Full STEAM Ahead August 2-6, 2021

INTRODUCTION Explore how art can be found in STEAM! Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math is all around us and campers will explore how art can be incorporated into science, too!

KINDNESS THEME OF THE WEEK This week our kindness activities will be focused on how you can show kindness through STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math). Small acts can lead to a huge change! Record your kindness activities in your Nature Journal and log them into OCDE's One Billion Acts of Kindness page.

MONDAY – SCIENCE Nature Journal Topic There are so many areas in science to study it can be hard to choose a favorite! In your Nature Journal write a few sentences or draw a few pictures of some of your favorite scientific things you have learned about in school, online or at home. If you have some room, try to explain why those topics are your favorite and why you think they are interesting.

Kindness Activity Tell a friend or family member three nice things about them.

Get Moving! Clear some space for scientific yoga! Can you stretch your arms high above your head and stand tall like a thermometer? Try spinning your arms round and round like a wind turbine creating energy. Curl into a ball as tightly as you can like a meteor floating through space. Stand up and shake it out like an electric current! Repeat each movement four times.

Craft/Experiment – Shadows Materials: ● Chalk ● A partner to help you draw ● Outdoor area that is safe to use chalk on

1. Choose a safe outdoor space in a sunny area. The area should include a hard surface, such as a

© 2021 Orange County Superintendent of Schools www.insidetheoutdoors.org driveway or sidewalk, where you can make chalk outlines. 2. Have your partner stand still, in whatever pose they choose, while you use chalk to outline their shadow. Be sure to also outline the shadow-maker’s feet to show where they were standing. Now go to a different spot and switch roles, so you become the shadow-maker. Have your partner draw around your shadow and outline your feet. 3. Come back after about 15 minutes and place your feet in the chalk outlines, exactly where they were before. Look carefully at your shadows. Have they changed positions? Why do you think they’re different now? Trace the new outlines of your shadows. 4. There are many fun things to learn about shadows and how Earth’s rotation affects where the sunlight lands. You can follow the link here to further explore.

Craft/Experiment – Taste Test Materials: ● Three or more small pieces of food ● Nature Journal or piece of paper

1. Humans have hundreds of taste receptors on their tongues that help them understand if a food is sour, bitter, sweet, salty or savory. But our tongue can’t do that job alone, our sense of smell also helps us with tasting our food, so in this experiment you will make observations on how your sense of taste is affected by your sense of smell. 2. Gather three or more different types of food and place them on a clean surface. You will only need a small amount of each. For an added challenge, have someone pick out the food for you and don’t let them reveal what it is until the end of the experiment! 3. Close your eyes and pinch your nose closed. Without peeking, eat one piece of food and describe the taste. Is it easier or more difficult to notice the flavors? Are different parts of your tongue working harder? 4. Open your eyes and release your nose, do you taste anything now? You can add your observations to your Nature Journal or write them on a piece of paper. 5. Repeat these steps for your next pieces of food. Were there any changes in your taste buds as you continued the experiment? How does tasting food help us humans survive?

Family Activity The next time you and your family are out for a walk or out doing tasks, point out things that used science to be discovered. Science is all around us, from the construction of planes to cleaning products for our home! Have time for a movie? Ask your family to join in watching “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.”

TUESDAY – TECHNOLOGY Nature Journal Topic What are a few ways technology can be good for the environment? Have you seen or learned about technology that is helping plants and animals in nature? Create a list or chart in your Nature Journal describing your answers.

Get Moving! Move like a robot! Turn on your favorite song and test your skills at moving and dancing like a robot. Ask family and friends to join in the fun.

Craft/Experiment – Paper Planes Materials:  Paper  Straw or popsicle stick  Tape  Scissors  Optional: ruler

1. Begin by cutting out two strips of paper. They can be any length you like, but about seven inches long and one inch wide is great. 2. Take one strip of paper and form a circle, tape it together so it does not unfold. Repeat this step for your second strip of paper. 3. Tape one circle to one end of the straw/ popsicle stick and the second circle to the other end of the straw/ popsicle stick. Be sure to not cover the holes of the straw. 4. It is time to test! Toss your paper plane into the air and observe what happens. After a few trials, think about what you can change about your design to make your plane fly faster, farther, higher or if there is nothing you would like to change you can leave it as is. 5. Repeat your experiment as many times as you would like! You can follow a step by step video guide here.

