ESSK Week Seven, 2019
The ESSK Regatta is Next Week!!
The time has come again for our annual Extreme STEAM Regatta. Our campers are working hard with Mr. Arthur who is leading them through the design process. You see, our regatta is not just about the race. In fact the time it takes for the boats to cross the pool represents a small portion of the total points value on the scoring rubric. Campers’ points come largely from the process which will be on display during the exhibition portion of our regatta.The ESSK Regatta is kind of like a science fair, but with boats! Parents and family members are encouraged to visit each team’s boat so that our campers can present their masterpiece. Be sure to ask each team questions about how they came up with their design. Our judges will also visit with each ship before its voyage to assess the team’s planning, creativity, originality, theme, and name. Teamwork, which holds the highest value on the scoring rubric, will be assessed by Mr. Arthur, Ms. Stacey and Mr. Zach Z. If you’d like to see the planning pages and scoring rubric, click HERE. To see last year’s video, click HERE.
IMPORTANT! Please have your camper wear their bathing suit to camp and bring a change of clothes. They may also wish to bring a towel. Please make sure campers are sun-blocked before camp. Parents and family members are invited from 10-11 am on August 20th and are encouraged to make signs to cheer their campers on in the race.
Digital Den with Stacey
It’s week 7 and we are gearing up for our annual regatta in the Digital Den. We watched videos of the previous years’ boat races while we brainstormed new ideas for better designs, and also thought about how we can integrate our theme of the Human Machine to help power this year’s boats. We then looked at a few interactive laboratories to learn the human body systems. The Minecraft Monday challenge was to somehow represent one of the human body systems. Some campers created a Minecraft skeleton, some campers summoned skeletons and trapped them and one camper made a model of a heart and the body’s circulatory system. This week we also discussed the difference between an animal cell and a plant cell. We spoke about having proper nutrition, sleep and water to keep our cells healthy. Campers colored a special animal cell and then turned it into an augmented reality interactive game with Quivervision. Many of our campers were successful in identifying the organelles. If you would like to find the links to use this fun app and printables, visit our blog.
Dash Robotics with Renee
We have had an amazing summer learning all about the Dash robot. We learned this week how the human body plays a part in learning different skills, by using our muscle and nervous system.
In preparation for the Regatta, we started working on our cardboard boats by planning how they will work and how they will stay afloat. We continue to learn how our bodies work doing different activities.
Robotics 2 with Zach
This week in Extreme STEAM Science, the theme is The Human Machine. In Robotics 2 we are continuing this theme by building humanoid robots! The campers have had a lot of experience building cars and other cool designs, so we’re upping the difficulty in order to build some sweet robots! We are exploring the design of humans and incorporating that into our robot design. Some campers even made a claw based off of human fingers! The campers are having so much fun being able to make robots that look like them and have risen to the challenge in order to make these robots. We are excited, as always, for what will come next in Robotics 2. In week 8, a robot dance party is definitely not out of the question…
Engineering with Arthur
Our week of engineering kicked off with some rain, but not that it stopped us from jumpstarting our boat building for the Extreme Steam Science Regatta! Our first day involved doing some research and design for what each group wanted our boats to look like before diving in and tearing through some cardboard and duct tape. With the Regatta happening so soon, the race is on and it’s all hands on deck!
And since we tie this to our block theme as well, boats play a crucial role in Human Anatomy! Lots of students were trying to figure out ergonomic solutions for including some method of transporting themselves on their boats, so everyone had a different idea for how they would include paddles and oars into their design. The room quickly transformed into a frantic cardboard shipyard for one of the biggest camp events of the summer!
Science with Tina
Welcome to the 4th and final block of ESSK, The Human Machine. It’s hard to believe we are almost at the end of our fun and amazing summer, but not to worry – we still have plenty of time for exciting and challenging activities. As we started our block and got to meet our new campers, we also took some time to investigate our digestive system. Using a garden hose we measured out the length and diameter of our small intestine. The campers were amazed at how long it actually was, sometimes you know an answer but actually seeing it in the real world are two very different things. We then tried to take the hose and wrap it around in a way that would possibly fit in our stomach, needless to say we had some very creative and thoughtful ideas as well as some that were simply hilarious. What fun we had. We all agreed that it was amazing that it actually all fit so well inside of us.
As we watched our tadpoles turn into frogs and seeing how they change from breathing through gills to breathing through lungs, we decided to investigate how our lungs work. Using simple household items we created our own replica of a lung. We were able to mimic how the diaphragm contracts and flattens to allow the lungs to fill up. We all had fun with our lung and learned many interesting facts.
As we are exploring our amazing human machine we also continue to tend to our gardens. The hydroponics garden is growing amazingly fast. The kale we planted at the end of week 5 is getting big and is almost ready to be transplanted into the hydroponics garden, while the crop we transferred into it is almost ready to move outside. The Native garden is growing beautifully and spreading as we hoped it would. During all of this we are enjoying the tomatoes we harvested from our regular gardens and the vertical garden looks amazing. I do hope you come take a peek next week after we all enjoy our annual Regatta! As the summer starts to wind down, parents please know how very much I am enjoying my time with your extraordinary children. I look forward to seeing my friends each day and am truly lucky to know and work with such wonderful young people.
Artistic Design with Lori
It is hard to believe this is our last block of camp. It has been a spectacular summer with an incredible and artistic group of kids. The campers had a great time creating amazing art! I had an awesome time seeing how creative they all are.
In this block of Artistic Design we are learning about the Human Machine. The campers are learning all about the different systems of the body and what they all do. For this project we are working specifically with the skeletal system and how it works. We will be designing a working robotic hand.
We will also be using our artistic knowledge to help plan and design our boats for the annual Regatta. Their ideas and creativity are amazing and I can’t wait to see the finished boats.
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