WonderLab is excited to announce STEM Starters, Exhibits for Preschool-Age Children generously funded through a $7,500 grant from the Smithville Charitable Foundation.

STEM Starters are exhibits specifically designed for the 4-5-year-old age group that are embedded near larger exhibits. Creating side-along exhibits with content that is compatible to current, more advanced exhibits adds another layer of learning to both experiences. The 4 and 5-year-olds will also have the advantage of observing how older children and other visitors use the more complex exhibits which they can use as they feel ready. Older children may enjoy "teaching" the younger children, which is a learning for both age groups. 

Look for the first STEM Starters to arrive in the WonderLab main gallery this summer. 

Looking Ahead: STEM Starters  and  Science Sprouts Place  will replace the current Discovery Garden preschool area in fall 2019.

Saturday, May 5th, 2018 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Free with museum admission

InSight is scheduled to launch from the California coast to the plains of Mars on  May 5, 2018 . InSight is the geophysical lander that will study the deep interior of Mars!

Space Science? You know we're excited! Thanks to an award from the National Informal STEM Education Network, WonderLab will be showcasing a variety of space themed activities all day.

Learn how gravity impacts the way water leaves impressions on planets. Explore how craters are made. Find your way through an obstacle course while learning how scientists control the Mars rover. Make and package a replica space telescope into a rocket. Play in the Augmented Reality Sandbox provided by the Indiana Geological Survey For an an example of this very cool sandbox click here .  

During the week of May 14 the WonderLab Animal Exhibits crew will be installing a new queen and worker bees into the WonderLab demonstration hive.

A new, varroa sensitive hygiene queen is coming from Ridgetop Apiaries in Baxter, TN. She will arrive with a sugar plug and six worker bee attendants. A few frames of worker bees will arrive from Hunter's Honey Farm in Martinsville, IN. Tracy Hunter will be joining us on site for their installation.

Local honey bee sourcing not only helps the local economy but might also have benefits for the hive. Bees adapted to this location could prove to be more resistant to local threats (such as pathogens) than bees sourced from apiaries in other areas of the nation or world. 

This particular queen was selected because her lineage exhibits very interesting behavior: while capping over their brood, the workers inspect each cell for mites. If mites are found,the workers abort their own brood to prevent the mites from spreading.

Stay tuned to WonderLab Facebook page and the Alive! blog for details about the install.

WonderLab offers members the option of listing an unnamed caregiver on a membership. This is signified with a CG* on their card. A caregiver is an adult 18 or over who may bring your child(ren) to the museum when a parent or guardian are not present. The caregiver could be a nanny, sitter, or other trusted adult. A caregiver may not be an unnamed adult guest when a parent or guardian is visiting the museum at the same time. This option is available for the Basic or Premier level membership only.

Major donors play indispensable roles in fulfilling WonderLab’s mission. The investments gifted by major donors comprise a significant amount of contributed revenue.

for the past twenty years, ever since WonderLab opened its interim museum on the courthouse square, Richard (Dick) Blenz has made a major annual gift. His engagement with the sciences began at age three, when his father taught him about electricity. He grew up to be an electronics expert who worked at the Indiana University Physics Department as well as an avid cave explorer and conservationist. Dick now makes a gift every January to support WonderLab’s operating fund. Many thanks to Dick Blenz for his amazing and loyal support!