Steamy STEM Fun!

We’re cruising right along this week. The students really have gotten into a nice groove already! They’ve really done well with teamwork and have conducted some great investigations already!

Today the blue and red groups ventured all the way across campus to discover things about their nervous system, look at the human organs in the medical science education center, and conduct some investigations around introreceptors, contracting muscles and other fun stuff!

The yellow and green groups took their turn with the UK engineering complex. Along with the different labs, they got to build some motors and use the engineering design process to investigate surface area and mass.

In robotics, both groups dove right into programming today! They started with some of our maze challenges and many jumped into the sensors and using the sensors. Tomorrow we have some more unique challenges up our sleeves! The students are paired up for the robotics and they have truly done a fabulous job of working together already! We always emphasize collaboration, taking turns, and talking through problem solving together; it’s really nice to see such great teamwork in action on Day 2 already!

In their words…

I learned you can create electricity with your arm
I learned that your fingers are more sensitive than your arm.
you have the ability to sense PH
Our muscles create electricity.
I really liked doing the crafrish activity because it gave a good understaing of sensitiveity + senses
I liked the tour becuase it explained alot about Engineering at UK.
most boats don’t sink because they have a large amount of volume
I liked going the the sound canceling room and the 3-D Printing room.

Conversation Starters

Red/Blue Groups

How do muscles in your arm move? What is the path of the signals?
How do you create electricity with your arm?
What was the most interesting thing you learned about the human organs today?
What did you want your robot to do today? How did you get your robot to do what you wanted it to do?

Yellow/Green Groups

Tell me about your plan for your boat you assembled today? What did you take into consideration? Did you change your plan at all?
What was your favorite part of the engineering tour? What did you learn about engineers today that you did not know before?
What did you want your robot to do today? How did you get your robot to do what you wanted it to do?

Photo of the Day…

Click the picture and it will take you to the weekly photo album. Please note that we try to capture pictures of all the campers, but we cannot guarantee that we will get every single one. We try our very best to though! Also we are STEM teachers and not full time photographers, so our pictures are not perfect and we leave them unedited, so if you love to edit photos…feel free! If there is a photo you wish to have removed, please email me and we’ll take it down!

June 7, 2017

Fruit flies, bacteria, and DNA modeling!

Another beautiful day in the Bluegrass as students explored more STEM topics with our awesome professors and graduate students!

Red/Blue Groups

Today the students were in a biology lab in our beautiful new Don and Cathy Jacobs Science Building with Brittany Rice, a graduate student in the Biomedical Sciences doctorate program in the College of Medicine. They were able to use state of the art lab equipment, wear lab coats, goggles, gloves, etc. as a real laboratory scientist would (this included some lab safety lessons as well 🙂 ). They made models of DNA and then did a simple DNA extraction themselves to look at their own DNA. They were very fascinated! Then they learned about bacteria and germs and how they grow and where they’re located. They did a bacteria activity with their hands and then did some sampling to see what bacteria would grow (if any). They’ll get to view their results on Friday.

In robotics, the students started on the green city challenge. The green city challenge requires them to put multiple steps together and complete different tasks such as moving the dam or turning the wind turbine.

Green/Yellow Groups

Dr. Robin Cooper is a Biology professor at UK and has been a long time supporter at STEM Camp. The student always have so much fun in his lab as they experiment with drosophila (aka, fruit flies)! Today they did some sorting of the fruit flies under the microscopes in the lab. They had fruit fly “races” as well. They also did some physiological investigations on how the body reacts to certain flavors and spices. The students also got to spend time in the medical outreach facility where they get to look at and hold real organs, talk about their purpose and function, and look at EKG’s of themselves and their friends.

In robotics, the students started on the space challenge. The space challenge requires them to put multiple steps together and complete different tasks such as moving the moon rocks or opening the satellite.

In their words…

Blue/Red Groups

We got to extract DNA (for real) from our body
I did not know that you could get DNA fro your cheeks
it is weird and gross
working with biohazardous items
I loved learning about Dna & I love doing expirements.
I loved the expirements.
I learned lots about DNA. I learned that you can extract DNA with gatorade.
How DNA has to have a specific base pairs
Would you like to learn more about this topic? – Yes I would so I could help the earth.

Yellow/Green Groups

I learned about how the DNA of a fruit fly is very similar to that of a human and a bunch more about the human body and how it reacts (book).
I loved everything. -Learning about the body using the fruit flies -reading about the human body -actually touching the organs
I am fascinated with genes and biology.
Larva fruit flies roll away as a defense tactic.
Humans share 20% of DNA with fruit flys
if a cockroaches heads off it still can sense a persons from coming
I would probably faint at hte sight of Blood or Bugs
It was hands on gross stuff
That ockroaches can survive without their heads
It was hands on
That Larva are extremely agile

Conversation Starters…

Red/Blue Groups

How did you extract your own DNA today? What did you observe about your DNA?
What did you learn from the handwashing activity?
What did you swab for bacteria today? What do you think you will see on Friday when you look at it again?
What challenge did you start with today for the Green City Challenge? What was your favorite part about programming today?

