HISTORY 

Wonderlab has been a staple in Bloomington, Indiana for over three decades. It has created ways to learn and explore in a fun way for Bloomington. At the start of the museum in 1995, there were only six volunteers who called themselves "Wonder Women.” One of them was Karen Jepson-Innes, an insect biologist, who was at a meeting and heard about the volunteer organization called Wonderlab. She later joined the team and became the executive director in 2017. Another person who played a big role was Catherine Olmer, an IU physics professor.

 They first began as a traveling show that visited schools, science events, and private parties. They moved to their first temporary location in the Wicks Building on Courthouse Square, but they soon needed a new and bigger building. So organizers helped to raise $750k of the $3 million goal in a short time to help them get a new building. After they got enough volunteers and money, they got really popular and BCC gave them a vacant lot for the new building which is now their current building. 

They constructed their permanent location in 1997. Over the years, there have been around  600-700 volunteers a year. For example, in 1999 they had an IU Football Coach bring players to teach about the science of putting spin on the ball. Another community contribution was the Technology Service Corp. who donated the Wondersauras, which is a dinosaur that measures visitors heights with jaws and is a fan favorite attraction.

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ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY

Wonderlab is a Science Museum that resides in Bloomington, Indiana. Wonderlab is Bloomington’s local science museum, their goal is to encourage curiosity, discovery, and learning and they act as a pivotal community hub fostering STEM education. They provide programs for children, such as Cardboard Build Days where children 8 and up can build with cardboard and make creations. As well as programs for adults, such as this thing they are having called Boozy Book Fair, where they have drinks, books, and people can commune with others. In 2014, the SAS worked with Wonderlab to make a Chimney Swift Tower, an artificial and vertical structure designed to provide safe nesting for Chimney Swifts. 

They have 30 employees, and have managed to have had more than 1.5 million visitors in the past two decades, and have 8,000 square feet of exhibition space. They have 80 hands-on exhibits, such as a Saltwater Aquarium, a place to build HoverCrafts, a SandScapes Augmented Reality Sandbox, a Beehive Builder, and a Hidden life of Deserts. They collaborate with Morgenstern Books, and Monroe County Master Gardeners. They also have a Wonder Garden which talks about solar power. 

The Wonder Garden is an outdoor area in between the Museum and the B-line Trail. It has a collection of flowers, vegetables, and other plants. The garden offers an opportunity to observe nature through the seasons. They also have a summer camp for grades K-8 called Wondercamp where you can do many fun things. They have a schedule which tells you all the things they do.  

Now that you've been told about Wonderlab, you should go and see it for yourself, and if you already have, then maybe just go to it again.