The Museum of Discovery and Science in downtown Fort Lauderdale opened its newest permanent gallery on Oct. 30. Build a Better World: The Future Begins with You covers 7,500 square feet and is built around the ecosystems a South Florida kid grows up next to: the Everglades, the mangrove shoreline and the coral reefs offshore.

The gallery is included with regular museum admission, so a family that already plans a visit to MODS on SW Second Street gets it as part of the same ticket.

What is inside

The museum lists eight parts to the gallery, and they range from climbing to building to sitting still for a story:

  • Everglades Theater, where visitors meet Lilly, an AI otter, in an immersive story about how the Everglades work.
  • Mangrove Mangal Climber, a climbing structure modeled on the tangle of roots that lines the Intracoastal and the bay.
  • Coral Reef Habitats, with Atlantic and Indo-Pacific reef displays side by side.
  • Environmental challenges, a set of problems to work through, ending with designing a resilient city.
  • LEGO Build the Change, a building area where kids put their own fixes together in bricks.
  • Solutions Showcase, a display of real environmental innovations.
  • EcoExplorers, museum interns who talk with visitors about careers in environmental work.
  • Pledge Wall, which points families toward local volunteer opportunities.

Science paired with character

The gallery was designed by Cambridge Seven Associates, and it spans two levels of the museum. The firm organized it around four traits it calls the 4Cs of character: caring, cooperation, confidence and critical thinking. The idea is that a child who learns what is stressing the local environment also practices the habits needed to do something about it, such as persistence and problem solving.

That framing comes from the money behind it. The lead grant came from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Fostering Character in Children's Museums initiative. MODS says the gallery's character education curriculum lines up with Florida Department of Education standards and with a Resiliency Florida program.

The museum also thanks a long list of local exhibit donors, among them the Broward Cultural Division, the Community Foundation of Broward, the Channel 7 Foundation, JM Family Enterprises, the Hudson Family Foundation, the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation and Weston Nissan and Weston Volvo.

It reaches past the museum doors

Build a Better World is not only on SW Second Street. MODS has set up Character Corners and Book Nooks tied to the gallery in Broward County libraries, so a family can pick up the same themes at a branch near home.

There is also a free Nature Play Kit for children from birth to age 7 and their families. It comes from the Association of Science and Technology Centers and the LEGO Playful Learning Museum Network, and it includes activities from MODS and other participating museums.

What else is new at MODS

The gallery joins a run of new additions at the museum, including the HoloTheater, a holographic show about dinosaurs and science, and the Sprouting STEM space. The museum's exhibit list also shows a second location on the way: the MODS Deerfield Beach Nature Center, listed as opening in 2027.

Plan your visit

The Museum of Discovery and Science is at 401 SW Second Street in Fort Lauderdale. It is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are sold online in general, South Florida resident and member categories, and the AutoNation IMAX Theater shows films during museum hours and after hours. Build a Better World is included with museum admission.

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