Youth of all ages marvel at the inner workings of nature, the structure of human creations and the forces that bind all of this together. ScienceWorks in the Dow Science Center at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis enables youth to explore all these and more through hands-on activities. Dedicated to the natural and physical sciences, ScienceWorks features five areas.

In Nature’s Backyard visitors can make exciting discoveries in a familiar setting. The Backyard features a real Indiana fresh water pond and an interactive watershed table. Animals that might live underground in any backyard are the subject of the underground crawl through area. Youth can pretend to be earthworms as they crawl through the “dirt” and explore the habitats of 12 different underground animals.

Beyond this area, the 20-foot, artificial limestone rock wall affords three distinct climbing challenges that require adults to help support children on belay.

Adjacent to the Backyard is Health House. Get up and get moving! It’s time to welcome a new healthy family lifestyle, and Health House can show you how. In the kitchen, check out a refrigerator that “talks” to you about healthy choices for snacks. Find out about lots of new foods that are great choices for quick meals and snacks, then dish up a healthy meal for grown-ups. In the bathroom, buddy up with Teeth Rex and help him brush his teeth. Tired yet? Step into the child’s room, where Teddy will share a story with you about how important it is to get enough sleep. Throughout the house, you’ll pick up tips on how to stay active and play together. Museum staff will offer plenty of easy, inexpensive games that you can play at home. So, come on…you can have fun and make healthy choices every day!

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Just beyond the Backyard is the Construction Site, where visitors can explore form, function, design and simple machines. The simulated Construction Site enables youth to move different materials from one point to another using basic engineering principles. Youth can shovel and move foam rocks from the site into a dump truck, and operate a child-size bulldozer.

In the Creek Area visitors can explore fluid motion, buoyancy, surface tension and other physical science principles. They can change the flow of the 30-foot-long, winding creek through a system of flanges that redirect water and a lock system that enables experimentation with changing water levels. Below the lock series is a pool with siphons, pumps and an Archimedes Screw, all for the exploration of moving water. For even more educational fun with water, visitors can build and sail boats in the Dock Shop, an old-looking boathouse alongside the creek.

Finally, at the Biotechnology Learning Center, visitors can witness the hands-on lab activities and observations that give future scientists insight on how plant biotechnology affects our world. Explore plant hybidization, view plant cells through the microscope, extract DNA from fruit and more. ScienceWorks offers unique sights and sounds, inspiring children to learn basic scientific techniques, ask questions, find answers and have fun!