Hydro_Adventure Experience Exhibit

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

In Gwinnett County, (GA), a hands-on teaching tool is illustrating illusive concepts in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM). The Hydro-Adventure Experience exhibit unites a kinetic sandbox, a Microsoft Kinect 3-D camera, powerful simulation software, and a data projector to create a virtual watershed by simulating topographic landforms and rainfall. As guests mold and move mountains in kinetic sandboxes, a color elevation map augments their creations in real-time. Topographic contour lines appear, crevices expand, and virtual rain falls, forming streams and rivers in a stunning, virtual watershed. The Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center (GEHC) designed this innovative educational tool to enrich its K-12 STEAM programming and help elected officials illustrate watershed ecology. Combining cutting-edge technology with research-based, instructional principles, the Hydro-Adventure Experience educates guests through personal, hands-on exploration. Teachers say the exhibit enables students through discovery learning to make real-world connections to STEAM concepts. In fact, they continued to use this experience in the classroom as a long-term instructional tool.