Friday, July 20th
Wow! Thank you, campers and families, for an amazing week at Explore Science! Camp. Read on for some of the day's highlights:
Future engineers in the 3rd - 5th grade camp completed a few rounds of a pegboard engineering challenge at the start of the day. Observing inertia in action helped campers prepare for their Rube Goldberg machine demonstrations later in the day. We're so impressed with the campers' innovative movement ideas! The group rounded out their Friday by building flying machines in the Exploration Station, enjoying a physics show in the Auditorium, taking a four square break, and building inertia towers -- a great end to a great week!
Explore Science! 1-2 campers bounced around in and outside like atoms -- literally (playing tag) and metaphorically (moving through their day). The Red Group took their turn making ziplines, and today the Blue Group built penny bridges. By now, each group has concocted slippery slime, fluffy slime, and gloop slime -- hence the parade of samples traveling home this week!
Explore Science! K campers learned about color in an Auditorium show with our physicist, Doug. There are more great photos over on Facebook! This morning, the group worked together to build circuits. It was tricky work for little fingers, but by the end campers made bulbs light up and buzzers buzz. They ended the day with rocket balloons. Campers used balloon pumps to inflate the snake-like balloons, then watched Newton's Third Law of Motion in action!
Whether this was your first week with us or your seventh summer with us, we're so grateful that you were here. We had a blast, and we hope you all did, too! Click here if you'd like to join us for another week.
See you around the museum!
-Your 2018 camp staff
Thursday, July 19th
Has your Explore Science! 3-5 camper told you about this week's Rube Goldberg machine building challenge? After an introduction on Tuesday, campers spent time yesterday and today working in small groups to perfect the mechanics of their creations. The group cooled off with a show in the Acheson Planetarium, and tinkered with their slime recipes, too.
The Kindergarten campers met arthropod ambassadors from the Institute's live specimen collection. Darkling beetles, hissing cockroaches, praying mantids... which did your camper like best? A highlight from this chemistry day? Making oobleck! Campers mixed cornstarch and water in the shade of the Erb Garden and spent time observing (and playing with, and covering themselves with) the bizarre results.
For a fun twist on the classic volcano combination, Explore Science! 1-2 campers mixed baking soda and vinegar in sealed plastic bags and launched the puffy bags before they POPPED! For a super take on super absorbent polymers, campers mixed Orbeez and water. Making levitating machines in the wind tube has been a popular activity this week, too. Get ready for the opening of Da Vinci Machines and Robotics this weekend!
Wednesday, July 18th
This week, the Explore Science! 1-2 campers continue their side-by-side slime comparisons. When making fluffy slime, one camper exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, only a tablespoon [of saline solution]? The saline solution will make the glue less sticky -- I think that's not enough!" How great to see campers consider proportions and cause and effect. Elsewhere, other groups experimented with air and water pressure and combined liquids in a solution to blow bubbles.
Explore Science! 3-5 campers started their day with hovercraft rides before creating their own miniature models with balloons. Campers also set up an experiment to grow crystals in the shape of their initials. We're excited to see how they turn out!
The Explore Science! K campers spent time in the Motion Gallery this morning. The new LEDs, tunnel, and chimes were a hit. Then, campers visited the exploreLAB. They met with staff from the Institute of Science who helped the group dig a marine fossil souvenir out of hardened clay -- just like a paleontologist! Another favorite? Ending the day with elephant's toothpaste! What did your camper think of the reaction?
Tuesday, July 17th
Welcome back, camp families! Here are some quotes from our day today:
"We're making a marble game!"
"Yeah, we're trying to knock them together but the track keeps falling."
-Two Explore Science! 1-2 campers disussing the gravity-powered marble track they built. (It was the first of numerous iterations!)
"We saw a movie about kids turning cardboard into a rocket!"
-an excited Explore Science! K camper talking about the planetarium show she saw this morning
"...because I put a lot of paint on top and it drips because of gravity. Gravity is what pulls you down."
-An Explore Science! 1-2 camper from the Blue Group explaining how he made his gravity painting
You'll find pictures of rubberband cars, penny bridge challenges, gravity painting, tie-dyed 2% milk and more over at the museum's Facebook page!
Monday, July 16th
Welcome to week two of Explore Science! This week's theme is Physics and Chemistry. All week, campers will explore matter, movement, and forces -- from stars moving above to the effect of gravity on falling objects.
The Kindergarten group investigated chemical changes today. Did you camper like the Diet Coke and Mentos explosion outside? Campers splashed their way through an engineering challenge and used sodium bicarbonate and citric acid tablets (Alka-Selzter) to power lava lamps!
Explore Science! 3 -5 started the week with a discussion of Newton's Laws of Motion. They observed the laws in action when they created astronaut-cushioning devices in an Egg Drop! Thanks to campers' creativity and problem solving skills, ALL eggs survived the drop!
Explore Science! 1 - 2 campers explored gravity, too -- with a zipline! Campers created a zipline for miniature animals and watched them glide. While discussing the building blocks of life, 1 - 2 campers build their own sets of building blocks. Oh, and did we mention slime? What chemistry week would be complete without the gooey goodness! Campers will make a series of slimes this week and compare their physical properties.
Don't forget to visit the museum's Facebook page and see some pics from the week. See you tomorrow!