Camp Invention held in Woodbury
District 833 Community Education's Camp Invention was held last week at Liberty Ridge Elementary.By: Amber Kispert-Smith, Woodbury Bulletin
- Inventeureka
District 833 students put their imaginations and minds to work last week at Liberty Ridge Elementary during the annual District 833 Community Education Camp Invention.
Camp Invention is a day-camp where students in grades 1-6 participate in a variety of creative and inventive activities.
Camp Invention was started in 1990 by Invent Now, a national organization that fosters children’s inventions.
“This is a five-day all-day science experience, which most kids don’t get during the school day – there’s just not time,” said Jodie Hansen, a coordinator for the day camp and a high school teacher in Worthington, Minn. “Camp Invention gives students a chance to spend immersion time with science.”
During the week students moved through five activity stations. Students spent about 60 minutes at each station.
The stations included – “I can Invent: Balloon Burst,” “Inventeureka,” “Gadget Garage,” “Magnetropolis,” and “Action and Adventure Games.”
In “I can Invent: Balloon Burst” students are tasked with building inventions that can burst balloons while learning about machines and tool safety as they work.
In “Inventeureka,” students travel through time to different points in invention history before creating their own inventions.
Students are challenged to elaborate, refine, analyze and evaluate their ideas to improve their invention and explore the connections between science, technology, engineering and innovation.
“Inventing is always that idea of revising and improving,” Hansen said.
During “Inventeureka,” students learn about principles of flight and explore ultraviolet and infrared light energy.
Second grader D.J. Stradtman decided to invent a hot air balloon.
“It’s cool that the fire actually makes it go up,” he said.
Second grader Elizabeth Hunt said she invented a time machine so she can travel to the year 3000.
“There might be flying cars, she said.
In “Magnetropolis,” students are recruited to find a magnificent island by navigating hand-crafted ships to the last known location of the island while exploring science skills such as buoyancy, orienteering and magnetism.
Participants explore the properties of magnets, levitate magnets and create a nonstandard measurement system of magnetic force strength. Finally, students create circuits in hopes of lighting a light bulb.
In “Gadget Garage,” students work in a television studio where they have to create equipment.
Students are given money in which they have to use to purchase the various parts for their gadgets.
“Action and Adventure Games” demonstrates to students how traditional games can be modified using nontraditional approaches and nonconventional materials.
Hansen said some of the biggest lessons students learn during Camp Invention are: cooperation, coordination, creative problem solving, evaluation, analysis, revision, persistence and working in a group.
“It’s a great hands-on, minds on chance for students to spend quality time in science and engineering,” she said.
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