Family Activity Technology bingo night! Gather the family for some competitive fun with a round of bingo. You can access the sheet here and can play at home or outside. Have time for a movie? Ask your family to join in watching Disney’s “Meet the Robinsons.”

WEDNESDAY – ENGINEERING Nature Journal Topic Scientists have used nature as an inspiration for new inventions, so if you were a scientist what is something you would create that is inspired by nature? Why would it be good for humans to use it? Or, draw an invention that mimics something in nature. For example, shoes that help humans run as fast as a cheetah.

© 2021 Orange County Superintendent of Schools www.insidetheoutdoors.org Kindness Activity Give yourself a handful of compliments by counting five nice things about yourself or things you are proud you accomplished.

Get Moving! Test out a couple methods of running to see which style helps you move the fastest and with the least amount of resistance to the air. Engineers who build planes, rockets and cars do similar tests to build the most successful air crafts and cars they can!

Craft/Experiment – Ears by Design Materials:  Sheets of paper or construction paper  Tape or glue/glue stick  Scissors

1. If you have ever wondered why animal ears look different than yours, this experiment is your opportunity to explore how your hearing can change if you had the ears of different animals. 2. Begin by designing mouse ears. Roll your paper into a cone shape then tape or glue the skinny, narrow part of it so it does not unfold. Do this step again for a second piece of paper for your second ear. 3. Make a prediction. How will your hearing change with these new ears? 4. Test it! Hold your mouse ears up to your own, but be sure to not cover them completely, the narrow part of the cone should fit comfortably around your own ears. Listen to noises around your home or have someone help by making very quiet noises a few steps away from you and see if you can hear them. 5. Repeat this experiment with other shaped ears. If you need help with ideas or would like a step by step guide you can follow the link here.

Craft/Experiment – Pollination Creation Materials:  Pencil and paper or Nature Journal  Two or three household items

1. Many pollinator populations are decreasing, so your challenge as an engineer is to design a tool humans can use to help pollinate plants so that we can continue to have flowers, fruits and vegetables on Earth. 2. Gather two or more household items and lay them on your table or desk. You can find a video of pollinators in action here. Your tool can mimic these animals, or can be completely different and help pollinate plants in a brand-new way. 3. After getting ideas for how you want to construct your tool, you can sketch your design in your Nature Journal if you feel it helps your thinking. 4. Now it is time to build. You can use as many or as few items as you want, here are some

© 2021 Orange County Superintendent of Schools www.insidetheoutdoors.org questions you can try to answer after designing your pollinating tool: a. What is the purpose of each piece of your tool? b. Why did you choose these items? c. Could this tool be used for all types of flowers? Remember, there are tall and short flowers, open and closed flowers, close together and far apart flowers.

Family Activity Family interview: Everyone can take turns answering why engineering in cities and in nature is important. Share and discuss your answers. Have time for a movie? Ask your family to join in watching the movie “Robots” or “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.”

THURSDAY – MATHEMATICS Nature Journal Topic Write about some things you do every day that you use math to help with. Have you followed a recipe to cook and used measurements? Added and subtracted to finish homework? Counted time on a clock? Or, draw a picture of yourself using math to solve a real-world problem.

Kindness Activity It is important to be kind to yourself, so take some time today to do an activity you really enjoy and will make you smile.

