ROGERS — At Camp Invention, 17 girls are stranded on an alien planet looking for food.
“You can’t get in the swamp. You can’t go through the water,” said Candace Pierce, a fifth-grade teacher at Elza R. Tucker Elementary School who is working as a counselor for the science camp.
Their mission Wednesday was to reach a plant in the middle of a taped off swamp in the center of the room, its seed pods designated by a bowl of popcorn.
Her morning classes built bridges. Pierce asked her afternoon students what kind of tool they could make to get the popcorn out of the swamp. The suggestions came in quickly: a fishing pole, zipline, a suction cup or leaf blower in reverse, a lasso, a “little grabbing tool” or a stick with a hook on it. Thirty minutes later, the girls were armed with tools made of string, tape and straws and trying to make the 6-foot reach to the popcorn.
“This is really forcing them to think and problem-solve,” said Amy Putnam, camp director and Westside Elementary School principal.
The camp’s format poses problems to third- through fifth-graders and allows them to build solutions with teamwork and, in some cases, quite a bit of tape. Teachers from the Rogers School District serve as counselors.
The 84 participants rotate through four stations, problem solving after crash-landing on Planet Zak, saving the environmentally contaminated Sludge City, pulling apart broken machinery to build a Rube Goldberg machine that will pop a water balloon and playing games that teach teamwork.
“It’s helping them think outside the box,” Nicole Iglehart said.
She chose the day camp for her son, Floyd, who will enter fourth grade at Bellview Elementary School this fall, because he is creative. He will read books and play baseball during the summer, but camp will keep his brain engaged, Iglehart said.
McKenna Callahan, a fourth-grader at Westside, told her mother, Michelle Wingard, this was the camp for her after seeing the colorful flier.
“I want to be a marine biologist,” McKenna said.
The camp was different from her expectation. Instead of strictly science projects such as experimental volcanoes, she took apart a car stereo and learned about the environment.
Children disassembled videocassette recorders, DVD players, gaming consoles and old computers at the invention station, said Matthew Garrett, fifth-grade teacher at Old Wire Elementary School. By the end of the week they will have assembled simple, gravity-fed machines that will pop a water balloon in an elaborate way.
AT A GLANCE
Area Camps
Other school districts are also using the Camp Invention curriculum. More than 1,200 schools and organizations nationwide participate each year, according to the organization’s website.
Area camps this week included one at Rogers Heritage High School and Fayetteville’s Leverett Elementary School. Camp Inventions were held last week at Bentonville’s Gamble Elementary and Fayetteville’s Root Elementary School.
Source: www.campinvention.org
The hands-on approach challenges students, even if the material is familiar, Garrett said. Many used a screwdriver for the first time.
“They’re using some of the science they’ve already been taught,” Garrett said. “The learning is coming in how to make something.”
Information about Camp Invention went home with all students moving into third through fifth grades, said Virginia Abernathy, assistant superintendent of elementary curriculum and instruction. The district offered 20 scholarships for the $215 camp.
“Science is an area where we can definitely improve and grow,” Abernathy said.
Feedback from children and teachers has been positive, and she expects the district will host a larger camp next year.
Children have been enthusiastic about the camp, Putnam said.
Rachel Zey, a fourth-grader at Eastside Elementary School, said her favorite part of Tuesday was taking apart things.
“She likes to make things. We’re always doing projects of some type,” said dad Ken Zey. “She’s been hopping right out of bed. I think she’s having fun.”