The Future Scientist Day Camp at PS 9Photo Summary for 7.13.09 - 7.17.09
Presents
For one week in July, a group of curious
elementary students traded their swing-
sets and swim lessons for 5 days of fast-
paced, lab-grade science activities.
Three parties--Principal Sandra D’Avilar,
the Community Learning Support
Organization, and the OMNiLEARN
corporation--worked hard to bring the
Future Scientist camp to PS 9. Once
there, the wonderful classrooms,
friendly staff and neighborhood
resources provided an ideal learning
environment. Students blazed through a
parade of lab experiments, model-building
activities, and field trips. In between all
the questions, discoveries and reactions, we managed to take a few pictures...
Black Holes, Mutant Flies, & Ink-loving TermitesTop Left - Gianna and Solana look through prisms while OMNiLEARN Instructor Jane Powel reads about Black Holes.
Middle - Jordan learns about fruit fly traits before the class searches for mutations with the microscopes.
Bottom Right - A student-drawn trail with special ink smells exactly like the pheromone termites use to mark paths to food sources.
Mastering New Equipment and Creating ColorsStudents learn how to use the micropipetor to measure tiny, precise amounts of liquid. Starting with only the three primary colors, the scientists experiment with different ratios to create all the colors of the rainbow.
Germ Labs!Top Left - Invisible germs are everywhere! Ripley and the class use cotton swabs to collect microorganisms from handles, keyboards and water fountains.
Top Middle - Students transfer germs to agar-rich plates and place them in an incubator to stimulate (controlled) growth.
Top Right - Students add food to petri dishes to test whether invisible spores and mold will land, colonize and grow.
Bottom Left & Middle - Students use milk and food dye to simulate the difference between washing with only water, and washing with soap. Bottom Right - See how the “germs” run away from the soap--germs hate soap!
Science Journals, DNA Models, a Vortex, & Oobleck!Top Left - The scientists take notes, make illustrations, and write down new vocabulary words.
Top Middle & Right - Jordan & Solana build a DNA models out of color-coded beads.
Bottom Left & Middle - The magnetic stirrer creates a vortex in the liquid, similar to (some scientists’ theory regarding) the structure of a Black Hole.
Bottom Right - Lydia and Brittany make Oobleck--a fascinating substance that instantly switches between liquid and solid states depending on friction.
Nature Walk Through Prospect ParkStudents collect all manner of flowers, plants, fungi and bugs.
A Wild Trip To The Zoo!Students discover fascinating sculptures, brilliant flowers, belching sea lions, colorful swans and pensive baboons at the Prospect Park Zoo.
Writing With Squid Ink!Top Left & Middle - Playing the role of surgeon, our students dive fearlessly into the squid dissection, extracting eye lenses, brains, ink sacks and quills!
Top Right & Bottom Left - Students dip the quill in the ink sack and use it to write their names!
Bottom Middle - A high-powered look at the squid’s tentacles through the microscope.
Bottom Right - Gianna displays her Squid Dissection Illustration.
Microorganisms, Eggsperiments, & Animal Cell ModelsTop Left & Top Middle - Gianna searches for microscopic organisms present in the water we collected from Prospect Park.
Top Right - What’s summer without a good game of Hide and Seek?
Bottom Left - An egg grows larger as the vinegar surrounding it penetrates the shell.
Bottom Middle & Right - Ripley uses common pantry items to create an animal cell models complete with a membrane, DNA, cytoplasm and organelles.
Science, Art & Nature Blend at The Botanical GardenTop Left - Solana combs the grass for interesting plants and tiny creatures she might bring back to the lab.
Top Middle - Taking turns with the camera, students find stunning representations of Life’s beauty.
Top Right - Brittany entertains Solana with her best bird impression.
Bottom Left - Our 7 students observe a mother duck with her 7 ducklings.
Bottom Middle - The Japanese Pond displays gorgeous fish.
Bottom Right - Students marvel at the wealth of pond algae in the interactive Discovery Garden.
Periodically, our students transitioned from scientist to scribe; writing notes in their science journals, sketching images or jotting down new words. A quick sample...
micropipetmicrocentrifugeblack holesevent horizonvacuumwaftscentstenchpheromonenavigatedensedensity
incubatorgraduated cylindercarbon dioxideoxygenhydrogenelements atomsmoleculespetri dishesspores
and the list goes on...
Vocabulary List
Special thanks to the community Learning Support Organization for helping bring this camp to
fruition. Thank you to Sandra D’Avilar and PS 9 for hosting us. Thank you to the parents for sending
us such beautiful young minds. We look forward to enjoying much more hands-on science!
In the meantime...
Keep asking questions!
Tom “Miss Jane”
Well done, Scientists!
For more information regarding OMNiLEARN’s hands-on science programs please contact:
Thomas Conigliaro
Vice President
omnilearncorp.com