photo by: Mike Yoder

Dyche Hall, home to the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, is framed by an archway at KU's Spooner Hall in this file photo from February 2016.

A unique escape room experience that will test people’s scientific skills to solve a variety of puzzles and riddles is coming to KU’s Natural History Museum in August.

VENOMventure is slated to be at the museum, which is on the main Lawrence campus of the University of Kansas, from Aug. 8 through Aug. 27. Visitors will use science to solve a simulated biomedical challenge than involves a race to find an antivenom to stop a poisonous plant from taking over the world.

The escape room was developed by educators at KU’s Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, and paleontology educators at the University of California–Berkeley. The room, which is housed in an inflatable structure, will be traveling around the country as part of an effort to increase awareness about the importance of education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

At KU, the room will be open to families and other groups of two to five players, ages 8 and older. Minors must play with an adult. The escape room experience takes approximately an hour. VENOMventure is free; however, reservations are needed. People can register at biodiversity.ku.edu/venomventure.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Teresa MacDonald, associate director of Informal Science Education at the KU Natural History Museum, who co-developed the project. “For groups unfamiliar with escape rooms, they are fast-paced and active games that require a team of players to look, listen, share, discuss and work together to find clues, make connections and solve puzzles. VENOMventure is all that, while exploring science.”

The game is supported by about $1 million from the National Institutes of Health through its Science Education Partnership Award. A key part of the five-year project is to assess with families how well such STEM-based immersive experiences convey biological and scientific concepts. It was also designed to encourage an interest in biomedical science careers with youths between 8 and 14 years of age.

“Our core goal is for families to have a fun, memorable and engaging experience while exploring some important science ideas. From a learning perspective, we are interested in exploring how and in what ways an immersive game can communicate important biological concepts, specifically evolution,” MacDonald said.

After August, the escape room experience — which is available in both an English and Spanish version — will head to other museums and libraries, including the Independence Public Library in Independence, Kansas; the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut; and other urban and rural communities.

— KU News Service contributed to this report.