Science Center

We’ve got microscopes. We’ve got laptops. We’ve got 2,000 square feet of space and four laboratories. The final piece of the puzzle? Young scientists! The ideaventions™ Science Center is bright, colorful and spacious, located right in the Hunter Mill Plaza in Oakton, Virginia (directions). It’s the perfect place to let imagination, invention and innovation come alive—whether in a robotics class, a weekend birthday party or a Parents’ Night Out movie night.

Our labs are equipped with the latest technology to complement our curriculum, including digital microscopes, laboratory glassware, projectors and much more. So whether you are travelling to Rabat, Morocco using Google Earth as Secret Agents, studying pond life, or designing and programming robots using the LEGO® MINDSTORMS®—the laboratories provide an ideal learning environment.

The laboratories, each named after a famous scientist, engineer, or mathematician, include:

• Newton
• Archimedes
• Maxwell
• Einstein

Newton 

In Mission: Space class we transform this laboratory into our version of a NASA laboratory to support a team of engineers planning and executing a planetary mission.  The laboratory facilitates activities as diverse as developing water filtration systems, designing and building landers, and testing parachute systems.

Archimedes 

Junior chemists and biologists are often seen frequenting this laboratory.  Spa Science uses Archimedes as their lab to design and create a line of spa products. Secret Agents perform water quality analysis to determine potential pollutants in a contaminated water supply.

Maxwell 

This Robotics and Computer Science laboratory features a simulated Martian terrain allowing our engineers to test their robot designs and programs. 

Einstein 

Geared to the youngest scientists, Einstein is the primary laboratory for Mini Einsteins and Science Samplers.  Einstein creates a wonderful discovery-based learning environment to explore building habitats as we learn about insects, study dinosaurs while we create our own cast fossils, and investigate buoyancy through boat building.