Students presenting

Science and Engineering Camps

Registration for 2024 Science and Engineering Camps is now closed.

Summer of 2024 Science and Engineering Camps

Come join our staff for a week of experiential learning and fun with science and engineering in July 2024. Kids will have access to our facilities and will spend time with our staff exploring age-appropriate, science-related challenges. These day camps will be action-packed and mind-exercising for our area kids!

Elementary (grades 3-5) and middle school (grades 6-8) camps will be held July 15-18. A second week of the elementary camp will be held July 22-25.

The cost for the elementary camp (Float, Fly, and Lift!) is $100. The cost for the middle school camp (Energy in Action!) is $200. Financial assistance is available for those with demonstrated need. Contact Matt Cavalli for more information. Registrations cancelled prior to June 15, 2024 will receive a refund less a 10% processing fee. Registrations cancelled after June 15 are non-refundable. Each participant will receive a camp t-shirt. Daily snacks will also be provided – please indicate any dietary restrictions when registering.

Registration for 2024 camps is now closed.

Camps

For summer of 2024, we are excited to offer two different camp options--Float, Fly and Lift! for grades 3-5 and Energy in Action! for grades 6-8. Float, Fly and Lift! will be offered twice, July 15-18 and July 22-25; Energy in Action! will be offered once, July 15-18. Float, Fly and Lift! will run from 9 a.m. to noon and Energy in Action! will run from 1 to 4 p.m. each day. For previous camp participants, note that the Float, Fly, and Lift! (elementary) topics will remain largely the same. Energy in Action! will include a new slate of activities and concepts including solar power and wind power.

Participants will explore the concepts of buoyancy, density, aerodynamics, energy and motion through a series of hands-on, design-build-test activities. Events will include harnessing wind power on both square-rigged and Bermuda-rigged boats, maximizing drag to slow a descent, building and launching water bottle rockets, and building a small hot air balloon. Most activities will be modeled after elementary-school-level Science Olympiad competitions. Participants will experience Floyd Hall and the surrounding parkland of the WMU Parkview Campus and explore WMU’s main campus in Kalamazoo. 

Participants will learn about different forms of energy (thermal, mechanical, electrical, chemical, radiant) through hands-on testing and design-build competitions. Challenges will include optimizing energy capture from solar panels, creating a CO2 racer, and exploring wind turbine designs, among others. Participants will experience Floyd Hall and the surrounding parkland of the WMU Parkview Campus and explore WMU’s Main Campus in Kalamazoo.