Exploratorium

The Institute for Inquiry® (IFI) is a professional development program that addresses the theory and practice of inquiry-based science education. Inquiry is an approach to learning that involves exploring the natural or material world in a way that leads to asking questions, making observations, planning investigations to develop explanations, rigorously testing those explanations, and discussing and debating results with others—all in the service of coming to a deeper understanding of scientific phenomena and scientific practices. IFI workshops and seminars are tailored to a variety of participants: professional developers, administrators, lead teachers, national education reform leaders, out-of-school educators, and the museum and university communities.

The Tinkering Studio is primarily an R&D laboratory on the floor of the Exploratorium, but whenever possible we try to share our projects, activities, and developing ideas following an “open source” model.

The Exploratorium's mission is to create inquiry-based experiences that transform learning worldwide. Through Global Collaborations, we share our deep knowledge of exhibit making, program creation, and professional development with partner organizations around the world, shaping and tailoring our approach and expertise to the needs and goals of your community.

We co-create programs, conduct research, and develop staff; we think across disciplines, collaborate, and prototype. We learn from every partnership. Like science itself, our work is vital, complex, and variegated, with rich and sometimes unexpected results.

High School Explainers, the Exploratorium’s youngest employees, are a diverse group of students who engage visitors at exhibits, lead demonstrations, and run many museum operations. Some are interested in science; all have a spark for learning new things. In keeping with the Exploratorium’s philosophy, they build their own skills while learning to help others.

Three groups of High School Explainers fill over 130 paid positions a year. More than 3,500 students have participated in the program since its inception in 1969, when the Exploratorium first opened.

Since its inception in 1974, the Exploratorium’s Artist-in-Residence Program (AIR) has grown to include hundreds of artists and performers. The museum works with individuals and artist groups who are drawn to collaboration, interested in interdisciplinary dialogue, and open to developing new working methods. Projects have taken countless forms, such as multimedia performances, theatrical productions, animated filmmaking, immersive installations, walking tours, and online projects. The program allows for artists to embed within the unique culture of the institution, affords access to a dynamic and diverse staff, and provides opportunities for cross-pollination with a broad public. While the museum allows room for variance, residencies typically unfold over two years and include both an exploratory and project-development phase.

Established in 1983, Cinema Arts at the Exploratorium has defied expectations by focusing on artist-made and independent cinema at the crossroads of art and science.

Approaching movies as an active viewing experience, staff in the Cinema Arts Program view the projection screen as a portal to investigation. We engage with filmmakers who create works that inspire the imagination and instigate conversation. Animation, documentary, poetic observations, and abstract visuals serve a broad spectrum of curious audiences while blending the methods and aesthetics of artists and scientists. Through our programming, we aim to provide an opportunity for visitors to explore the compelling people, places, and ideas that extend through the museum and beyond. Our collection of films and events offer a rich resource for public audiences, and also provide an important research collection for both our teaching programs and exhibit development teams.

In our last full year of operations prior to the pandemic, the Exploratorium received 130,000 elementary, high school, and community group visitors through our Field Trip program. Of these, approximately 79,000 were from Title 1 schools and attended for free. Field Trip visitors amount to over 15% of our total annual visitation, and the breadth and depth of this program (we regularly host schools from across the five Bay Area Counties) demonstrates the importance of the Field Trip program in providing access to one of the museum’s most important target audiences: racially, linguistically, and socio-economically diverse children and youth.