Purdue University North Central is hosting STEM Summer Camp @ PNC, 2013 for area young people at its Westville campus through Aug. 25. The camp emphasizes activities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines and introduces students to the campus as they take part in age-appropriate learning with PNC faculty, staff and local professionals as their instructors.
The young people, ages six to 12, are participants in this summer program that is part of the La Porte County Coalition of Youth Serving Agencies (YSA) including Imagination Station, Boys and Girls Club, Michigan City Parks and Recreation, Safe Harbor and Barker Woods. The camp's primary underwriter is the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant.
Indoor and outdoor activities keep these youth mentally and physically engaged for their time on campus with up to 160 children spending one morning a week at PNC for six weeks. During the remaining hours, they will participate in activities offered by their youth programs.
The camp learning activities include:
"Fun with Numbers" with Dr. Kumara Jayasuriya, PNC associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs and associate professor of Mathematics. The campers enjoyed a variety of fun and interesting age-appropriate games to expand their knowledge of math and enhance their math skills.
Dr. Diane Spoljoric, PNC associate professor of Nursing, and "Healthy Choices for Life," teaching campers about how their food choices and physical activities impact their lives so that they are able to make wise decisions throughout life.
Jerry DeGroot, PNC continuing lecturer in Mathematics, with "Humerus Metric Measurements & A Few Good Belly Graphs." A horse measured in feet and hands can win a race by a nose or a hair in the wink of an eye and have a leg up on the competition. Body measurements can be a source of confusion, especially when they are used as units for measurement. DeGroot explains how to measure a humerus length, belly width and other measurements on cartoon animals. After making line plots to represent the variations in data, discussing any linear measurements errors and how to reduce those errors, campers are able to measure some of their own body parts with some accuracy.
Holly Beadles, art instructor with the Michigan City Area Schools and "Kinetic Art: Making Mobiles," will teach how to make a mobile and use the mobile as the basis for a talk about kinetic art and how wind interacts with it. The group will look at examples of artist Alexander Calder's work, then use wire, card stock and other materials to put together a mobile. The sculpture "Breeze Keeper" by Christine Rojek, part of the PNC Odyssey sculpture collection, will demonstrate how wind and nature can become vital components of a piece of art. NIPSCO sponsors this week's activities.
Joan Wisniewski, president of the Potawatomi Audubon Society, and Potawatomi Audubon Society members will lead "Tree Structure." The session will begin indoors with students discussing the parts of a tree. Moving outside, they will role-play all of these parts. Students will learn which everyday products such as gum, rubber, shampoo and candy bars may have ingredients derived from a tree as they see the actual products and read the ingredients. Each student receives a bird buddy bracelet.
Dr. Aaron Warren, PNC associate professor of Physics, with "Stars and Galaxies" which focuses on stellar lifecycles and how the Milky Way galaxy formed. Campers will engage demonstrations, view some astronomy pictures and take part in hands-on activities such as making their own storybooks for how the solar system formed using crayons/colored pencils.
Enrollment for this camp session is closed. Further information can be obtained by contacting Liz Bernel, PNC coordinator of Special Events and Marketing at 785-5200, ext. 5719 or ebernel@pnc.edu. Persons with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Bernel.