Yellow/Green Groups

Why did you study about fruit flies today? What was your favorite part of working with the fruit flies?
What organ was the most interesting to look at and hold today? Was there an organ that surprised you in what it looked like?
What challenge did you start with today for the Space Challenge? What was your favorite part about programming today?

Photo of the Day…

June 14, 2016

Another great day…CAER and Dr. Cooper!

The Red/Blue groups had a busy day off site at the Center for Applied Energy Research! The students really enjoyed the different activities. They learned about Newton’s Laws through Newton’s Cradle, explored energy through balloons, rubber bands, and masking tape; and built some electromagnets. It was a great fun-filled day!

The yellow/green groups got to hang out with Dr. Robin Cooper and his graduate students today. The students got to see a real heart, lungs, and brain today. They got to put probes on themselves to measure the electricity going through their bodies. They also viewed and made conjectures about larvae and other fruit fly stages when they were exposed to different colors of light. The did some touch tests with crayfish.

In their words…

What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

Today I learned how mutations effect fruit flies in different stages of their life. I also learned about blind spots.
I learned about optogenetics and how our nerves and senses are effected.
That you can change the brain waves of a fruit fly.
I learned about the different senses, organs, and the brain
That a blood clot could lead to a heart attack or stroke.

What did you like about what you learned today?

I liked experimenting with my partner, larvae, fruit flies and crayfish to discover how light, touch, and other senses react or work.
I liked touching the lungs and brains.
Being Able to touch Actual Real Body Parts that someone once owned
I liked how we didn’t see the circle when we covered the opposit eye and focus on the object
I like that they experiments made me think about the results.

Would you like to learn more about this topic? Why or why not?

Yes, because it can solve people’s problems.
Yes, because it shows the different types of heart, lung, brain problem of what they look like.
I would like to learn more about this topic because this experiment could be tested on many different specis.
I would because learning about senses and how they work or can cause reactions especially when modified, was informative and fun.
I would like to learn more about this topic because it helps humans and the nervous system is awesome!

Conversation Starters…

Yellow/Green Groups

How did your fruit flies react to light? What did they do? How did you measure their movement?
What was your favorite body organ you learned about? What kinds of things affect its size?
Tell me about how you programmed your robot. What kind of challenges did you start?

Red/Blue Groups

How do we preserve energy?
What kind of fuel is the most efficient?
What happened to the balls in the Newton’s Cradle?

Photo of the Day… Click here to view the rest of the pictures

June 13, 2016June 13, 2016

Successful Kick off to Week 2!

We had beautiful weather to kick off the second of our two weeks of 2016 UK See Blue STEM Camp! We are very excited to welcome 217 campers this year to camp! One hundred forty-five of them started today! Registration went very well this morning and we really appreciate everyone’s patience in getting all the forms UK requires turned in. You all are awesome!

Just a note about the consent and assent forms that we ask for every year. Our camp is subsidized by an NSF grant that requires research and reporting to the agency. The purpose of the research is to develop a camp model that promotes STEM careers to adolescents and can be replicated. We also look at students attitudes towards STEM and the impact of our activities. We do not collect test scores or anything similar for your students nor do they have to be a Fayette County student to participate. Without this grant and consent and assent to participate the camp simply would not exist. We never report any names or any individual data…it’s always aggregated together!

We will post a blog post each night this week with some highlights from the day and some conversation starters. The conversation starters are meant to help you get over the “What did you learn today?” “Nothin’” or <shrugging the shoulders> we often see at the adolescent age. We’ll also post a link to the photos we are taking throughout the week. If at any time you want a photo removed that is of your child, please let us know and we’ll be happy to take it down.

Yellow/Green Groups

Today the students split up and 1/2 saw Dr. Bruce Walcott and the other 1/2 saw Dr. Isabel Escobar. (If you like TED talks, you can view hers here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-wbHD77kMWE) In both sessions students were immersed in the wonderful world of engineering…using their hands to build and explore just as engineers do.

Red/Blue Groups

Today the students got to experience the awesome world that Dr. Robin Cooper immerses them in! The students got to see a real heart, lungs, and brain today. They got to put probes on themselves to measure the electricity going through their bodies. They also got to view and make conjectures about larvae and other fruit fly stages when they were exposed to different colors of light.

All four groups…

In robotics, students started by engineering their robots. They got to build their robot and get to know it. They always love this part, but we’re eager to continue moving them on to basic programming challenges. We have some exciting new challenges planned for them this week!

