Summer Science Camp: Fossils

**Warning: when it comes to making these fossils, do as I say, not as I do...**

Fossil footprints could certainly be added to your summer camp repertoire, but summer's also a great time to break out the big-guns and make some plaster fossils. 

Before beginning, you'll want to collect a bunch of objects with interesting shapes and textures.  You can look around the house to find things or search outdoors.  You may even want to have students collect objects during a nature walk.  Seed pods of different types are interesting (gum balls - from gum trees - are really great).  Leaves are a bit tricky, but worth trying. 

To begin the activity, each student will need a paper plate and a hunk of clay.  This is where you need to follow my directions, not my pictures - you NEED to use real clay, NOT play doh.  (For photography purposes, I tried using what I had on hand, but the results were disastrous, as you'll see below).

Spread the clay into a pancake on the plate.  You want to leave it somewhat thick - about 1 cm or 1/4". 

Use the various objects you've gathered to make impressions in the clay. 

Following the package directions, mix up some plaster of paris.  This is good to do outside, but if you're doing it inside, be very careful to avoid having the plaster go down the drain...

Pour some plaster over each of the clay impressions.

Your plaster will probably run over the sides of the clay a bit - I mixed mine a little too thick. 

Then you let it sit and harden, overnight at the very least.

And this would be where I show you how to life the whole thing off the plate, peel the clay off the plaster and reveal a beautiful plaster cast.

Instead, I used play doh, which is has too much water and doesn't allow the plaster to harden properly, so I have a crumbly mess.  Use clay! 

For what it's worth, you can see a small piece of the bolt fossil:

Summer Science Camp: Volcano Eruption

I'm re-posting this activity, because it works well for a science camp.  Curriculum and time constraints may prevent you from actually building the volcanoes during the school year, but summer camp provides the perfect opportunity to take on such things.  Kids always love to make and erupt volcanoes - doesn't matter how many times they've done it before!

You can find all sorts of volcano making/exploding kits to buy.  (If you're interested in buying, each of those words is a link to a different product).

But you can save your money and have a little more (messy) fun by making your own.

Start with an empty bottle - a Snapple bottle or soda bottle works well.  Tape it to a paper plate - makes it sturdier and easier to work with.

Mix up some paper mache.  There are all kinds of recipes out there.  I'm partial to just flour and water - cheap, easy to procure, and easy to clean up.

Dip strips of torn up newspaper in the paper mache and start applying them to the bottle.  Build up the shape of the volcano as you wish.  Make sure you keep the top of the bottle open!

By making your own model, you have the chance to make it the shape you want... make it a shield volcano, a cinder cone volcano, a composite volcano.  Even if you don't have a sepcific plan, it gives you a chance to review and discuss those types of volcanoes and how they're formed.

A cinder cone volcano

Allow your volcano to dry - the amount of time this takes depends on the weather and how heavy-handed you were with the paper mache.

Once the volcano is dry, you can choose to paint it. 

Or you can just get on with the exploding part.

Put some baking soda in the bttle.  You can add some red food coloring, for effect, if you wish.  Pour in some vinegar and stand back and watch!

And, if you're too impatient to build the volcano and just want to get to the exploding part, you can just put some baking soda in an empty bottle, add some vinegar and watch.  It's a good demonstration of a chemical change, even if you aren't studying volcanoes!

Summer Science Camp: Don't Melt the Ice Cube

See who can engineer the best icebox.

For this activity, I like to have students begin with uniform boxes, but it probably isn't crucial.

The students will each be given an ice cube their goal is to keep as much of the ice cube frozen as is possible.  I place each ice cube in a small zip-top bag in order to contain the water, which allows you to record quantitative data, as well as contains the mess.

I lay out all sorts of materials for students to use in their icebox creation:

• fabric
• yarn
• newspaper
• aluminum foil
• waxed paper
• plastic wrap
• cotton balls
• balloons
• napkins
• markers
• wood shavings
• packing peanuts
• cotton batting
• anything else you find lying around

The students can use the materials in any way they see fit - to wrap around the outside of the box or place inside the box with the ice cube.  Make sure the students' initials are located on the box somewhere. 

After the boxes are complete and the ice has been placed inside, the boxes are taken outside and placed in a shady spot.

After an hour (or other designated period of time) has passed, return the the boxes and observe the ice cubes.  For older students, you can pour off the melted water and measure it to determine who had the least ice melt. 

This activity could be added to your Water Fest, or done independently.

If you'd like to do this activity with your class, but it's the middle of winter, you could place the boxes under a heat lamp.  Or, just leave them sitting in the classroom (but you'll want to wait longer than an hour before checking on them).

Summer Science Camp: Water Fest

On a particularly hot day, move science camp outside for a day-long Water Fest.  Make sure to let students know they should dress appropriately for a water-filled day.

You might want to begin with some learning...
...about properties of water
But It's Full
Baby Powder Snowstorm
A Hole in the Water
Boat Races
Bending Water
Capillary Action in Action
Balancing Act
Mystery Jars
Drops on a Penny
Penny Boats

...about the water we have on Earth
Who Dirtied the Water
Earth's Water Necklace
Earth Ball Catch


And, since it is summer, make sure you include some fun water games - sponge tosses, relay races, water balloon catch, drip-drip-splash (a.k.a. duck-duck-goose, with a wet twist!).  I found a great list of water games (including various versions of the games I just mentioned), with the rules, for camp here.  I'm thinking I want to try the T-shirt Freeze.  I would be especially great if you've made the Sharpie t-shirts (or some other shirt) during camp and still have those in your possession - what a fun way to distribute the shirts to the students!

