Camp Invention

For Isaac's birthday this year, I surprised him with a week long day camp called Camp Invention.

For 5 days he and Lexxi participated in science based learning modules and had a lot of fun. 

Some things they explored :

-how animals like the cuttlefish and octopus create their own camouflage

-how every color in the rainbow can be created using just 3 basic colors

-how to decipher secret codes

-why bouncy balls bounce

-what happens when a bouncy ball has flat edges

-how fire beetles use infrared light to locate forest fires so they can fly into them and lay their eggs

-how mood rings work

-how atoms act as the building blocks of all matter and create structures out of representative materials

-nanotechnology, and practiced moving around vibrating "atoms"

-teamwork, solving challenges as a team and using good communication skills

-tool safety

-using tools, they got to each take apart a small machine, exploring the gears and gadgets

-learned about the iron-plated snail, which incorporates iron into its shell to protect it. To further explore this, they then removed iron from cereal, protected a water balloon "snail", and collected iron fillings

-learned morse code

-designed and built secret clubhouses

-learned how electrons, the negative charges of atoms, are what make atoms join together to make molecules

-investigated electrons through static electricity experiments

-learned how wasps gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, mix it with their saliva, and build nests made of paper that are so strong they can withstand storms, wind, and human weight

-learned about a code developed thousands of years ago called a Caesar cipher code

-explored how molecules can form mixtures and compounds, and learned the differences between them

-created their own mixtures and compounds, and made a special slime

-made their own bouncy balls

-designed and built inventions, Lexxi's age did Rube Goldberg machines, Isaac's age did games

-decided on names for their inventions, then came up with a marketing campaign to sell them

-played human foosball, had water balloon fights, played freeze tag with giant sponge fish, and other fun games.

The camp counselors designated different dress themes for each day too, just for added fun.

This was crazy hat day.

Wacky hair day.

We wanted to spray paint Isaac's hair since he doesn't really have any, but settled for a wig. It was a hit.

Mix and match day. Just lovely.

On Friday at showcase, I got pictures of a few of the things they'd been working on. It would have been cool to just be there with them throughout the week to take pics of all the other things they did, but I'm glad they had so much fun.

Here is Lexxi's Rube Goldberg. It had to have 4 functions, so she did: tunnel, funnel, spiral loop, and at the end the ball would knock down a flag. Good work Lexx!

Using parts from small appliances and gadgets that all the kids brought and took apart and explored, they made inventions. Isaac's invention was a game that you would score points by hitting a ball with a lever, try to make it go up and down a ramp, through a tunnel, then into various parts of a maze, and score different amounts of points. It was pretty cool, nice work Isaac!

They learned morse code, and strung beads in the shapes of dots and dashes to build words. 

They also made code deciphering wheels for writing secret messages.

And here are their handmade bouncy balls. They work really good.