Inventive spirit sparks the imagination at summer camp
NEWTOWN – Thomas Edison they’re not – yet.
More than 100 elementary school students gathered last week at Maureen Welch Elementary School for the 2013 version of “Camp Invention.”
The weeklong camp was Council Rock’s version of a national program run by “Invent Now,” a company that, “looks for new and creative ways to spread the inventive spirit, developing a range of creative products, programs and innovative partnerships that emphasize the importance of invention in society,” according to its website.
Renee Devlin directed the district’s camp this year, as she has for more than half of Camp Invention’s decade-plus run in the district. The emphasis is on a combination that many students past and present did not always put together.
“Science and fun,” Devlin said. “The theme is always, ‘I can invent.’ Invent, invent, invent.”
The students are not left to their own devices, of course, seeing as how the program is designed for youngsters in grades 2 – 6. Each day features a different exploration, such as an experiment with acids and bases to discover how caves and crystals form.
“It’s truly STEM at work,” Devlin said, referring to the acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. “It’s inquiry-based science.”
Invent really is the theme, even when the kids step out of the classroom for recess. They’re encouraged to invent new rules to existing games, including a timeless playground classic.
“Dodgeball becomes bucket dodgeball,” Devlin said, “when the object is to try to splash someone with a bucket of water.”
Of course every invention needs materials, and one that was featured during the week at Welch was water. Soon-to-be-fourthgrader Adam Eladet enjoyed it.
“I invented a boat that catches fish and people live in the boat and eat the fish,” said the creative Eladet. Another invention, according to Devlin, was a shovel used exclusively to find sunken treasures.
The inventions were part of the Camp Invention’s Geo-nuest program, one of four programs-withinthe-program. As part of Geo-nuest, students invented a duck launcher to launch international rubber ducks to their country origin and race to destroy competitor duck territory. Through their attempts to create the greatest duck launcher, students used physics (trajectory and velocity) and took apart broken appliances and re-engineered the gears and gadgets, according to campinvention.org.
Gavin Tuniewicz, who will be a Goodnoe Elementary School second-grader in September, enjoyed that part of the week the most.
“Trying to launch the duck was the best!” Tuniewicz said. “We got to do it using our own devices.”
Who knew going to science class in the summer could elicit such excitement? Maybe Edison himself, whose first patent (out of more than 1,000) was granted in June.