Students presenting

Science and Engineering Camps

Registration for 2024 Science and Engineering Camps is now closed.

Summer of 2024 Science and Engineering Camps

Come join our staff for a week of experiential learning and fun with science and engineering in July 2024. Kids will have access to our facilities and will spend time with our staff exploring age-appropriate, science-related challenges. These day camps will be action-packed and mind-exercising for our area kids!

Elementary (grades 3-5) and middle school (grades 6-8) camps will be held July 15-18. A second week of the elementary camp will be held July 22-25.

The cost for the elementary camp (Float, Fly, and Lift!) is $100. The cost for the middle school camp (Energy in Action!) is $200. Financial assistance is available for those with demonstrated need. Contact Matt Cavalli for more information. Registrations cancelled prior to June 15, 2024 will receive a refund less a 10% processing fee. Registrations cancelled after June 15 are non-refundable. Each participant will receive a camp t-shirt. Daily snacks will also be provided – please indicate any dietary restrictions when registering.

Registration for 2024 camps is now closed.

Camps

For summer of 2024, we are excited to offer two different camp options--Float, Fly and Lift! for grades 3-5 and Energy in Action! for grades 6-8. Float, Fly and Lift! will be offered twice, July 15-18 and July 22-25; Energy in Action! will be offered once, July 15-18. Float, Fly and Lift! will run from 9 a.m. to noon and Energy in Action! will run from 1 to 4 p.m. each day. For previous camp participants, note that the Float, Fly, and Lift! (elementary) topics will remain largely the same. Energy in Action! will include a new slate of activities and concepts including solar power and wind power.

Participants will explore the concepts of buoyancy, density, aerodynamics, energy and motion through a series of hands-on, design-build-test activities. Events will include harnessing wind power on both square-rigged and Bermuda-rigged boats, maximizing drag to slow a descent, building and launching water bottle rockets, and building a small hot air balloon. Most activities will be modeled after elementary-school-level Science Olympiad competitions. Participants will experience Floyd Hall and the surrounding parkland of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍøÖ±²¥ Parkview Campus and explore °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍøÖ±²¥â€™s main campus in Kalamazoo. 

Participants will learn about different forms of energy (thermal, mechanical, electrical, chemical, radiant) through hands-on testing and design-build competitions. Challenges will include optimizing energy capture from solar panels, creating a CO2 racer, and exploring wind turbine designs, among others. Participants will experience Floyd Hall and the surrounding parkland of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍøÖ±²¥ Parkview Campus and explore °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍøÖ±²¥â€™s Main Campus in Kalamazoo.