Day10

Tuesday 24 June 2014

Here is a link to the camp video (without sound) we showed during closing ceremonies:
AstroCamp 2014 video

And here are links to their presentations:
Veronica's group

Rachel's group

Adam's group

Jordan's group

Misty's group

Sam's group

Austin's group

Jencee's group

Day9

Monday 23 June 2014

On Monday we started out by dropping an egg, cradled within a planetary lander, from the top of the 50-foot Physical Sciences Building.  Over 80% of the eggs survived the fall!  We then tested our solar cookers and later calculated how long it would take to travel to our selected star systems.  After lunch the campers had fun making tie dyed t-shirts and skyping with another summer science camp based on Colorado Springs.  The evening finished with a viewing of the movie Wall-E.

Day 8

Sunday 22 June 2014

A 7:00 am Didgeridoo wake-up call brought the campers to breakfast Sunday morning on Jelm Mountain (oatmeal, bagels w/cream cheese, fruit, granola bars).  After a morning of rest we went back to the classroom to classify our chosen stars.  Such classification tells us about the temperature, mass, and radius of the stars.  We also checked our petri dishes to check for signs of life from the soil samples collected on Friday's hike.  The first evening activity was building electrical circuits and in the second activity we learned how light intensity depends on distance from the light.

Day 7

Saturday 21 June 2014

On Saturday the campers started out by learning how to identify microorganisms in their water samples as well as how to purify their water.  Next they learned how to utilize the observed colors of astronomical objects to infer their temperatures; the end-product of this lesson is a nice three-color image they made of a galaxy.  After lunch we constructed some solar cookers, which we will use on Monday to bake pizza bagels cooked by the Sun.  The final activities before heading to the campsite were learning the concept of "Leave No Trace" when in the wild; knot tying; and proper camp set up.  The rest of the day and evening was spent on Jelm Mountain.  Campers ate hot dogs, beans, watermelon, and of course s'mores.  In addition to jokes and spooky stories around the campfire, they also had the opportunity to visit our 2.3 meter (92 inch) telescope on the mountaintop.

Day 6

Friday 20 June 2014

On Friday we spent most of the day up in the Snowy Range in the nearby Medicine Bow National Forest.  One of our goals was to compare the environments at "low" (9000 ft) and "high" (11000 ft) elevations.  For those familiar with the Laramie area, the low elevation hike was on the Little Laramie River trail system, whereas the high elevation walk was near the observation tower at Libby Flats.  Another goal for these hikes was to collect soil and water samples, which would be chemically tested and visually inspected later that night for signs of life.  One additional Friday activity involved interviewing camp directors, counselors, and teachers to learn about college life and potential career paths.