Space & Weather – Hawt Hovercrafts

Today the space missions continued as our astronauts got ready for the “Ultimate Space Speed Race”  by finishing their hovercraft designs. They then participated in a series of missions/races and were able to explain the choices they made in the shape, size, materials, and layout of their hovercrafts that ultimately affects the efficiency of their designs.

Ask your student: “How do hovercrafts work?” (Hovercrafts are able to float because they create and trap a pressure differential underneath that allows them to levitate.)

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Makey Lab – Water Slides

It was the final day of playground construction, and what better way to end a hot summer week than by building a water slide! Our campers constructed their very own working water slides. They had to figure out how to waterproof the materials, ensure the slide was tall enough, and make sure all the water didn’t spill off the sides. To test them, they used little plastic animals to go down the slides by pouring water at varying speeds. The campers were successful and the little animals had a blast too!

Ask your camper: How did you waterproof your slide? Maybe they used foil, plastic wrap, wax paper, or plastic cups

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Oceanography – Video Stories

Throughout the week, campers examined an array of tiny/planktonic aquatic organisms and were challenged to create a video story to document their experiences along they way.  Today, our oceanographers had an opportunity to re-examine any of the living organisms they investigated throughout the week as independent exploration time! This gave them an opportunity to re-test, re-record, and re-take any images/videos needed to develop/fine-tune their video story. Volunteers shared their video-documentation in a share-a-thon at the end of the activities.

Ask your camper: What did you chose to explore today? (answers vary by camper)

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