Once children pass beneath the colorful archway entrance to this new garden, they find themselves on a winding path, flanked by a meadow maze, which leads to outdoor galleries and plantings and an indoor center for hands-on learning. First, in the spirit of discovery and play, the path leads to a free-form Boulder Maze with winding trails and to Beth's Maze , a geometric labyrinth of shrubs. Next on the agenda is the William and Lynda Steere Discovery Center , where kids do hands-on science in two Discovery Rooms equipped with laboratory specimens and research tools. In the first, the Texaco Kids Lab , an Explainer at the Science Counter invites children to perform experiments, demonstrating how plants make food or are used as medicine. Elsewhere in this discovery room, young visitors use discovery boxes to find out what makes a plant, as well as what plant scientists do and why plants need light.
Kids even learn to use a microscope.
Fledgling researchers press and mount their own plant specimens with the help of an Explainer. The William and Lynda Steere Discovery Center also features its own Bendheim Global Greenhouse and the Bendheim Teacher Center . The Heckscher Foundation for Children's Wonder Gallery . Here, kids discover the diversity of plants. Near the entrance, children spin a giant carrot, which points to pictures of different plant parts to search out in the gallery.