Science Camp 2010 week 1


Here are pairs of pictures of each of the groups that you can try to merge using a technique that we didn't try in class.
Stare at a pair and cross your eyes and you will merge them into a 3D picture.
You may need to move back from your monitor to make it work for you.
When you do it right you will see three pictures, the center one will be in 3D.

Below each pair there is an anaglyph of the same group.
You will need red/cyan glasses to see them in 3D.
I find the crossed eye method works best for me.
Which is best for you?

 



















Some scenes from around camp.  More will be added over the next week or so.

Check in.
Each of the campers are assigned to one of the five "Color groups".


Morning announcements every day to let the campers know what is coming up.


This year's instructors.


Some of the volunteers that help with the classes


Computers
Campers got to learn a programing language named Scratch.
 
They learned techniques to make the letters of their name do tricks.
A letter might wiggle, tip over,change color, or who knows what when they typed them.
  
Delving deeper into programming the computers.
Physics
They studied how we use parallax to see in 3D and measure the distance to planets and nearby stars.
Nearby in the case of stars is less than about 100 light years (5.9x1014 miles or 9.5x1014 km)
     
The campers got to investigate how cameras work.  
This will come in useful when we build our own cameras later in the week.
        
If the capacitor in a disposable campers is charged to 300 volts and you touch the wrong place you will discharge it all at once
Let's hope that it isn't through you.

We took a look at 3D technology including anaglyph, stereopticon, and polarized light techniques.
 
A large soft lens. Did a whale lose its contact?

And a really big Fresnel lens

They performed an experiment that shows how the apparent brightness of light changes with distance.
It is called the inverse square law.  
A couple of examples: twice as far away the light will be 1/4th as bright, at 10 times the distance 1/100th.
This table shows more examples of how it works.
 Distance  Brightness
1 X1
2 X1/4
3 X1/9
4 X1/16
5 X1/25
10 X1/100
100 X1/10000
1000 X1/1000000
This can be used to to measure the distance to stars.
The experiment had to be done in the dark but here they are showing how they did it.
 
We took apart a camera on the first day of camp, now they each built one.
  
We used it to take a picture.
And then we developed it.

Here are some of the photographers with their results.
Because of glare from my flash the pictures looked better than they appear here.
I think you can see that the kids are happy with their results
         
Chemistry
Safety is essential in all lab activities but nowhere more so than in chemistry.

Here campers are dying their own personal pair of safety glasses.
 
An important characteristic of many chemicals is their pH.
Here they are learning about and using indicator solutions that can measure it.
     

Campers investigated different hydrogen/oxygen mixtures to see which would make the best propellant for their mole rockets.
 
Prepare to launch.
 

Biology
The campers learned about Deoxyribonucleic acid, that's DNA
Then they created a strand of beads that was a model of their own DNA with genes for some of their traits (hair color, eye color, sex, etc.).
They examined real plant and animal cells.
 
And painted models of them.
   
Some of the campers showing off their cells.
     
Dissection, this week they got to inspect a frog's interior.
Helpers enjoyed it too.
       

Astronomy
In astronomy the campers built and tested their own sundial. 
 
And an instrument to illustrate solar motion.

Building a telescope was another project.
One camper told me it was the best part of the camp.

They also plotted their own star chart.
Parachute construction.  
  
Then they tested them.
At the end of each day they assembled to find out more about the program: the contests, prizes and field trip.

Science Olympics
Team competitions to see who could build the strongest bridges using only paper or toothpicks and glue.
   
The tallest tower with paper and tape.
Form the most words using the symbols on the periodic table.
 
Fire a water balloon to a target with a 3 person slingshot.
 
One individual challenge was to see who would make it to the Hot Seat and get the highest score in the "Who wants to be a millionaire" science quiz.
 
Teams tracked a computer maze.
Teams made a paper airplanes that were tested to see which can travel the furthest after making a right turn from the classroom and down the hall.
 
Can you beat the clock in "Minute to win it".
Some of the campers built  wind turbines at home that we tested to see which generated the highest voltage.
And many more contests.

Everyone waiting to find out who the winners are ---

Here they are.
If you are wondering about the big guy, he was a volunteer who got a special award.
  
And these are the winners of the turbine construction contest.


The Cincinnati Zoo
We gathered at 6:30 AM to start our trip.

Wet weather greeted us when we arrived at about 11:00.
But it soon cleared.

The reptile house has Chinese alligators in it's central pool.
Listed as critically endangered with only about 150 in the wild.
Some hatched in zoos are being released in their original habitat to try to maintain the species.
Many of us went to see the Wings of Wonder show where a macaw, hawk, eagle, and hornbill flew over the audience.
Very close if you were in the right spot.
 
And a penguin, emu, and others paraded across the stage.
The Sumatran rhinoceros, the world’s most endangered rhino, suffering from deforestation and poaching for its horn has been successfully bred here giving some hope for it's long term survival.

Campers learned a lot at the "Meet the Keeper" events.
Here you can see just how close they got to a king penguin.

Other sights included everything from insects and
primates
 to a Komodo dragon

and barnyard animals
 
But finally it was time to bid adieu to the zoo and the rhino at the gate.


If you were at camp and have pictures you would like to share e-mail them to Nancy and Alan  we would like to see them.

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