Virtual summer camps planned to focus on STEM

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Outreach Center, housed in the College of Education at New Mexico State University, is offering five summer camps online beginning this month.
The camps are being offered to students exiting grades 5 through 8. Space is limited to 20 students per online camp session. Live camp sessions will be offered via Zoom, while camp content and student engagement will be shared via FlipGrid. Details on specific camp logins and connections will be sent in registration confirmation emails.
The STEM Outreach Center will provide the materials needed for all online camps. Details on how to obtain the materials will also be listed in the confirmation emails.
All camps will take place Monday through Friday in June and are offered at no cost. Camps are funded through local and state grants that provide out-of-school time programs to K-12 students.
To register, visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/STEMsummer2020.
This year’s camps include:
• Fidgetneers: Students will spend the week building rockets, rubberband cars, towers and more while sharpening problem-solving and engineering skills. They will pit their creations against those made by other students in some friendly online competition and wrap up the week with two different rocket launches, followed by a virtual egg drop.
• Click Click Challenge: During the center’s first virtual photography summer camp, students will test their creativity through the art of photography and get a glimpse of what it takes to be a photographer. Different daily challenges will be posted to complete, along with some photography basics. All photographers who finish the challenge will receive their photographs printed on photo paper, along with a t-shirt and a certificate.
• Escape from Disce: Strange things are happening in Disce and Resu, Sour and Gelo need help. Students will investigate catapults, ciphers, egg drops and more as they plan their escape and save the city.
• Let It Grow! The Science Behind How Plants Grow: Students will learn about soil, seeds, germination, photosynthesis and everything they need to know about how and why plants grow. Even though the camp is online, camp leaders will be sending students outside to conduct experiments and observation studies. Plus, students will be learning botany from actual biologists.
• STEM Explorers: Become a STEM Explorer and discover many of the STEM departments and careers hidden around the NMSU campus. Each day, students will virtually visit new departments and labs to participate in hands-on activities and figure out how they are part of STEM.
For more information about the 2020 virtual camps, email Paige Wheeler at pwheeler@nmsu.edu.