- What height might be best for your design?
- Can you find inspiration from nature for your design?
- Can you still get your design to move if there’s not much breeze?
- Should your design be streamlined or air resistant? Or maybe a combination of both?
- Can you harness the movement of your design to lift or pull another object?
Make a prototype
- What types of materials will you need and use to make your design ideas happen?
- What properties will you need to consider in your materials?
- Is it better to use flexible or sturdy materials? Light or heavy?
- What parts of your design need to move freely, and which parts need to be secured in place?
- What part of the design are you finding tricky to build?
Test it out
- What did you observe about the way your design moved when placed in the air flow?
- Did your design move the way you expected it to?
- Did anything unexpected happen?
- What parts of your design worked really well?
- Did your design move in a different way when you moved it closer or further away from the fan?
Improve your design
- What changes can you make and how will this improve on your design?
- What would happen if you used different materials or added a new part?
- Does changing the height, weight or size of your design change how it moves?
- What ideas could you incorporate from someone else’s design?
- If you started again, what would you do differently? What would you do the same?
- What advice would you give other people who want to make a design like yours?
This activity supports the key learning areas of Science and Design & Technology, in the Australian Curriculum.
SparkLab: Design process
Science Bar
Get up close with live science experiments and explorations where the audience get to ask questions, predict outcomes and direct part of the investigation. These drop-in Science Bar programs are short, intimate experiences that are tailored to the audience.
The Science Bar program changes daily and is included as part of your SparkLab ticket.
Check out the screens in SparkLab for today’s programs and times.
Current programs
Going down hill
Do all things tumble in the same way when moving down a slope? Select different materials and choose the angle of the slope as you investigate how we can change the way things move.
Good vibrations
How can changing properties change the pitch and volume of the sounds we make? Let's make some noise at the Science Bar as you test out your ideas.
Under pressure
What would a marshmallow look like in the vacuum of outer space? Use your science skills to predict and explore how changing air pressure can lead to observable changes in a variety of objects.
Melting moments
Things are heating up at the Science Bar. Test our your ideas for changing solids into liquids. How do different materials compare? What can you do to affect the rate of change?
Will it float?
Which substances will you choose to go head-to-head in the float tank? Join us at the Science Bar as we explore the mysteries of density and discover together what features make substances sink or float?
Snap, crackle, watt?
Have you ever been zapped by a door handle or had your hair stand up on a trampoline? What materials will you select to create static electricity and how can you use it to make something move
Mix master
Mixing two or more chemicals together can sometimes lead to surprising outcomes. Use your science skills to see what changes might happen. What will you decide to mix together?
Lights, colour, action!
How can we use light and colour to change the way something looks? What happens if we mix different colours together or if we block colours of light? Lead the investigation as we explore the wonders of our colourful world.
Soapy and sour
Things are not always as they seem. Use science, colour and universal indicator to explore the hidden properties of liquids. How can we change how soapy or sour a liquid is?
Science on a Sphere
Science on a Sphere has so much for you to explore! Marvel at the beauty of our blue planet with an image of the Earth compiled by NASA satellite imagery. Watch real-time clouds move across our planet and spot the moment when a cyclone begins to form. Then blast-off to outer space to visit Mercury, Saturn and beyond.
About
Science on a Sphere is a huge 1.8m diameter sphere suspended in the centre of SparkLab. It uses the latest digital technology from satellites and ground-based instruments to project over 570 global, environmental and planetary datasets onto its surface. Explore swirling ocean currents, animal migrations, plate tectonics, earthquakes, Jupiter’s moons and much more at the touch of a screen.
Developed by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States, this technology helps users to visualise and understand the wonder of the world around us and Earth’s place in the solar system.
Exploring Science on a Sphere
Discover what you can explore by visiting Science on a Sphere datasets and choose how you explore when you visit SparkLab.
Self-led exploration
Follow your curiosity with the touchscreen kiosk to investigate our Earth, take a trip to Mars, visit Venus or circle the Sun.
Facilitated exploration
Join one of our regular facilitated Science on a Sphere exploration sessions where you can ask questions, share your observations and build on new ideas.
Science on a Sphere App
Continue your exploration anywhere with the SOS Explorer™ Mobile app version of Science on a Sphere, now freely available for download.
Electric Sparks
Our Tesla Coil takes centre stage as we create, control and transform giant electric sparks!
Delve into the science behind it all as you explore the impact of altering spark frequency and intensity on your senses. Listen carefully, for you might discover the surprisingly musical side of these electrifying demonstrations.
Electric Sparks shows are on twice a day at 11:45am and 2:45pm. *Subject to change
Warning! Tesla Coil demonstrations may not be suitable for all audiences.
Please inform a staff member if any of the following applies to you or your companions:
- Wearing a pacemaker
- Sensitive to flashing lights and/or lightning effects
The Tesla coil can be loud, but that's all part of the excitement! We've taken careful measures to ensure everyone's comfort.
Noise Zones are clearly marked:
- Red Zone: Restricted Area
The Red Zone is a 2-meter radius right next to the Tesla Coil and is off limits to visitors while it's operational. - Orange Zone: Elevated noise levels
The Orange Zone is a 3–4-meter radius from the Tesla Coil. Noise levels here are a bit high. SparkLab staff must wear hearing protection in this area during the show. Visitors with sensitive ears may also choose to wear some. - Green Zone: All Clear
This zone is 4 meters from the Tesla Coil and has normal noise levels. No action is needed here.
We'll make announcements before each show to warn visitors about the noise and bright lights. You can approach a team member for a pass out and re-enter the SparkLab after the show.
Visit as a school
SparkLab is ideal for schools and groups with children aged 6 – 13 years (Prep – Year 8). A discounted ticket price of $10 per child is available for the following group bookings:
- School group (Prep – Year 12)
- Children’s group (children aged 15 years and under)
There are three SparkLab sessions available for school bookings: 10am - 11:15am, 11:30am - 12:45pm and 1pm - 2:15pm.
Please note, bookings are essential for all school and children's group visits. We recommend you book as far in advance as possible to secure your preferred visit date and time.
Curriculum links and learning resources
SparkLab exhibits and programs link to the Australian National Curriculum in the learning areas of Science, Technologies and Mathematics, and support students to develop their general capabilities in Literacy, Numeracy, and Critical and Creative Thinking. Direct links exists for Physical Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Earth and Space Sciences and Science Inquiry Skills, along with links to Design and Technologies knowledge, processes and skills.
Additional information
Queensland Museum welcomes all visitors and offers accessible parking and wheelchair access to exhibits, restrooms and café.
This exhibition features:
Usually noisy
Very low light
Seating area
Interactive and touch objects
Light projections
For accessibility assistance and resources for this exhibition, please visit our accessibility page or contact the museum on (07) 3153 3000.
Learn more
Plan your visit
Plan your visit to Queensland Museum Kurilpa, centrally located at the Queensland Cultural Centre, South Bank.
How to get here & parking
Queensland Museum Kurilpa is easily accessible by foot, on public transport or by car.
Accessibility
Accessibility and sensory information to help you plan your visit to Queensland Museum Kurilpa.
What's on
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