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Day 1 Week 2 is off to a steamy start!

 

It was another great day 1 at the See Blue STEM Camp! It was a little steamy outside, but we are thankful the rain went north of campus and kept us dry as we walked to the different activities. We are very excited to welcome 228 campers this year! One hundred twenty-four of them started today! Registration went very well this morning and we really appreciate everyone’s patience as we got everyone checked 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. 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! You can read about some of our work here.

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.

Red/Blue Groups

Today the students split their time between Dr. Bruce Walcott and his graduate students today. In Dr. Walcott’s session, students were immersed in the wonderful world of engineering…using their hands to build and explore just as engineers do. The students got to build simple motors and talk about what electrical engineers do. They also tested out their design engineering skills by building a boat out of aluminum foil and seeing how many pennies it held. There was time left for them to explore a different type of robot, the Ozobot. They had a lot of fun exploring the Ozobots and why they worked! The students also got to tour the College of Engineering facilities, including a stop in the anechoic chamber, and ending with an up close and personal look at the solar car and how the college students designed and made it! The students had fantastic questions they asked today.

Green/Yellow Groups

The green and yellow groups got to spend time in our beautiful new science building – the Don and Cathy Jacobs Science Building. They were in one of the labs and got to explore solar energy and how much electricity can be generated. The students got to collect data and make observations about the different panels in different types 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 then start on some basic challenges of getting to move their robots…on a UK football field this year! They had to move their footballs forwards and backwards.

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 🙂 

  • “I learned that STEM can be used for a lot of real world problems”
  • Would like to learn more about this topic (Dr. Graham) “…because t is a way to produce more energy + that is useful.”
  • “I like that we learned about a type of clean energy which we will need more of in the future”
  • “Diffrient boyencys can hold diffrent weights on water.”
  • “I learned the calculas method and the Engineering Design method”
  • “I would (like to learn more about this) becasue for all my life I ahve been interested in aircraft and I want to be a Aeronautical Engineer.”

Conversation Starters… 

We know 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.” “I didn’t do anything.” So, each day we’ll post some suggested conversation starters centered on camp activities or STEM-related themes.

Red/Blue Groups:

  • 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?
  • How did the Ozobots work?
  • What did the inside of the solar car look like?

Yellow/Green Groups:

  • Tell me about how you assembled your robot. Did you follow instructions? Did you just try to figure out what parts went together?
  • What is solar energy? What can it do for us?
  • What did you measure today using your multimeter? What did you find out?
  • Was there a difference in the panels you looked at today?

Photo of the Day…

Each day we’ll post a camp highlight.  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! 

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Last day excitement!

It seems I forgot to hit post on our last day of fun at STEM Camp on Friday 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing your student(s) with us this past week…we had a blast with them and we hope they came away with positive experiences in the STEM Fields!

Blue/Red Groups

The students actually got to spend the day with me 🙂 It’s been a while since I have been able to do a day of presenting at STEM Camp, so I was really excited! We spent the first half of the session talking about robotics and what makes a robot a robot. We then explored a different kind of robot and the different ways we could program it – the Ozobot. The students love the Ozobots and loved the different games they got to play to help program it. The second half of the session we talked about mathematical modeling and polyhedra. We broke out the 3D pens and used them to make their own polyhedra and then got to get creative and make their own models or use a template for the models. The kids were so creative and had a ton of fun! They brought home their creations to show you 🙂 In robotics, they finished up the Green City Challenge.

Yellow/Green Groups

They spent the day with Dr. Brett Criswell, one of our science (chemistry) educators here at UK. He focused on using different types of energy to power vehicles. The students got to make a car that was water powered and then got a chance to see the UK Solar Car and ask the students who created and race the car lots of questions. They loved making the small cars and then seeing a real solar car! In robotics, they finished up the Space Challenge and started our different racing challenges. Some went back to the football challenge to finish that one.

In their words…

Red/Blue Groups:

  • The world became better that robots can help people.
  • I love 3D printing
  • it was fun and it made me use my brain.
  • 3D pens R hard to use but fun
  • we got to use 3D pens and Ozobots
  • we got to make cool creations with the 3-D pen and make cool paths (with markers for a robot)
  • Ozobots have their own program
  • that not all teachnology is considered as a “robot.”
  • making and building things is fun!
  • It involved working hard ad through frustrations
  • It was epic!
  • it is hands-on
  • about the cheetah robot.
  • 3D printing is fun
  • How to use a 3D pen.
  • It was a hands on project

Yellow/Green Groups:

  • it’s very interesting to think about these new innovations.
  • it will help us in the future.
  • we need energy for the future
  • What did you enjoy? – That we got to make and put together
  • Thing can be powered by the sun.
  • water can move things
  • that hydrogen power cars exist
  • I liked the hands-on learning
  • I learned about different types of energy.
  • we got color changing beads
  • solar power is cool.
  • I want to learn about electricity

Conversation Starters…

Red/Blue Groups:

  • What makes a robot a robot? Is a washing machine a robot? Why?
  • How did the Ozobots work?
  • How did you make your polyhedra with your 3d pen? What else do you think you could create with the 3d pen?
  • What was the most interesting thing you learned about this week at STEM Camp?
  • What do you want to learn more about?
  • How do you think you will use STEM in your career?

