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Camp helps students see tangible proof of ingenuity |
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Friday, 13 June 2008 |
 Shoshana Brackett/SDN Below, Milton Robinson, left, takes apart an old tape recorder while Shannon Olsen, right, works on taking apart another machine during Starkville Academy’s Camp Invention this week. The students worked as teams to dismantle a variety of machines, work on reverse engineering and build a new machine to complete the task of popping a water balloon. By SHOSHANA BRACKETT
Starkville Daily News
The act of inventing was a visible, tangible experience this week as children used their knowledge, skills and imagination during Starkville Academy's Camp Invention.
Students in first through sixth grades participated in hands-on activities focused on science and math skills while incorporating the arts and their imaginations.
Camp Invention is held at schools across the country each year. This is the fourth year the camp has been held at SA.
"We have a combination of experienced and new campers," said Hellen Polk, SA elementary principal.
"It's been fun to watch the older kids really lead," she said.
The participants included SA students, Starkville School District students and a few children who are visiting relatives in the area.
Each day features five modules — M.A.R.S. (Moving at Rocket Speed), Art Park, Saving Sludge City, I Can Invent: Fantasy Inventions and Complicated Machines; and Recess Remix.
In the “I Can Invent” module, children in grades 1-3 develop and invent a fantasy machine while children in grade 4-6 focused on building a machine to break a water balloon.
The invention process involved gathering old machines, taking them apart and using the pieces to create a new machine, all of which was fun but could become a little trying at times.
"These machines obviously were made to not be taken apart," said Nathanial Aycock, 9.
"They were meant to last."
"It's very hard, you have to have a lot of patience," said Milton Robinson, 12, of dismantling the machines.
Aycock and Robinson worked with team members Jessica Rowe, 10; Jonathan Black, 11; Josh Crittenden, 11; and Shannon Olsen, 11, throughout the week to accomplish their task.
On Wednesday, the students were deep in the act of reverse engineering, taking apart machines like a large, old tape recorder; a DVD player; a CD player and a remote control car.
As they separated the parts from their object, the students studied how each machine worked in order to better understand how to build their new machine.
While taking their machines apart, the students learned about tools; simple machines like pulleys, incline planes, wedges and levers; and the various parts such as magnets, gears and capacitors, said Bobbie Dewberry, a camp teacher and SA second grade teacher.
"Through reverse engineering they're seeing how these machines actually worked," Dewberry said.
The machine the students develop must include four processes (steps) and two simple machines to complete its task.
In the Saving Sludge City module, campers learned about the importance of keeping the environment clean and how to work toward a cleaner environment.
"We learned how to filter water," said Aiden Butler, 7, of his experience in cleaning the "yucky stuff" out of water in Sludge City.
Kathy Prater, leader for the Sludge City module and SA pre-kindergarten teacher, said students learned about the importance of keeping trash and hazardous materials out of the groundwater.
One activity involved making a filter out of a choice of materials including rock and sand to remove the "yucky stuff" and end up with clean water.
Campers also worked on a city design, focusing on making Sludge City eco-friendly by taking such measures as locating the landfill away from the city.
Today at 2:45 p.m. the students will host their Inventor's Showcase program in the SA cafeteria.
For more information on Camp Invention, visit http://www.invent.org.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 14 June 2008 )
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