The Calhoun County Library held a STEM Science Camp June 27 through July 1 to educate children about the amazing properties of local red clay.
Everyone here at the Calhoun County Library had a terrific time at Science Camp. It was a huge success, and all of our STEM students had a blast while learning about their own environment. This was definitely one of the Calhoun County Library’s biggest successes with hands-on measuring, calculating, and analyzing - all while using test tubes, beakers, and gloves. Students also kept a lab journal to record results of their experiments. The camp was open to children ages 7 - 12 and lasted one hour for four days last week.
Dr. Lesa Rice-Jackson, former chemist, created the curriculum for the entire week of Science Camp and provided instruction along the way. The week was packed with fun activities to do every day.
Day one was the science of red clay. This was the local red clay that we are all familiar with in Calhoun County, and our scientists performed acid and base experiments based on the pH of water and water combined with red clay.
Day two was the technology of red clay. The technologists created red clay robots and made animations in five different positions.
Day three was a skip day. Students did not come into the library on this day, but they did have a take-home experiment to conduct. This project incorporated engineering principles using projectile objects.
Day four was arts and mathematics with red clay. Our artists painted with red clay, and our mathematicians explored geometric figures with red clay.
Day five was the science expo where everyone got to display the week’s projects, awards, and recognitions. Everyone won a prize based on interviews with the student scientists and the physical clay robot each had made.
“The air we breathe, the water we drink, the vegetation we see around us, all of that is important, and all of that adds to the betterment of our lives," commented Dr. Lesa Rice-Jackson about the importance of STEM Science. We certainly appreciate her sharing her expertise and enthusiasm with our area children.
If you missed Science Camp, don’t worry! The Calhoun County Library will be hosting STEM and STEM, Jr. on Thursday, July 21, 2022 at 11:45 AM. The topic is local plants, leaves, and stems taught by Dr. Lesa Rice-Jackson. It is open to ages 5 - 12, and no registration is required.
We want to extend a HUGE thank you to Dr. Lesa Rice-Jackson. We are very lucky to have her in our community and so are all of our STEM students. This project is made possible by an awarded grant from Save the Children to support early childhood literacy particularly in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
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