As a scientist I’m always looking for interesting science things to do and which I want on my bucket list. So here’s a list of 5o things you might want to add to your bucket list.
I’ve tried to make the list as wide-ranging as possible, to the extent that I’ve included a couple of bits of archaeology, but it is quite hard to find good chemistry and physics experiments which are doable outside a fully equipped lab but which are still interesting for an adult. (However there are loads of sites with experiments suitable, and safe, for kids.)
As with the other lists on here, you can tick off the ones you’ve done, and the ones you want to do, to see how well you’re progressing,
| See a fiery lava flow or an erupting volcano | ||
| Have a star named after you | ||
| Set up your own weather station | ||
| Measure the speed of light with chocolate and a microwave | ||
| Discover an unknown species | ||
| Visit the K/T boundary | ||
| Make nylon | ||
| Make butter | ||
| Visit the Galapagos Islands | ||
| Experience an earthquake | ||
| Visit Kew Gardens | ||
| Visit the Natural History Museum, London | ||
| Explore a cave | ||
| Breed tropical fish | ||
| Visit the Science Museum, London | ||
| Visit a glacier in Iceland | ||
| Build a functional robot | ||
| Learn to use an astronomical telescope | ||
| See a corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) in bloom | ||
| Plant a tree for posterity | ||
| Go digging for megalodon teeth | ||
| Learn a high-level programming language, and use it | ||
| Learn all the constellations | ||
| Visit the Thirteen Towers of Chankillo, Peru | ||
| Have a species named after you | ||
| Find a fossil | ||
| Hold a bat in your hand | ||
| Grow insectivorous plants | ||
| Make Oobleck | ||
| Make a bottle rocket | ||
| Visit a nuclear power station | ||
| Take part in an archaeological dig | ||
| Learn to ring birds | ||
| See the giant redwoods and sequoias of California | ||
| Make a pinhole camera | ||
| Visit CERN or Fermilab | ||
| Find a meteorite | ||
| Watch the Northern, or Southern, Lights | ||
| Create a biowall | ||
| See the corpse lily (Rafflesia arnoldii) in flower | ||
| See monkey puzzle trees growing in the wild | ||
| Make polymer bouncy balls | ||
| Extract your DNA | ||
| See a jaguar in the wild | ||
| See a meteor shower | ||
| Take photographs on film, then develop the film and print the photos yourself | ||
| Grow a crystal at home | ||
| Visit the Hunterian Museum | ||
| Experience weightlessness | ||
| Make your own bubble chamber |
Other Sites with Science Bucket Lists
- Science bucket list: Top 10 adventures to try before you die
- Scientists Are Sharing Their Unusual Bucket Lists On Twitter
- What’s on Your Botanical Bucket List?
- Geeky Bucket List
- Summer Science Bucket List – this is stuff for kids
© Copyright Keith C Marshall, 2018. All rights reserved.
Last updated: 30 April 2018, Keith Marshall