On July 4th, 1993, the Eli Whitney Museum in partnership with the South Central Regional Water Authority, the National Science Foundation and nearly a dozen corporate friends renewed the teaching legacy of this site. A few yards from the waters that Whitney harnessed nearly two hundred years ago, these partners opened a unique learning environment. An outdoor experiment area which engages, a new generation, in the fundamental engineering experiences of the stream and sandbox. The Lab adapts the traditional activities of messing about for the standards of control and safety of our cautious era. It is a shared resource for the region, and a model for schools and communities across the nation.