In their words… Each day we’ll post some excerpts from the students’ reflections of what they learned each day at the STEM Content session. We don’t correct for spelling or grammar in these 🙂

BLUE & RED – Dr. Cooper

What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

You can do more with flies than just kill them
I learned that the certain type of mutated fly we used brain was affected by blue lights. The blue light stimulated their nerves therefore after a while paralyzing them
I learned that we don’t inhale to take in more air, but cause the acididty in our blood increased
I learned that if you are dehydrated then youre blood gets thicker
I learned that electrods can close a open circet by sensing your nerve signals
One thing i learned is that salt acts as a buffer against CO2
When you smoke some of your organs are larger than people who didn’t smoke
That scientists use fruit flys to cure about 60 desseses

What did you like about what you learned today?

We got to look threw a microscope
I liked learning that humans in the future could be treated by light
The real life models such as brain, lungs, and spine
I like when we learned about blood and organs and how they work and how to keep them healthy

Would you like to learn more about this topic?

Yes, i want to learn more about the human body, because it is so very intresting
Yes. because i want to see if you can modify other animals
What happens when you use red light on the flies. because we did not get to try it
Yes it is interesting that flys have the same leg muscles as us

GREEN & YELLOW – Dr. Walcott

What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

I learned about the different types of engineering and what causes buoyancy. i also learned about how anechoic chambers work
I learned that there was a girl who built the first ac
That there is a type of floor that when you stand on it you dont feel any vibrations from the regular floor
A concrete boat can float
The flavors of engineering, such as: civil, biomedical, mechanical, etc.

What did you like about what you learned today?

I liked the anechoic chamber because it was relaxing, the types of engineering because I know I don’t have to do all types of engineering, and I liked experimenting w/ buoyancy
The tour of the engineering departments
We learned by hands-on activities rather than a worksheet

Would you like to learn more about this topic?

Yes because i think engineers get to do whatever they want to build & i think some people have really cool designs
Yes. it was ver fun, and is beneficial to our society

GREEN & YELLOW – Dr. Escobar

What did you learn about today that you did not know before?

Whats in diapers and that food can be chemestry
I learned that the chymical engeneers also work with food not just everyday stuff
I learned that many things contain polymers even some surprising things
I learned that sodium polyacrylate, when mixed with liquid, becomes gel-like and is used in diapers

What did you like about what you learned today?

I liked the exeriments and using different chemicals to see a reaction
It was fun to do experiements with sodium polyacrylate
I like that i learned a variety of things that have to do with the job of a chemical engineer, and that i now know about a new, intriguing option for my future
I like that we did many hands-on activities as well as relations to real life

Would you like to learn more about this topic?

Yes it is quite interesting learning about polymers and reactions
I would because i like to experiment with different chymicals
Yes because I get to learn all about the things I use every day and the value of it
Yes, because i want to learn more about how does the sodium polyacrylate get into solid that quick
Yes because i know now that chemical engineering is very versatile and has a very wide variety
I absolutely would. i love learning new things about how the world works and different compounds and mixtures as well

Conversation Starters… We know that your child is getting to the age where it might be like pulling teeth to get them to talk about their day beyond “It was fine.” “It was fun.” Each day we’ll post some suggested conversation starters centered on camp activities or STEM-related themes.

Yellow/Green – Dr. Walcott:

Tell me about how you assembled your robot. Did you follow instructions? Did you just try to figure out what parts went together?
Is there a particular field of engineering that you think might interest you?
How many pennies did your boat hold? If you could build it again, what would you do differently?

Yellow/Green – Dr. Escobar:

What happened when you mixed the powder and water and turned it upside down?
What does a chemical engineer do?
Is there a particular field of engineering that you think might interest you?
Tell me about how you assembled your robot. Did you follow instructions? Did you just try to figure out what parts went together?

Red/Blue Groups:

How did your fruit flies react to light? What did they do? How did you measure their movement?
What was your favorite body organ you learned about? What kinds of things affect its size?
Tell me about how you assembled your robot. Did you follow instructions? Did you just try to figure out what parts went together?

Photo of the Day… Each day we’ll post a camp highlight. Click here to go to the pictures. Please note that we try to capture pictures of all the campers, but we cannot guarantee that we will get every single one. We try our very best to though! Also we are STEM teachers and not full time photographers, so our pictures are not perfect and we leave them unedited, so if you love to edit photos…feel free!

June 23, 2014June 24, 2014

Day 1 is in the books!

After the longest school year in a while and some other area camps, it is finally time for the 2014 See Blue STEM Camp! We are so excited to have 144 campers this year…together…at the same time…in the same week (Craig and I may be greyer by the end of the week 🙂 )! Registration went very smooth this morning and we appreciate everyone’s patience in getting all the forms turned in, etc. You all rock!

