Our Young Explorer group had so much fun this 1st week of camp! They showed excitement when learning how to take photos on iPads and then share those photos with friends. Children also made mixed media paintings of what they want to do this summer, which included lots of trips to the beach and Disney World!
For science class, we made model airplanes and tested them out from different heights, moving the wings to see how these changes would affect how the planes flew. Needless to say, there was lots of excitement flying them down from the art studio in the barn! Through experimentation, we observed that the higher our starting point, the further the planes could go. Also, the angle of our arm really effects the direction of the plane.
We also tested out making bubble shapes. We created different shapes of wands (triangles, circles, flowers, etc.); and first talked about the shapes with the kids. Then, asked them to predict what shape the bubbles will be that will come from them. And then we blew bubbles through them. Many children thought we would create different shapes, but were still excited to see the sphere again and again. Here is the explanation that we discussed: Bubbles will always come out round or in a sphere, no matter the shape of the wand. This is because of surface tension; the wall of the bubble will automatically make the shape with the least surface area (the smallest shape) it can. The air inside the bubble pushes out evenly on all sides, which makes the bubble a sphere. This may seem like a simple experiment, but children are learning about creating a hypothesis, testing, observation, analysis and conclusions in a super fun way! This is a crucial STEM concept and helps students better understand the world around them!
Next week during the Young Explorers camp, our theme is insects! We are so excited to put our observation skills to the test with some creepy, crawly friends.
