Iowa Children's Museum Rolling Ball Sculpture

This large, interactive rolling ball sculpture was built for the Iowa Children's Museum with one important requirement: the kids provide the power.

Instead of an electric motor carrying the balls back to the top, this sculpture is completely hand powered. Kids operate the lift themselves, putting energy into the system and then watching what happens as gravity takes over and sends the balls racing back toward the bottom.

The sculpture was built around a skateboard theme, with the tracks and elements demonstrating basic physics through movement. Gravity, momentum, acceleration, changes in direction and the transfer of energy aren't just things to read about here—you can put a ball into motion and watch them happen right in front of you.

That's one of the things I really like about building rolling ball sculptures for children's museums. The sculpture doesn't have to explain that it's teaching physics. Kids turn the handle, send a ball on its way, watch what happens, and immediately want to do it again.

They play with it.

The physics sneaks in for free.. Manual lift