This year, for the first time ever, 4-H Camp Bristol Hills will host a unique summer camp opportunity for 6th-8th grade students, funded in part by the Finger Lakes WIRED grant. Using curricula developed by Main Street Science at Cornell University, students will get hands-on experience with a variety of STEM principles. Students will work with motors, build catapults, create batteries, navigate with GPS receivers and explore science on our ropes course. Imagine your science lab at school suspended 40 feet in the air!

This exciting opportunity will blend the rustic outdoor environment of camp with the science and technology that drives our world today. Campers will enjoy spending a week living with their peers in cabins, dining together in our dining hall and participating in our outdoor living lab. Field trips, guest speakers, and special programs will complement the camp experience and campers will be rewarded with a unique opportunity to make learning FUN!

As part of this project, students will receive a letter for their teachers at school explaining the projects that the campers completed and the educational standards met by these activities. 4-H Camp Bristol Hills is committed to providing opportunities for youth to extend their learning throughout the summer.

What You Need to Know:

Who: Youth in 6th-8th grades

When: Sunday, August 19 - Friday August 25

Costs: $250. Scholarships available for girls and minority youth. (Download an Flyer and Application)

Lessons

Catapults: Construct a simple catapult system and test the elasticity of various materials used as "tendons" within the system.

Blueprinting: Use a cyanotype process to make a blueprinting paper, then use lithougraphy to pattern the paper using a mask.

Lemon Batteries: Create batteries out of lemons, measure their voltage output, and use them to power of nuber of small devices.

What is Nanotechnology?: Arrange microscopic organisms according to size and learn about techniques used when engineering at the nanoscale.

Motors: Work to build a small electric motor using a magnet, a battery and a wire.

Plankton: Create and race plankton and investigate how surface area and volume affects density.

Nanosmores and Photolithography: Create a layered cookie that represents the process used to create a patterned silicon wafer and substrate using a photoresist.

Ropes Course Science: Explore how angle of incidence, friction, and other forces affect the climber and belayer on a ropes course.

Geospatial Technology: Navigate using a handheld GPS receiver, find hidden caches, and collect data to create maps of the camp property.

Field Trips

Campers will participate in tours of the following institutions:

• The New York State Agriculture Experiment Station
• The Seed Testing Lab
• Food Venture Center
• Agriculture, Food and Technology Center

Download a Printable Flyer and Application