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STEAM Saturdays - Signals & Infrastructure: Traffic Light Circuits

  • Journey Museum & Learning Center 222 New York Street Rapid City, SD, 57701 United States (map)

This February, The Journey Museum celebrates Black History Month by highlighting the brilliance of Black inventors whose work with electricity, communication, and safety systems helped shape modern life. Each 30-minute, hands-on session invites families to explore how circuits power light, communication, and infrastructure—all while learning about the innovators whose contributions are often overlooked in traditional science stories. 

Through creative building, experimentation, and real-world connections, participants discover how engineering ideas move from imagination to invention—and how these innovations continue to impact our daily lives. 

For this week’s activity, inspired by Garrett Morgan, explore how cities use circuits to manage safety at scale by building a traffic light circuit with red, yellow, and green LEDs. Participants examine how signals coordinate movement, prevent accidents, and support busy intersections. This session highlights Garrett Morgan’s contribution to traffic safety and introduces systems thinking through hands-on design.  

STEAM Saturdays are offered seasonally from October through April and are fun for the whole family. No need to pre-register, just bring your curiosity!

Morning Session: 10:30am - 11:00am

Afternoon Session: 2:00pm - 2:30pm

STEAM Saturdays are free with your daily admission or annual membership to the Journey Museum. Not a member? Become one today!

Become a Member!
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February 13

Turtle Soup | Aaron Douglass - Nature’s Mating Game

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February 20

Turtle Soup | Marissa Marshall & Eric Veach - Starlit Badlands: Science, Culture & the International Dark Sky Journey