Ever wondered how an electrifying roller-coaster ride can go so fast, flip its passengers upside down, make hairpin turns at warp speed and still stay on the tracks? Well, it’s all about science.

The Tri-Cities’ newly organized children’s museum, called Hands In for Hands On — or, HiHo for short — plans to bring the California-based Amusement Park Science exhibit to the Tri-Cities later this year.

The exhibit will give kids and their parents the chance to explore the physics behind the fun involving  movement, force of motion, gravity and inertia when it comes to amusement park rides.

The exhibit will open Oct. 17 and run through November at the Gesa Carousel of Dreams event center in the Southridge Sports Complex in Kennewick. The exhibit will take a break through most of December then reopen Dec. 31 and continue through Jan. 18, 2018. Admission will be $1 for kids through fifth grade and $5 for adults. Hours will be determined closer to the exhibit opening.

HiHo is a nonprofit that was formed two years ago by a handful of parents looking for ways to entertain their children through educational means. The group brought its first educational exhibit to the Tri-Cities last September with the traveling Oregon Museum of Science and Industry exhibit, “A View from Space,” which was on display at the planetarium at Columbia Basin College in Pasco.

The exhibit was an overwhelming success, motivating HiHo board members to keep the momentum going by bringing the Amusement Park Science exhibit to town, said Stephanie Button, vice president of the board.

“We have been very fortunate to have some great sponsors for our exhibits,” Button said. Some of those sponsors include Bruce Inc., McCurley Integrity Chevrolet Cadillac, Bechtel, Devfuzion IT, realtors Bob and Meri Lee Tippett, and Tri-City area Kiwanis and Rotary clubs.

HiHo is not the first children’s museum in town. The Three Rivers Children’s Museum incorporated in 1989. After struggling to stay afloat financially for several years, it closed in 2008. Scott Butner, a well-known Tri-City photographer, was one of that museum’s founding members.

“Three Rivers started much like the current Hands In/Hands On effort, as a series of pop-up events at various locations, where we’d bring a variety of hands-on activities to community events,” Butner said. “At our peak, we served more than 28,000 people per year on a budget of less than $60,000 a year, with a mostly volunteer staff.  I am thrilled to see a hands-on experience for Tri-City children return and hope it succeeds.”

Button said a children’s museum is vital for any community and hopes to see HiHo find a permanent home in the Tri-Cities in the near future.

“A children’s museum provides an opportunity for kids to connect with parents and grandparents,” she said. “Our goal is to establish and support a children’s museum that stimulates curiosity, creativity and learning through fun, interactive exhibits and programs for kids, families and school groups. Certainly the View from Space exhibit last year did that, and the Amusement Park Science exhibit will do the same.”

And if you want to know how physics laws affect amusement park ride design, check out the traveling exhibit’s website at discoverycentermuseum.org. Amusement park rides use physics laws to simulate danger, while the rides themselves are typically safe, the website said.

To learn more about HiHo, visit hihotricities.com or find them on Facebook.