UTSA Now Accepting Applications for Spring Break Science and Engineering Camps
Camps will leave adults wishing they were kids again
Third through eighth graders from the greater San Antonio region are invited to enroll in one or more daylong science and engineering camps that will be offered next month by The University of Texas at San Antonio Interactive Technology Experience Center (iTEC) with the generous support of the AT&T Foundation. The five camps are scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, March 14 through Friday, March 18, 2011.
The cost for a single camp is $65. Additional camps are $45 each.
On Monday, March 14, students will explore the importance of water, which covers roughly 70 percent of the Earth’s surface. Participants will learn where water comes from and why all of it is not suitable for drinking. In addition, they will build their own water filtration systems.
The camp on Tuesday, March 15 will explore solar hot rods. Campers will learn about the sun’s energy and how it could become the fuel of the future. They will design, construct and evaluate a solar-powered model car.
On Wednesday, March 16, students will learn what makes them unique. They will study deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which tells each one of the body’s 10 trillion cells what they are supposed to be and do. Camps activities include creating DNA jewelry and constructing DNA candy.
On Thursday, March 17, students will study the skies. What makes the stars shine? How big is the universe? Why does a dying star create a black hole? Students will learn about the history of astronomy and engineer their own telescope from scratch.
At UTSA’s final camp, scheduled on Friday March 18, students will study Fen Zheng, Chinese for “kites.” Campers will design their own tetrahedral kites and blast-off seltzer rockets.
The UTSA iTEC was established in 2007 by a four-year, $1.5 million grant from the AT&T Foundation, the philanthropic arm of AT&T. ITEC’s mission is to inspire youth by creating an environment where they can understand how engineering, science and technology shape our lives and the future of our world. Its focus areas include robotics, telecommunications, scanning electron microscope applications and design for manufacturing.
AT&T Foundation supports programs that build communities and improve access to information technologies, technology training and professional skills development. AT&T Inc. is one of the world’s largest telecommunications holding companies and is the largest in the United States.
For more information about UTSA’s Spring Break camps, visit http://itec.utsa.edu/events.
