Session Three: July 23 – August 3, 2018

 

Theme: Learnasaurus: Prehistoric Times

Parent Visitation Day: Thursday, August 2nd, 10am

Citizen Science Activity: Fossil Finder Project

• Students will navigate through an online database of photos of the Turkana Basin in Kenya for fossils to help direct Paleontologists to specific locations to study.

News from the Digital Den with Miss Stacey

 

It was a new block in the Digital Den and our Learnasauruses celebrated SHARK WEEK! Did you know that sharks are sometimes considered living fossils because they have changed very little over millions of years? Our campers looked for shark fossils in our Citizen Science activity of the Block. In “Fossil Finders” our campers examined high resolution photos, taken by low-flying drones in the Lake Turkana basin in Africa. Our observations added notations that will help scientists pinpoint areas that would be most fruitful to send paleontologists to examine. We examined an interactive timeline about the evolution of sharks over the past 500 million years. Our campers then used a shark tracker where we were able to observe the locations of thousands of different sharks who were tagged by biologists. Our campers learned about how and where sharks are located and how they move from place to place. Finally, our campers learned how to code a shark game or animation in Scratch. Visit our blog to access the links at home if your child would like to continue the shark fun outside of the Digital Den.

 

News from Robotics 1 with Juliana

 

Week 5 of Robotics! This weeks theme was prehistoric dinosaurs meets robots! Our science campers started the week learning about how the earth began as well as earth’s first life forms! We touched on the habitat of the times and some evolutionary theories. Then, we created our very own DASH dinos! We went exploring on our beautiful 15 acre campus searching for prehistoric rocks and foliage that became part of our 3D habitats. I was amazed as usual at how creative our ESSK’s get and how differently they all approach their projects. To end the week, we took our DASH Dinos and made our own virtual Jurassic World and then coded DASH to explore what we created while reviewing all the fun facts we learned throughout the week. Another AMAZING week in the books!

 

News from Robotics 2 with Alan

 

This week in Robotics 2 class, our campers were exploring the “Learnasaurus-Prehistoric Times” theme. The new campers built a catapult using SnappyXO, and they learned the basic principles of a simple electric circuit, how to power a LED with a button and a photocell. In addition, they learned how to program a LED, a servo motor, and ultrasonic sensors. For this week, the campers started working on a project, building a “T.Rex head” in the Cretaceous period that can move using SnappyXO robotics kits, and also they learned the basics of The Geologic Time Scale.

 

News from Engineering with Kyle

 

This week in engineering students went back in time to observe and learn from the world in prehistoric times and how it has changed up to the present day. Students this week designed a device to protect a mother pterodactyls eggs while she is away from her nest. It remains a pleasure working with our young engineers and watching them develop new skills with each class.

 

News from Science with Tina

 

Welcome to our third block at Extreme STEAM Science Kids. We have been having so much fun, it’s hard to believe the summer is already half over. I was excited to meet all our new campers this week, and of course happy to have the rest of my friends continuing. This week ESSK started block 3, Learnasaurus – Prehistoric Times. We started the week investigating the rock cycle and discussing the oldest rock found on Earth. Fun was had by all when we replicated the rock cycle with crayons. We investigated rocks from the Grand Canyon, Zion Canyon and tried to tell the difference between a rock and a piece of petrified wood. Our hydroponics garden is growing so well we were able to pick lettuce this week. Of course we had to check on our friends in the cave and see if our gecko eggs had hatched. To end the week we had our trip to Heckscher State Park, where we had a great time during the scavenger hunt and Art class. I am looking forward to next week, when we have more excitement planned for our Prehistoric Times theme!

 

News from Artistic Design with Lisa

 

This week, our campers were very excited to dive into their third theme of the summer! For our first project, we spoke about different species of dinosaurs that existed long ago. With this thought in mind, everyone was given model magic and asked to create their own design. While some of the campers decided to execute their creations with attention to detail and accuracy, others focused on adding a modern or imaginative twist. Later in the week, after our sculptures dried, the little artists went to work at painting their dinosaurs to truly bring them to life (again). Each camper shared ideas with one another and made suggestions to make their work the best it could be!