WonderLab has received many visitors this year. One very interesting visitor came to us from Barlow Park Elementary in Ripon, Wisconsin. Rachel Metoxen’s 1st and 2nd graders sent Flat Stanley to visit WonderLab as part of a geography project. We had so much fun exploring WonderLab with Flat Stanley. Below is the letter Flat Stanley’ sent back to the class on his return trip.

Dear Students of Barlow Park,

My adventure at WonderLab was amazing! I got up close to different animals. I climbed. I explored the inside of an instrument. And I went under a videoscope. There was so much to do at WonderLab, the Museum of Science, Health, and Technology. I didn’t even get to do all of it!

Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches

Did you know that there are roaches that can hiss? I met them. They are very friendly and didn’t do anything to harm me. I even let one crawl on me! Insects are really interesting. These roaches live in big colonies and, in the wild, are an important part of their ecosystem. You can see them at WonderLab!

Me with my new friend, the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach!

The Grapevine Climber

I climbed the Grapevine Climber. The climber is a two-story tall climber that is entirely inside! I didn’t make it to the very top, but that’s ok. I was able to explore and see things from a new perspective. I did my best while adventuring.

Look at me! I am way up high!

The Hidden Life of Deserts

Here I am peeking into the exhibit!

There is a brand new exhibit at WonderLab called The Hidden Life of Deserts.

Did you know that deserts are full of life? They may look empty and barren, but there is so much going on in them that you can miss.

I met two blue-tongued skinks, named Mooch and Norbert. If you ever see one, you’ll know by their bright blue tongues. Here is a picture of Mooch! He is sticking out his tongue. See how blue it is!

Mooch, the Blue-tongued Skink.

I was able to crawl under The Hidden Life of Deserts see a desert environment from the ground level. It was a great way to observe a new place, in a way that I hadn’t before.

Microeye Videoscope

This starfish is so cool!

Next, I went under WonderLab’s Microeye videoscope so I could get an up-close look at myself. I got distracted by all the things I never noticed on the starfish fossil that I was next to. There was so much detail that I hadn’t noticed when I looked at it with my eyes alone. WonderLab had many other fossils, rocks, and shells for me to look at under the videoscope. The world sure does look different when you can look up-close.

Look at my face on the monitor. Wow!

Giant Xylo Pipes

The last thing I did during my visit was explore the Giant Xylo Pipes. It was so fun!

Do you know what a xylophone is? It is an instrument with metal bars that you hit with mallets to create sound. The Xylo Pipes are similar, but they are pipes instead of metal bars.

If you slap the open end of a pipe, air vibrates through the pipe and creates a sound, or note. Different length pipes create different notes, so you can play music.

It was so fun to follow the air through the pipes and hear different notes of music. One visitor played the theme song to Jurassic Park, and another played me “My Favorite Things” from the movie, The Sound of Music.

I’m making music on the GIANT XYLO PIPES!

WonderLab was a great place to learn, explore, and be a curious scientist. There are lots more exhibits that I didn’t get a chance to see. But, now I’ve got to hop in the mail and get back to class. Hopefully I will be back to visit WonderLab soon!

– Stanley

 

About the Author: Sam Reidenbach is the Marketing Assistant at WonderLab. Sam had the pleasure of escorting and photographing Stanley during his visit. Like Flat Stanley, Sam also enjoys exploring WonderLab and finding new perspectives of existing things. He, and the entire WonderLab staff, thank the students of Rachel Metoxen’s 1st and 2nd grade class for choosing us to be a part of their geography project.