All Mad Science camps are designed for children ages 5 to 12 unless otherwise noted. Camps can be either half day (3 hours) or full day (6 hours). Hours vary by location.
SURVIVAL: PREDATOR OR PREY?
Learn about insects, birds, beasts and you from the inside out in this action-packed week. Have fun finding and magnifying nature's smallest critters, from fungus to insects. Discover what that night-hunting owl found for dinner during our owl pellet dissection. Whip up your own Mad Mucus and find out about the "stuff" inside your body. Have some creepy-crawly fun building a bughouse and finding tenants, and build a bird feeder to take home with you.
SPY ACADEMY
Look out 007-the Mad Science Spy Academy is here! From message decoding to metal detectors and night vision, campers will have the opportunity to check out spy equipment and even create their own edible message. Step into the shoes of a detective as you uncover the science involved in evidence gathering and analysis. Figure out the science of forensics in a hands-on look at crime scenes. Become a super spy and learn clever ways of performing tasks as we take a hands-on view of the science that spies use. The take-homes for this camp were designed specially by Q himself!
JET CADETS
It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's...everything from the earliest flying machines to the first rocket flights. This hands-on program will let you learn all about aerodynamics and the world above us. Explore the basic principles of flight, build airplanes, test them in wind tunnels, ride a hovercraft and construct balloon copters. Discover the mysteries of the galaxy, learn about celestial navigation, and take home a rocket that you have built yourself. We'll be moving at light speed throughout this high velocity week!
"FIZZ"-ICAL PHENOMENA & CHE-MYSTERY
Take a walk on the wild side in this crazy week of sleuth science. Have a ton of fun as we whip up potions and experiment with all kinds of chemical reactions, including growing our own crystals, making sidewalk chalk, and a chromatography t-shirt to keep. Mix it up as we experiment with molecular madness, radical reactions and "fizz"-ical and chemical reactions. Discover what those crazy chemists are really up to in their laboratories. Then use everything you've learned to solve the Mad Science Mystery; even Sherlock couldn't figure this one out!
NASA: JOURNEY INTO OUTER SPACE
Mad Science and NASA have teamed up to bring you the excitement and wonder of space in this new voyage of discovery. See the principles of thrust and propulsion at work in a real rocket launch. Explore the atmosphere on earth and beyond. Watch star dust burn, and journey through a galaxy as you investigate the life cycle of stars. Explore the farthest reaches of our solar system and create a lunar eclipse in the "mad" planetary tour. Probe the mysteries of meteors and bounce around satellite light as your learn about space phenomena. Experience the life of an astronaut as you suit up for a space flight. This is an experience that is truly out of this world!
REACTIONS IN ACTION
Picture yourself as Sir Isaac Newton as we discover how things move with science. Experiment with inertia and gravity as you learn what football players, ballet dancers and scientists have in common. Explore how equipment and movement work together to help you enjoy your favorite sports. Learn about photography and the movie making business as we examine how a camera works, how film captures light and stores images, how motion pictures got started, and how filmmakers make images move. Spend some time in the lab learning the tools and techniques that real chemists use, and perform some spectacular hands-on projects.
LITTLE GREEN THUMBS (ages 4-6 only)
Blossoming minds will love this week! Specially designed for the pre-K or kindergartener, this week teaches all about the amazing things that happen in the garden. Explore how things start to grow in the ground, and learn that plants, fruits, and vegetables start from seeds. Learn what seeds need to grow and where they get those things as we study weather. Discover the role that bugs and butterflies play in making your garden grow.
WACKY ROBOTS & WIDGETS (ages 7-12 only)
Whether your child loves to build things or destroy them, this week of camp includes lots of both! The junior Mad Science engineers will design and build structures using simple tools and their imaginations. Campers will even construct a geodesic dome big enough for most of them to sit inside. Then the machine madness starts...children will discover how different machines, simple and complex, are used in our daily lives. Kids will design simple machines using pulleys, wedges, screws and levers and have fun learning how catapults work. We will use the skills we've learned to build a Mad Science robot that we can keep, all while learning the science of robotics.
COLLEGE FOR KIDS (grades 5-9 only)
Designed especially for the inquisitive minds of middle-schoolers, these courses will enable your students to delve into a variety of science-related topics. Special age-appropriate experiments will allow prospective scientists to test their own hypotheses in a variety of areas, including chemistry, rocket science and aerodynamics, and the wacky world of robots.
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