Summer Science Camp: Air Pressure Demonstrations

If your budget or location doesn't provide you with the opportunity to do a Chemistry Magic Show, consider a series of air pressure demonstrations.  They can be just as much fun, and the science behind them is easier for younger students to understand than the chemistry. 

Start things with a bang - literally - and use air pressure to crush a can. 

It follows nicely to collapse a milk jug. 

Set up the Balloon in a Flask and have students keep an eye on that while you're proceeding through other demonstrations. 

Sucking an egg into a flask is always a favorite.  A simple Internet search will provide you with instructions thousands of times over. 

Challenge a student to Blow up a Balloon in a Bottle! 

Give your students a shower with the Straw Fountain. 

Find two strong students to try to pull apart Two Plungers. 

Bernoulli demonstrations are a bit counter-intuitive and fun.  Try the cardboard tubes or balloons. 
And, if at all possible, finish with some bell jar demonstrations.

Summer Science Camp: Rocketry

One of the big selling points of our science camp was building and launching a model rocket. 

Launching model rockets may sound intimidating, but if you start with a basic model, it's really not bad at all.  I didn't have any experience with model rockets before taking it on as a science camp project, and it all worked out very well.  Of course, it is the kind of project you'll want to make sure the school (or other hosting facility/group) is okay with.

I bought my rocket kits from AC Supply, as they seemed to have the best prices.  They offer a lot of different styles and levels of rockets and provide bulk packs of rockets and engines.

With our elementary students, we used the Alpha III (pictured above), which is a level 0 rocket.  With younger students, you'll definitely want to look for a one-piece fin unit - it makes it much easier to assemble and will fly with better results.   

As simple as the Alpha III is to assemble, there is still plenty for little hands to do.  Make sure you assemble one before you have your students do it, as you may find there are things you want to do for them, ahead of time.  I pre-glued the parts that needed gluing, both to save time and to increase the likelihood that things were straight. 

If I were to do camp again, I think I'd try the Gnome.  I'm not sure if it was available the last time I ordered or not, but having done the science camp experience a couple of times now, I realize that the mini-engines would provide more than enough height for the space we were working in and the lower price tag is always a plus.  Like the Alpha III, the Gnome is also available in bulk packs.

You'll need to order engines for your rockets, as they are not included in the kits.  There are several engines you can choose from for each model.  The model's page will list the engines appropriate for that model. 

If this is your first time launching rockets, you'll also need to order a launching pad. 

When scheduling your rocketry sessions....
Plan one session for assembling the rockets and another session (or two) on another day (in case assembly runs long) for launching.  I wouldn't recommend scheduling your launch for the final day of camp, because it's a weather-sensitive activity and you want to leave yourself room to reschedule if necessary. 

You'll want a day that's free of rain and ideally a day with little wind - depending on where you live, you may just have to do the best you can.

You want a large open field on which to hold the launch.  Set up the pad in the middle, as far from trees and power lines as possible.  Depending upon the direction of the wind and air currents, you may need to move the pad to adjust for those conditions, but start in the middle.

Set up a designated area for the students to sit and watch.  Anyone who's not launching a rocket needs to stay in that area.

Have one student at a time come to the launch area with his/her rocket.  The student will wear goggles while in the launch area and will place their rocket on the pad.  Allow all students to participate in the countdown and then the rocket-owner presses the button to launch.  When the rocket returns to the ground, the student then goes to retrieve it. 

When not launching, make sure all safety protocol (as instructed within the launching kit) are being followed. 

I always gave students this warning:

If you launch your rocket, there's a chance you won't get it back - it could get stuck in a tree, the wind could blow it somewhere we can't retrieve it, etc.  If you want to be guaranteed that you'll have your rocket to take home, you don't have to launch it. 

A few students won't be sure and will at least consider not launching their rocket, but usually the excitement of getting to launch it and seeing where it goes will convince them it's worth taking the chance on not getting it back. 

There are always a couple of rockets that don't make it back down (the reality when you don't have as big a field as you should when you launch), but I've never had anyone upset about it. 

One final bit of advice... take some extra batteries for the launch controller out to the field with you.  It will save you time and give you peace of mind when the launcher seemingly stops working while you're in the middle of launches!

Summer Science Camp: Potato Chip Challenge

I haven't done this one myself, yet, but it's on the list.

The Potato Chip Challenge is an actual (free) national challenge in which your students can compete, but I think it could also work beautifully as part of a week-long (or longer) science camp.  

For the challenge, students need to engineer the smallest, lightest package to protect 1 Pringles potato chip in the US mail.  The weight and volume are recorded and then the potato chip is sent to someone else participating in the challenge.  When the chip arrives at its destination, it is evaluated according to standard criteria.

To use this in a camp setting:
I would have students design and construct their packaging on the first day of camp.  I would have them address their packages to themselves, in care of the school (or other location) where camp is being held.  When camp was over for the day, I would drive to a neighboring community and put the packages in the mail there.  (If you live in a community where all of the mail leaves to be sorted elsewhere, you can just take them to the local post office).  Then you wait for the chips to come back to you and see how everyone fared.

I think I might just have to give this a try myself... anyone want to trade chips?