Yellow/Green Groups:

  • Why is it important to talk about different kinds of energy?
  • What did you do to make your car move today? How did the water make your car move?
  • What did you observe about the solar car?
  • What was the most interesting thing you learned about this week at STEM Camp?
  • What do you want to learn more about?
  • How do you think you will use STEM in your career?

Picture of the Day…

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Solar Energy, DNA and germs!

Thursday brought another hands-on exciting day at STEM Camp. This group of students is really something special…they are full of extra curiosity and questions. It has been awesome to witness this week!

Blue/Red Groups

They spent the day with Dr. Brett Criswell, one of our science (chemistry) educators here at UK. He focused on using different types of energy to power vehicles. The students got to make a car that was water powered and then got a chance to see the UK Solar Car and ask the students who created and race the car lots of questions. They loved making the small cars and then seeing a real solar car!

In robotics, they continued with the Green City Challenge. Many of the groups made it pretty far today!

Yellow/Green Groups

It was Yellow and Green groups’ turn to be 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…there was some extra handwashing that went on the rest of the day after they realized the germs on their hands 🙂

In robotics, they continued with the Space Challenge. Most groups have made it pretty far and some completed theirs today and so are working on mastering the challenges from earlier in the week. Lots of movement and exciting programs happening!

In their words…

Blue/Red Groups

  • you can make dead muscle and heart tissue move with electricity
  • I realy want to learn more about solar power and hydroelectric
  • It’s fun to use comonly things to use it in a more complex way.
  • we got see it right in front of our eyes, and it was real
  • I got to make a water powered car.

Yellow/Green Groups

  • Its called nucleic acid because DNA’s in the center of the nucleus.
  • I liked the handson activities and being able to physically see my DNA
  • it has so many uses in the future
  • I thought it was really interesting learning about DNA, and how it bonds. We also got to extract some of our DNA.
  • I did not like swishing the gatorade in my mouth
  • Adenine connects to Thymine & Cytosine connects to guanine
  • it was very interesting, both doing it, and learning about DNA.
  • I learned the shapes of DNA and what DNA creates mutations.

Conversation Starters…

Red/Blue Groups

  • Why is it important to talk about different kinds of energy?
  • What did you do to make your car move today? How did the water make your car move?
  • What did you observe about the solar car?
  • What challenges did you complete today in the Green City Challenge? What was your favorite part about programming today? What was the hardest part about programming today?

Yellow/Green 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 challenges did you complete today in the Space Challenge? What was your favorite part about programming today? What was the hardest part about programming today?

Picture of the Day… (click the picture to go to all the pictures from this week)

 

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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…
 
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Motors, bridges, polymers and more!

It was a beautiful day outside and a perfect day for some intense explorations inside. The students have picked up on camp routines quickly and all were happy to wear their camp tshirts on campus. The groups switched presenters today, so they got to do some modeling, design engineering, and chemical engineering today.

Red/Blue Groups

The students split their time between Dr. Bruce Walcott and Dr. Isabel Escobar’s graduate students today. (If you like TED talks, you can view hers here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-wbHD77kMWE) In both sessions students were introduced to different fields of engineering and got to use their hands to design, build, explore, and test models just as engineers do. In Dr. Walcott’s group, students got to build simple motors and talk about what electrical engineers do. They also tested out their design engineering skills by building a boat out of aluminum foil and seeing how many pennies it held. Dr. Escobar’s graduate students led the students through some fascinating polymer explorations today. They took polymers found in disposable diapers and used hydrochloric acid to break it back down, finding its saturation point. The students loved getting to explore and test! Their favorite part was feeling the particles and getting to smash them.

Green/Yellow Groups

The students worked on design engineering and building models using their mathematical skills with Dr. Thomas. They had a variety of supplies to choose from, but there were stipulations so they really had to get creative. Boy, they really did get creative! From building the tallest tower they could, do discovering their bridge could not even hold an eight-pound infant, they had a lot of fun testing and learning about why bridges are built the way they are.

All four groups…

In robotics, students really dug deep into the programming today. They worked on the football challenge, getting their robot to perform certain tasks. The favorite was figuring out how to make the grabbers work using a different motor! Tomorrow they will start some new challenges and probably get into the Green City and Space Challenge building.

In their words…
Blue/Red Group
  • I learned about polymers, calculous, different types of engineers, and chemical enginee’s roles in everyday life.
  • Polymers can react in interesting ways. Concrete can float if thin and big. we got to actually try it with aluanimum foil.
  • polymers absorb water and a boat with mor volume can hold more wight
  • When some polymers interact with water they turn into jell, when they interact with acid they turn into liquid.
  • That being an engineer is fun
  • How to make a faraday flashlight.
Yellow/Green Group
  • How to build a bridge with Posterboard, Popsickle sticks, and tape
  • That paperclips are super strong
  • Tape and sticks can be very strong
  • I learned about different types of bridges, and how they support weight.
  • Simple structures can Hold a lot of weight.
  • That triangles are a key to architexture.

Conversation Starters…

Red/Blue – Drs. Walcott and Escobar:

  • 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?
  • What happened when you mixed the powder and water and turned it upside down?
  • What did the polymers feel like when you touched them? What happened when you tried to smash them?
  • 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:

  • What do bridges need to be strong?
  • How did you decide what materials to use for your bridge?
  • How did you decide on your design for your bridge?
  • How did your bridge do when you tested it?
  • How tall was your tower you built?
  • What did you want your robot to do today? How did you get your robot to do what you wanted it to do?

Picture of the Day…

Click the picture to access the rest of camp photos