STEM Science Camp
Camp Invention
STEM Focused Fun to Kick-off Summer Vacation
Raquel Dickert, Camp Director
STEM focused camp, Camp Invention, kicked off summer for forty-eight students at Zela Davis Elementary the week of June 24-28. This was made possible for the second year through a generous donation from Northrop Grumman. The students spent a week traveling across the globe to learn about and solve real-life situations using science, technology, engineering, and math.
The week began when student expedition teams embarked on a quest to explore the Earth in the sky, underwater, on land, and underground in the Ecoverse™ module. Throughout the journey, teams designed and invented tools to reveal and retrieve the Earth’s hidden messages; deciphering nature’s patterns. In the Cache Dash™ module, children were recruited to become global expedition team members. As part of their weeklong training, they worked in teams to navigate their way to treasure-filled caches. The caches contained virtual missions from youth around the globe challenging the trainees to invent solutions to real-world problems in France, Singapore, Honduras, Hawaii, Cuba and Sudan.
In the I Can Invent: Launchitude™ module, expedition teams were challenged to launch international rubber ducks to their country origin and race to destroy competitor duck territory! Teams put physics (trajectory and velocity) into practical use as they took apart broken appliances and re-engineered the gears and gadgets, along with upcycled objects, to invent the ultimate Duck Chucking Device. Expedition teams traveled the globe to investigate five extremes of the natural world: heat, height, crystals, water, and cold in the Amazing Atlas Games™ module.
The week was filled with hands-on science fun and high-energy games. The last day of camp was the Inventor’s Showcase where students presented their inventions to parents and family members. A special thank you to Mrs. Carbajal, Mrs. Ayala, Mr. Logue, Mr. Elwood, Mrs. Franklin, Ms. Sakata, Ms. Mena, Mr. Avina, the HMSA volunteers, leadership interns, and the support staff for all of their help to make the camp a success!
