The students in grades two through six participated in Camp Invention, a nationally recognized summer STEM camp designed to make innovation fun.

Camp Invention is one of the programs offered by the National Inventors Hall of Fame in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark office and is designed to challenge participants to use their natural curiously to solve problems.

“Through hands-on activities, Camp Invention promotes STEM learning, builds confidence, leadership, perseverance and resourcefulness, and encourages entrepreneurship, all in a fun and engaging environment,” according to press release about the program.

Each year the program’s curriculum changes. This year’s curriculum, called the Spark Program, had the students building a do-it-yourself rocket to conduct a mission to transform the atmosphere, terrain and ecosystem of a new planet. As a part of this project, they created their own planets and hatched a toy animal egg.

Enzo Benedetto, first grade, is assisted by teacher and Camp Invention camp coordinator Wendy Coy in finding an alternative solution to fixing the boat he crafted during Camp Invention at Heartland Christian School. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

“The students learned about exoplanets and about why Earth is considered to be in the Goldilocks Zone because it is just right, and they learned about different things on Earth’s Terrian,” Wendy Coy, teacher and camp coordinator, Heartland Christian School, said.

The students were given different atmospheric conditions to work with and created their own exoplanets.

Coy also noted the students learned about trees and how planting trees can help future generations.

To learn about entrepreneurship and invention, the students created prototype boats to help surfers with problems they may face, had a mock pitch of their boat and how it solves a problem to investors and designed a billboard to put on their boats to market it.

The students were given six issues that surfers face, and they had to invent a product that would be a solution to one of the problems, Coy said.

Lucas Byrne, second grade, works to assemble a billboard to put the on the boat he made to help surfers to advertise his invention. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

If the students faced an issue with their invention or boats, the instructors worked with them to help them think of an alternative way to fix the problem.

Arthur Fredrickson, fifth grade, said his boat was designed as a pollution blaster to help blast any pollution out of the area for surfers and also worked on sharks.

Students also learned detective skills with the Fur-ensics project in which they created and named capybaras to help them investigate footprints, collect evidence and exam suspicious splatters then forensically analyzed the evidence.

Coy said the students had to make an invention their capybaras could use to solve the mystery of who put the onions in the pond. The students created self-propelled cars made out of slap bracelets.

Emma Folkweing, sixth grade; Teagan Rowan, fourth grade; and Minnie Mead, fifth grade, all said the capybaras were their favorite projects. Emma named hers cinnamon buns, Teagan named hers Pickles and Minnie named hers Millie after her 3-year old sister.

Students at Heartland Christian School participating in Camp Invention work on finishing the boats they invented to help surfers deal with problems they may encounter while surfing. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

The students also had the chance to create and tap into their top-secret superpowers which they would put to use to solve problems in their communities.

Coy described Camp Invention as a hands-on approach to learning, with the students working their way through four different modules for which they are given problems and learn how to problem solve.

“We have different supplies that we put out that can be used to figure out different ways to solve problems, and they learn that there isn’t just one way to solve a problem and that they can be creative,” Coy said.

Coy said she loves the program because it will keep the students learning and thinking through the summer, and the students are engaged while having a great time learning.

Emma, Arthur, Teagan and Minnie all agreed they liked the science and invention parts of the camp, and they want to keep inventing at home over the summer.

Teacher and Camp Invention camp coordinator Wendy Coy shows one of the completed boats and billboards Heartland Christian School students created to solve problems for surfers and market their invention. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

Coy noted that one of the surprises at camp was how quickly the older students jumped in to help the younger students, giving the added bonus of developing mentor and leadership skills.

This is the first year the school has held Camp Invention, and it probably won’t be the last, Coy said. She noted that many of the parents of the 29 student participants are asking if they will hold it again, and other parents of students not attending are asking to be notified of next year.