Art, Environment and Space are
Highlights for
Camp Invention
Children will
explore Mars, renovate an art museum’s sculpture garden, and help
rebuild a polluted town when the Camp Invention program returns to the
RPSEC this summer. The program is scheduled for June 23rd through June
27th at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center.
During a
module called M.A.R.S. (Moving at Rocket Speed), Camp Invention
participants will plan and execute a trip to Mars, becoming the first
astronauts to explore the planet. In Art Park, participants will
attempt to save a museum from the threat of losing donations by
designing a new sculpture garden to please the public and the museum’s
largest donor. During Saving Sludge City, the Camp Invention team will
rebuild and clean a polluted city, making it a more eco-friendly
environment for its residents.
The Camp
Invention program, open to children entering first through sixth
grades, fosters creativity, teamwork, inventive-thinking skills and
science literacy. The program was created in 1990 by the National
Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, and receives support from the United
States Patent and Trademark Office.
“Camp
Invention’s creators continue to surprise and delight us with their
innovative approach to education,” says John Hutchens, Camp
Director. “Children who attend Camp Invention learn skills that
enhance their abilities to brainstorm, solve problems and work in
teams. As educators and parents, we know that children of all ages
should continue sharpening these skills as we enter an era in which
critical thinking will be extremely important to their future.”
John Hutchens, of the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center, will
direct a staff of local instructors and counselors. The program
features a low staff-child ratio, with one staff member for every eight
children.
More than
60,000 children in 48 states across the country attended the Camp
Invention program in 2007. “Camp Invention is the perfect program for
local communities,” explains Regional Coordinator Stacia Thacker. “The
curricula we offer each summer provides a fun and creative educational
experience in the community where a child lives. Local educators put
their own spin on the program so that each of our sites is slightly
different. We value the fact that we can offer that kind of
flexibility.”
The Camp
Invention program continues to get accolades from around the country.
The president of the American Chemical Society, Catherine T. Hunt,
spoke on National Public Radio’s Science Friday last August regarding
Camp Invention as “bringing forward the next generation of inventors.”
In addition, a Harvard study released in 2006 praised the Camp
Invention program for its innovative hands-on enrichment activities.
The program has been featured in more than two hundred newspapers and
magazines, including Child, Invention & Technology, Inventors’
Digest, Scientific American Explorations, PTO Today, Gifted Child Today
and others.
The $205
registration fee, due on or before May 31, includes daily snacks and a
t-shirt. A discount of $20 per child is offered with the bring-a-friend
program. (Aiken County School District employees can receive a
$25 discount by calling 803-641-3474.) There is also an
additional $5 discount for online registrants. Registrations received
after May 31 require a $20 late processing fee. Each program is limited
to 110 children. For more information, or to register, visit
www.campinvention.org or call (800) 968-4332.
