Last week, kids from around Oxford spent the hot summer days inventing objects to solve their problems, contact life on another planet and even solve a crime.
It was all part of Camp Invention at Clear Lake Elementary School, which is a national summer program packed with hands-on activities, brainstorming, experimentation, and unbelievable action to keep even the most hard to entertain child amused.
Program coordinator Julie Adema said 75 children participated in the program this year and that ‘it was a huge success.?
‘It is such a great opportunity for kids to use open-ended thinking strategies and hands-on learning,? she said.
Each day, students visited four different activity areas to get their creative minds working.
One room, called Wild Blue Y’Under, had the kids design and build methods of transportation that will safely take them around the world to protect the ‘important documents? from spies who want to swipe them.
They flew high, dove deep, and traveled the globe exploring physics concepts such as buoyancy, lift, density, friction, propulsion, and water pressure to complete the secret mission. Children then apply these concepts to invent their own method.
Another section at the camp was called Tape Me To Your Leader, where children used tape, and other fun items, to create a three-dimensional command center, radio towers and tall antennas to ‘talk? to other inventors in our galaxy.
‘We’re having a lot of fun,? said Lauren Sakosky, a third-grader in the program.
For all the crime show lovers, the children met in the Solve It room to find the missing inventor’s log.
By conducting experiments, using forensic science and deductive reasoning, the children had to create character sketches and models of the rooms of the inventor’s house and examine fingerprints and teeth impressions.
Probably the most exciting room for the kids was the I Can Invent room, where they got to carefully take apart household appliances and turn them into their own fantastical inventions.
Their invention was created to solve a common problem in their life. Kids also got to create a logo for their item and learned how to obtain a patent for it.
Adema would like to thank all of the volunteers for Camp Invention for their hardwork and is already looking forward to next year’s program.