Camp Invention:

Area elementary students let their imaginations run wild at recent camp
By ROY WAGGONER, Sentinel Intern - June 23, 2005

Elementary school students got the opportunity last week to learn and use their imagination at Camp Invention, held Monday through Thursday at McPherson Middle School.

Students from grades two to six created unique inventions, solved problems, and even made a movie in a hodgepodge collection of modules meant to be entertaining as well as educational.

"The first thing is that this is a camp; it is not school," said Donna Viola, Roosevelt Elementary School, one of the camp teachers.

The camp has three teachers in addition to Viola. Jennifer Young, a Hutchinson teacher, and Bev Nye, McPherson Middle School, taught modules. Mary Sizemore, MMS, directed the camp.

Curriculum for the camp was designed by a national organization, The National Inventor's Hall of Fame, with integration of different content areas (the arts, history, science, math, English) in mind. The Hall of Fame sponsors over 500 camps nationwide, though the McPherson camp is the only one in Kansas.

Camp Invention included four modules every day: "What's Bugging You," "Special Effects," "The Case of the Disappearing Homework" and "I Can Invent." After a sack lunch, campers played innovative recreational games designed and modified by the camp participants themselves. The events went from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In "What's Bugging You," students learned about insects and came up with a problem that "bugged" them and could be solved with an invention. They also raced pill bugs (roly-poly insects).

"Special Effects" gave kids the chance to create a movie scene and learn about special effects. Campers also learned about sound by creating sounds for a movie script. They built a movie set and filmed a short movie, "Herb Crouton and the Attack of the Wacky Waiters."

In "The Case of the Disappearing Homework," kids learned about problem solving. They focused on creating elaborate machines to do simple tasks, much like teachers hear exaggerated excuses for not bringing work to class. They built inventions designed to ring a bell, but they had to involve complexity, such as marbles rolling down ramps. Campers had to include at least five steps in their machine.

The final module in the camp, "I Can Invent," could be called the capstone course of the four days. Kids spent two days taking apart objects campers brought from home or people donated.

Items ranged from stereos to cell phones to computers. On Wednesday and Thursday, campers started building a new invention out of parts taken from things they disassembled. Though most inventions worked only in the imagination, kids learned vital skills on safety and how products work. They also kept an inventor's log and learned about patents.

The final day of the camp, parents were invited to an "inventor's showcase" in which kids showed off the inventions they created as part of the "I Can Invent" module.

Campers find the experience worthwhile.

"I like it because you get to make new stuff that hasn't been made before," Seth Moyer said.

Moyer and other campers agreed that they liked doing projects at Camp Invention more than sitting at home with nothing to do, though one said not to discount the virtue of lazy summer days.

"I like to do a little of both. Sometimes doing something is fun, and sometimes it is not," camper David Plenert said.

Channing Wall, who has taken part in the camp before, said she enjoyed this year's event a lot more because they had more supplies. She finds Camp Invention fun because of what she experiences.

"It gives you something to do, and I can take things apart I wouldn't be able to at home," Wall said.
Campers appear to realize the fun has educational benefits as well.

"It helps me learn to use my imagination and do things I wouldn't think to do," Taylor Scheidegger said.

The Youth Advisory Council of the McPherson County Community Foundation provided scholarship funds to help pay the $209 camp fee for those who needed the help.

On Wednesday, three Youth Advisory Council members -- Loc Le, Chantalle Hanschu and Kristie Clark -- toured the camp.

To assist the camp teachers, junior counselors help the campers with projects that are too big to handle, or they just guide them when needed.

"I love being with the kids and helping them," junior counselor Austin Russell said.

McPherson's Camp Invention is promoted through school district mailers, the national Camp Invention web site and fliers posted in school buildings.
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McPherson Unified School District 418
514 N. Main
McPherson, KS 67460
620-241-9400
It is the policy of McPherson USD 418 not to discriminate on the basis of sex, disability, race,
religion, color, age, or national origin in its educational programs and/or activities, nor in its employment practices.

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