Zap Camp 2009
ZAP Campers Experiment with Everyday Items
- Conducting a stretch test
ZAP Chemistry Campers had a very full day of experiments. Students in grade 4 began the day with an activity called horse and rider that encouraged the them to think critically. Students were also given an activity call “a very tight squeeze”, which challenged them to cut a hole in a piece of paper big enough to pass their whole body through without ripping the paper.
In order to look at polymers, campers skewered balloons and made silly putty! While learning about absorption, campers experimented with the compound sodium polyacrylate – the amazing crystals found in diapers. The crystals are also found in a yummy favorite – gummy bears. While examing surface water tension students made predictions then found out how many drops of water they could drop on a penny befoe it overflowed onto the table.
Campers listed for the Ghost in a Bottle and witnessed liquid fireworks, both great activities to try at home iwth adult supervision. The stickiness of materials was tested using a homemade “sticky-o-meter”. Stickiness often depends on the material it is being squised on and the thickness of the layer. Pop can engines and Alka-seltzer rockets were made outdoors to the delight of all.
Check out the photos!
ZAP GirlZZ EnergiZe the Future
Normandale Community College hosted 35 middle-school age girls at a 1-day workshop called “ZAP GirlZZ EnergiZe the Future!” on Aug. 5. The theme of the day was “Wind Up Your Day with Wind Energy!” The day started with an engaging question and answer session involving a panel of women STEM faculty from Normandale and women engineers. Volunteers from the Society of Women Engineers were on hand to lead activities in the morning that introduced girls to concepts about electromagnetics and gears. During the “Invisible Forces” session, girls constructed a simple motor out of a battery, paper clips, magnets and small coil of wire. During the “Gears” session the girls experienced the effect that changing gear ratios had on a Lego “merry-go-round”.
Over the lunch period James Grimm from KidWind Project gave a presentation to the girls about the feature project of the day; wind turbines. James explained how much energy wind turbines produce, where wind turbines are being built and what’s important in a good wind turbine design. The girls used the information from the morning and lunch sessions to design turbine blades and build their own model wind turbines. The girls assembled their turbines in small groups to create their own “wind farms” and measured the energy their “wind farm” produced.
Check out the photos!
Hear the Zap Camp Buzz
Zap Girlzz Energize The Future:
I wanted to take a minute to tell you thanks for sponsoring the Girls Wind Energy Workshop. My daughter will be going into 6th grade this fall and is generally pretty quiet and reserved and as a typical kid, when asked how her day was and what she all did, there is generally limited response or enthusiasm. When I got home on Wednesday, she could hardly wait for me to get in the door to start telling me about what they did and how it all worked. She really enjoyed the day and I appreciate organizations like yours that will take the time and resources to dedicate to children and get them excited. It was a great opportunity at dinner for us to talk to her and our other children about how math really is used in careers every day and why it is so important to us, it also gave us a chance to talk about what engineers do and put some practical job experiences to job titles. We also were given a chance to talk to her about the college setting and she was encouraged to know that all colleges are just very large institutions that she could easily get lost in. She is starting in the middle school this year and is apprehensive of the size of the school compared to her elementary – I really think just her spending the day at Normandale and getting used to moving around in that environment gave her some ease and comfort in what lies ahead for her at the Middle School. Thanks again for your support in the program – it was a definite point of excitement in our household!
Parent of camper.
My 10 year old daughter participated in the Wind Energy class at Normandale College 2 weeks ago. I want to thank you so much for funding & supporting this program and thereby supporting women in math/science. My daughter very much enjoyed this program & learned a lot. I wish there were more programs like this available for young girls. Thank you.
Parent of camper.
Zap Camp Engineerging:
Aaron had a great week at camp. He loved each day…designing plans, the ropes and then building the bridge and solar chimney. He has already said he wants to come back again next year. Thanks for all your hard work,
Parent of camper.
Thank you for the updates each day and the pictures. You run a good camp. Austin enjoyed it!
Parent of camper.
