Summer Camp Allows Kids to be a Scientist for a Day
It may be June, but that doesn’t mean schools are empty. In fact, there’s some serious learning going on inside Maple Grove’s Cedar Island Elementary School, mixed in with a bit of fun.
“Most of the things we do are hands-on activities because science isn’t done by reading books. It’s done by getting your hands dirty,” said Adam Hesch, a scientist from ‘High Touch High Tech of the Twin Cities.’
Hesch’s company is leading a ‘Scientist for a Day’ summer camp in conjunction with Osseo Area Schools.
“It started about two years ago with a mission to create more scientists around the world and to get kids interested at a younger age,” he said.
This four-day camp focuses on a different area of science each day.
On Wednesday, the topic was geology, so the kids literally got their hands dirty while searching for rocks buried in sand. Hesch refers to his teaching method as ‘edutainment.’
“That seems to be how kids are learning these days, through entertainment while being educated,” Hesch said.
Getting More Girls Involved
By all accounts, the kids seemed to enjoy themselves, at least according to 9-year-old Natalie Madan of Maple Grove.
“I have been exploring nature since I was tiny,” Madan said. “Like, I just like it. I just like science.”
Madan is one of several girls in this summer camp, and she’s on a mission to prove the doubters wrong.
“Science is awesome,” Madan said. “And girls can be scientists, which some people don’t think is possible.”
Hesch says he enjoys seeing how much the female students get into the class.
“That’s one of the biggest things that’s lacking in the science world is a huge female component, and sometimes I have classes where it’s nothing but girls,” he said.
He hopes the eventually students become scientists, or at the very least, look at the world in a different way.
“You need to use your imagination, you need to use your curiosity, and you need to use your observation skills,” Hesch said. “And those are the only three things you need to be a scientist.”
The ‘Scientist for a Day’ camp is one of many offered by Osseo Area Schools. For a list of summer camp options, you can go to https://osseo.ce.eleyo.com/
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