Featured Exhibits

Enjoy the experience of hands-on science with Wonderlab exhibits that inspire, amaze and educate.

A family works together to test their inventions in the HoverCrafts exhibit at WonderLab museum.

HoverCrafts

HoverCrafts provides a gateway to the engineering process through hands-on planning, construction, testing, and iteration. Visitors are encouraged to tinker and adjust their creations to achieve individual design goals. How high will your craft hover, float, or fly?

HoverCrafts is located on the first floor of the museum and includes a rotating selection of WonderLab-provided building materials. Suitable for most ages, visitors’ creations can be launched up the wind tunnel with just the push of a button.

HoverCrafts is funded by National Science Foundation grants to the Experimental Nuclear Physics group at Indiana University, and built by staff at the IU Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter and the IU Department of Physics.

Two children are in a viewing box, closely observing one of the Wonderlab animal exhibits.

Hidden Life of Deserts

Discover a portal to a hidden world through WonderLab’s new  immersive hands-on exhibit that explores the complexity and beauty of desert life.

  • Get face to face with desert animals like the blue-tongued skink, big-headed ants and vinegaroons.
  • Crawl, climb and skitter into the desert!
  • What can you discover?

Hidden Life of Deserts is located on the second floor and is included with the price of general admission.

Hidden Life of Deserts is made possible by generous support from the National Science Foundation award to Indiana University Professor Dr. Andrew Zelhof, Brabson Library & Educational Foundation, and Royal on the Eastside / Subaru of America.

A lady is seated while she observes the coral reef aquarium, one of Wonderlab's exhibits

Wonder Under the Waves Saltwater Aquarium

The Wonder Under the Waves Saltwater Aquarium is an Indo-pacific a coral reef ecosystem with a variety of inhabitants including fish and live coral. Surrounding the aquarium is a fossil wall that includes descendants of animals found in this region’s fossil record.

The WonderLab aquarium turned five-years-old in 2022! What can you discover in our thriving coral reef?

An adult and child, both wearing masks, interact with the Wonderlab Sandscapes exhibit.

SandScapes Augmented Reality Sandbox

Build volcanoes and watch them erupt over the ocean’s shore. Carve out a pathway along the side of the Rocky Mountains. Discover elevation levels in the Arctic. Visitors can find themselves anywhere in the world as SandScapes switches between climates and biomes.

The SandScapes exhibit is made possible by generous funding from the Brabson Library and Educational Foundation and Royal on the Eastside / Subaru of America.

Support WonderLab’s Featured Exhibits

Make a big difference with a donation of any size. Your support will help with the upkeep and maintenance of these WonderLab exhibits.