For the Community
Visiting Opportunities
The Magnet Lab welcomes visitors to our world-renowned research facility. Whether you're interested in a personalized tour or want to join us for our popular annual Open House, read on.
Open House
Every February, the Mag Lab opens its doors wide to the public, offering more than a hundred demonstrations to visitors of all ages. There’s something for everyone, from the expert to the science-phobe.
Public Tours
Any group from the general public is invited to reserve a tour and see our array of magnets and cutting-edge laboratories.
Science in Tallahassee
Science is alive and well in and around the Mag Lab's Tallahassee, Florida, headquarters. Check out these excellent museums, parks and other venues.
Learning Opportunities
Carl Sagan called science a “candle in the dark.” To keep your natural curiosity burning, we offer these accessible resources on science designed to engage, entertain and enlighten. Also browse through our Electricity & Magnetism offerings.
Flux
Written in layman's terms, Flux provides a window into the Magnet Lab's culture of curiosity-based research and focus on educating the next generation of scientists. Published twice a year, Flux helps to explain how and why the Mag Lab's equipment and people work to expand the body of modern scientific knowledge.
Magnet Academy
Interested in science but flunked high school physics? Grab a desk at our online Magnet Academy. We’ll fill you in on some of the fascinating research done here at the Mag Lab – but spare you the math and other gory details. Covering superconductivity, comets, cryogenics and more, these lessons feature plain English and interactive tutorials that help you visualize the science.
Parents and Children Share Science
The Magnet Lab, in partnership with LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library, offers workshops for parents and young children designed to show parents how to turn their pre-school and elementary-age kids onto science.
Science in Literature
Textbooks aren’t the only place you find science. Library shelves are full of tales that weave science, drama and suspense together. Through these stories, children learn not only facts about chemistry or physics, but also that these subjects play an integral role in our lives. Visit our list of titles for children and adults for book ideas that will kindle a new appreciation for the sciences.
Partnerships
Our ties with the community are strengthened by special partnerships we have nurtured over the year with local schools, universities and other groups. To our partners we offer expertise, teaching tools and access to Magnet Lab facilities and our highly respected scientists. These bridges make us more effective in our common goal of improving science education in our schools and communities.
Community Classroom Consortium
The Magnet Lab is one of more than 30 cultural, scientific, natural history and civic organizations belonging to this group from across North Florida and South Georgia. The consortium provides educational experiences and resources for students, teachers and the general public.
Middle School Mentorship Program
Middle school students from Tallahassee’s School of Arts and Sciences have the chance to conduct semester-long research projects at the Mag Lab. The program shows students how real-world research is conducted and what kind of careers they could pursue in science.
Panhandle Area Educational Consortium
Panhandle Area Educational Consortium (PAEC) maintains a rigorous program of science professional development opportunities for K12 teachers. CIRL and the Magnet Lab provide workshops, research experiences and curriculum materials in support of improving student achievement. SOAR (Science Optimizing Academic Returns) is a four-day professional development workshop for grades 6-8 science teachers. Specific content areas are targeted based on pretest assessment scores along with inquiry-based activities that can be immediately implemented in classrooms. In addition, Sci-iii, "Science Collaboration: Immersion, Inquiry, Innovation" will provide, through the Magnet Lab, 12 teachers with a three-week research experience. CIRL provides materials for 120 teachers participating in programs, plus tours and classroom outreach for Sci-iii participants.
Tallahassee Scientific Society
The Mag Lab coordinates regularly on science education issues and programs with the Tallahassee Scientific Society and its education arm, the Leon Association for Science Teaching (LAST). TSS is a group of laypersons, scientists, engineers and educators dedicated to increasing scientific literacy in the Tallahassee/Big Bend area.
