Monday
The first official day of Camp Learn-a-lot! Students piled into the school bright and early at 8:30 a.m. filled to the brim with excitement, anticipation, and prospect. (Albeit, sprinkled with apprehension)Many precedents were set on this day, such as the daily ritual of eating lunch as soon as a student enters the The Eye of The Tiger (With edited educational Lyrics). Then the students are sent off to their classes. Following the daily morning meal ritual, is a meeting held each
On the first day of Learn-a-Lot, introductions were made as the students were carefully placed into their classrooms. Many introductionary or name games were played to allow the students to become comfortable with the rest of the class. But the games didn't last long, because before the students knew it, they were planning for their insect observations.
Every class created a Bug Jar, to catch bugs in the near future. On top of that, the students designed the jar to LOOK like a bug. (We're teaching these students about puns before they even know it) Creative artistic skills were required for the creation of these bug jars, and I must say as a first hand observer, the kids knocked it out of the park in showing off their abilities. Only the first day, and these kids are already impressing me. Imagine what the rest of the week looks like.
After the bug jar was finished, the clock read 2:00 and the students were led to their buses and sent back home to their families. Hopefully to come home with several stories about how much they enjoyed their camp experience, and how they can't wait to come back the next day. Speaking of which...Tuesday
The first day hump was over, and students were finally getting into the swing of things on the second day of Camp Learn-a-lot.
Following Breakfast and the morning meeting, many students started the day with a visit to the
Camp Menagerie in the media center of the school. Observations were made about the creatures, about the way they look and act, and gave the students a good chance to make an educated guess as to why the animals are structured the way they are.
When students returned to class, experiments were held where students had to make an educated Hypothesis, and run an experiment to test the hypothesis.
One experiment involved the use of M&M's, and how many of each color were in a pile of 15. The students would guess how many they believed would be of each color, then see the real results. The final results were graphed into charts in a way not too different than what is done in high school.
Another experiment done by campers involved the most appealing thing one can find in the dirt: Worms.
Students would put the worm on a napkin, half wet, the other half dry. The students had to guess which end the worm would slink it's way to. (The worm usually favored the wet end)
The day was tail-ended by a school wide bug hunt in the Science Village. Students would go outside to look for insects, putting their Bug Jars from Monday to good use. An alcohol covered cotton-ball was used to sedate the bug for further experimentation. During the search, students learned the names of many new bugs as their interest in the project grew.
After the bugs were captured, another day was completed at Camp Learn-a-Lot and all the students were sent home, their bugs waited at school for experiments the next day.
Wednesday
Who wants to touch some bugs? That may not sound like the most appealing thing on Earth to you, but the kids at Camp Learn-a-Lot just loved playing with
their bugs. Today's goal was to get the now deceased bugs from the day previous, pinned to a foam tray for more in depth observation. The tutors helped with the sharp objects and such, so the Camper didn't make a mistake and lose a finger.
After playing with bugs, the children were given an amazing chance to go to the Science Village, where the main event was unleashed: WATER SPRINKLERS!
Three sprinklers were set up, and all the children came out to play and jump through the sprinklers. I'm happy to report the students behaved excellently through this, and nobody was hurt, nor was there any real horseplay. On top of that, the children just adored being able to get wet after the abnormally hot days that preceded.
When the students came inside and dried themselves off, they were sent off to the buses. Concluding a rather exciting day at Camp Learn-A-Lot.
Students did this research on School Owned Ipads, or the computer labs. Unbeknownst to the students, they were learning to use deductive reasoning skills by doing this research, and also learning pronunciations and proper names for insects.
The students were planned to have another Water-Day not unlike the one on Wednesday, but Mother Nature reared her mighty head, and thunderstorms plagued a majority of the day. Many students were disappointed, but understood the reasons why the cancellation occurred.
Overall:
The first week of Camp Learn-A-Lot was an undeniable success, the students adored being there, the tutors were happy to help, and the teachers/staff loved it. This makes this writer, enthusiastic about the week to come. So I leave you with these words from the First Week of Camp Learn-A-Lot 2013:
-Jess
Following Breakfast and the morning meeting, many students started the day with a visit to the
Camp Menagerie in the media center of the school. Observations were made about the creatures, about the way they look and act, and gave the students a good chance to make an educated guess as to why the animals are structured the way they are.
When students returned to class, experiments were held where students had to make an educated Hypothesis, and run an experiment to test the hypothesis.
One experiment involved the use of M&M's, and how many of each color were in a pile of 15. The students would guess how many they believed would be of each color, then see the real results. The final results were graphed into charts in a way not too different than what is done in high school.Another experiment done by campers involved the most appealing thing one can find in the dirt: Worms.
The day was tail-ended by a school wide bug hunt in the Science Village. Students would go outside to look for insects, putting their Bug Jars from Monday to good use. An alcohol covered cotton-ball was used to sedate the bug for further experimentation. During the search, students learned the names of many new bugs as their interest in the project grew.After the bugs were captured, another day was completed at Camp Learn-a-Lot and all the students were sent home, their bugs waited at school for experiments the next day.
Wednesday
Who wants to touch some bugs? That may not sound like the most appealing thing on Earth to you, but the kids at Camp Learn-a-Lot just loved playing with their bugs. Today's goal was to get the now deceased bugs from the day previous, pinned to a foam tray for more in depth observation. The tutors helped with the sharp objects and such, so the Camper didn't make a mistake and lose a finger.
After playing with bugs, the children were given an amazing chance to go to the Science Village, where the main event was unleashed: WATER SPRINKLERS! 
Three sprinklers were set up, and all the children came out to play and jump through the sprinklers. I'm happy to report the students behaved excellently through this, and nobody was hurt, nor was there any real horseplay. On top of that, the children just adored being able to get wet after the abnormally hot days that preceded.When the students came inside and dried themselves off, they were sent off to the buses. Concluding a rather exciting day at Camp Learn-A-Lot.
Thursday
On this day, the insect Quadrilogy of the week was concluded. The students went to an online website, (InsectIdentification.org) and did all the possible research they could on their captured insect. Using traits like their size, color, and amount of legs, student were to find the scientific and common name of their insect.
Students did this research on School Owned Ipads, or the computer labs. Unbeknownst to the students, they were learning to use deductive reasoning skills by doing this research, and also learning pronunciations and proper names for insects.The students were planned to have another Water-Day not unlike the one on Wednesday, but Mother Nature reared her mighty head, and thunderstorms plagued a majority of the day. Many students were disappointed, but understood the reasons why the cancellation occurred.
Overall:
The first week of Camp Learn-A-Lot was an undeniable success, the students adored being there, the tutors were happy to help, and the teachers/staff loved it. This makes this writer, enthusiastic about the week to come. So I leave you with these words from the First Week of Camp Learn-A-Lot 2013:
-Jess
Great Job campers!!!!
ReplyDelete