We will post a blog post each night with some highlights from the day and some conversation starters. We’ll also post a link to the photos we are taking throughout the week.

Today the blue and red groups (rising 5-6th graders) headed to Dr. Robin Cooper’s (Dept of Biology) laboratory to do some neurobiology experiments today. They got to use iPads (Backyard Brains app – it’s free!) to collect data about muscle movements. Additionally they built some structures out of pipe cleaners that you should ask them about. Most of them fit in their sack packs and so you should be able to have them talk to you about it.

The yellow and green groups (rising 7th-8th graders) got to experience different aspects of nanotechnology with Dr. Brett Criswell from the Dept of STEM Education. They conducted several mini-experiments and were pretty wowed over by many of them! He was a definite favorite amongst the students today…hopefully the rest of the presenters live up to the high bar he has set today!

In robotics, both groups started by reverse engineering their robots. They were given a fully assembled robot and they had to disassemble it and re-assemble it. They always love this part, but we’re eager to continue moving them on to basic programming challenges. This year, the red and blue groups will be working with the NXT robots and the Green City Challenge. The yellow and green groups will be working with the EV3 robots and the newly-released Space Challenge. The yellow and green groups got a glimpse at the new programming software today and so that was pretty exciting for them.

We got so excited about watching the kids robots take shape that we forgot to snap some robotics pictures! We promise to do better tomorrow.

Your kids will be working in groups all week long. The robotics groups are teams of 2 and will stay the same all week long, while the other groups formed will vary throughout the week. As the “real world” continues to become more team-work oriented, we want to help our students grow in that direction as well. We hope your child gets to work with a variety of students this week and in turn meets some great new friends!

In their words… – Each day we’ll post some excerpts from the students’ reflections of what they learned each day at the content session.

What I learned today…

Muscles contract and relax. When you get a muscle disease your muscles start to slow down and your heart stops and you can’t breathe. People who get it have to wear masks to breathe for them. I learned that you can record electrical activity from insects. (red/blue group)
I learned about how muscles work. That energy comes from your body. You could record energy going through your muscles. I did not know anything about muscles, but now I know about myosins. (red/blue group)
I found out that calcium chlorine and antacid make orbs. I learned that things that absorb water don’t absorb oil or vice versa. You can make magic sand water proof. I learned more about chemicals and chemical reactions. (green/yellow group)
Plants have waxy leaves to self clean. Peaches reflect water because of the peach fuzz. I learned about the practical uses of nanotechnology in everyday life, particularly when it comes to manipulating liquids. I learned that some materials repel water molecules. Nanotechnology and how it’s a world too small for the naked human eye to see. (green/yellow group)

What did you like about what you learned today…

My muscles conduct electricity. Seeing electricity in my arm with the iPad. It was awesome! Everything! I learned a lot and i really enjoyed it! The myosin heads and how they work. (red/blue group)
It is really cool to know college/high school level stuff. I liked testing my biceps with the meter. That muscles have electrical activity. (red/blue group)
It was interesting and fun. I liked being able to use my hands in everything. I actually enjoyed everything. I enjoyed how it was hands on and not just sitting and listening. (yellow/green group)
The magic sand repelled water. Everything, but the fabric and with special fibers was my favorite. I liked that we actually got to experiment. The experiments were cool and hands on. What i liked about nanotechnology was when the spheres expanded and when we took them out. i liked everything we did. I liked playing with the “magic” green sand. I thought it was very cool the way it worked. (yellow/green group)

Conversation Starters…– We know that your child is getting to the age where it might be like pulling teeth to get them to talk about their day beyond “It was fine.” “It was fun.” Each day we’ll post some suggested conversation starters centered on camp activities or STEM-related themes.

Red/Blue Groups (rising 5-6th graders):

I didn’t realize my body could conduct electricity…tell me more about that!
What was the pipe cleaner structure that you built? Tell me more about it.
What kind of tests did you conduct on your muscles? What were you testing? What were you looking for?

Yellow/Green Groups (rising 7-8th graders):

What is nanotechnology?
What kinds of things repel water? Why do they need to repel water?
How do you make magic sand?
Peaches reflect water? I’ve never heard about that. Tell me more!

Photo of the Day… – Each day we’ll post a photo collage highlight. Clicking on the picture will also link to all of the pictures taken at camp. Please note that we try to capture pictures of all of the campers, but we cannot guarantee that we will get every single one. We try our very best too! Also, we are STEM teachers and not full time photographers, so our pictures are not perfect and we leave them unedited, so if you love to edit photos…feel free! (We did not do very well with posting to Twitter and taking photos today, but we promise to do better tomorrow!)