Get Moving! Go on a number’s scavenger hunt in your house or in your yard and identify as many items as you can: 1. One piece of technology 2. Two non living things 3. Three windows 4. Four flowers 5. Five things the color blue 6. Six things an animal can use to survive 7. Seven things you use every day 8. Eight living things 9. Nine items that are the color brown 10. Ten things built by humans (hint: look for things like homes, restaurants and vehicles)

1. Today’s math experiment will help you collect data on how family, friends, neighbors and others get around town. Micro mobility is moving from one area to the other using things like bikes, scooters, skateboards or walking but not using cars. 2. Create your graph by first drawing one vertical line and one horizontal line, it should look like a capital letter L. 3. Number your vertical line from 0-10, with zero being at the bottom and ten at the top. 4. Label your horizontal line with three kinds of micro transportation, some examples are walking, scootering and skateboarding. 5. Make a prediction: which type of micro mobility do you think will be most popular or most common to see? 6. Start your research. Look out a window for a few minutes to observe how people are moving. Any time you count a person using one of the types of transportation on your paper, mark it on your graph with a dot or bar. Or, ask family and friends how they like to get around when not using a car. 7. After you have collected your data, do you notice any patterns? Do you have more dots/ a higher bar in one category than the other? Why do you think one category was the lowest?

Family Activity Work as a team to build a recipe for tonight’s dinner. Math and cooking work together through adding ingredients and converting measurements, so today is a great day to put everyone's math and cooking skills to the test! Have time for a movie? Ask your family to join in watching Disney’s “Donald in Mathmagic Land.”

FRIDAY – CAREERS Nature Journal Topic What would you like to be when you grow up? Write a short story or draw a picture of yourself in your dream career. Have you learned or done anything already that you could do in the future for your job?

Kindness Activity

 Offer to listen and help someone who is having a bad day.  Draw a picture of someone who makes you smile, it can even be your pet!

© 2021 Orange County Superintendent of Schools www.insidetheoutdoors.org Get Moving! Time to pack up for work! Grab a shopping bag or backpack and fill it with supplies you will need for a busy day as a scientist. Don’t forget to pack a snack and something to drink!

Craft/Experiment – Homemade Instrument Materials:  Paper towel tube or toilet paper tube  One rubber band  Wax paper or parchment paper  Scissors

1. Have you ever wondered how instruments like trumpets and flutes make their sounds? Today's experiment will help you explore sound and music by creating your own kazoo. 2. Start by covering one end of your tube with a piece of wax/ parchment paper and put a rubber band around it so it does not fall off. 3. Ask an adult or family member to help you poke three holes on the side of your tube using scissors. These will help you change the pitch of your kazoo. Pitch is how high and squeaky or low and deep a sound can be. 4. Hold the open end of your tube up to your mouth and hum the word “do” over and over. What do you hear? Why do you think it sounds like that? How can you change the pitch of your instrument? 5. You can follow a step by step guide here .

Family Activity Discuss STEAM careers with your family. What types of jobs use STEAM? Talk to family or neighbors about how they use STEAM in their job. People in STEAM careers don’t always solve problems correctly the first time, but not giving up is key to getting their jobs done. When was a time when you didn’t solve something correctly the first time? How did you work through it?

Vocabulary Word Definition

Art The use of skill and imagination in the production of things of beauty.

Engineering Engineering is a scientific field and job that involves taking our scientific understanding of the natural world and using it to invent, design, and build things to solve problems and achieve practical goals.

Mathematics The science of quantity, structure, space, and change that involves counting, measuring, describing shapes of objects, and seeking patterns.

Pollination When the pollen of one flower is transferred to another by a pollinating animal such as a bird, bat or insect. It is an important step in the life cycle of flowering plants.

Science Knowledge about the natural world that is based on facts learned through experiments and observation.

Technology The study and transformation of techniques, tools, equipment, and machines created by humans.

Videos and Virtual Field Trips  What is an engineer? - Crash Course Kids  Women in Tech - SciGirls  Role Model Profiles - SciGirls  Science Fun - PBS Kids  Place Value Song for Kids - Math songs by Number Rock  Counting song- The Singing Walrus  Science Song for kids- The Learning Station  Why A Science Career? - The Royal Society  STEM Careers: Inspire the Next Generation of Innovators - McGraw Hill Education

© 2021 Orange County Superintendent of Schools www.insidetheoutdoors.org Websites  Star Walk HD App - Vito Technology Inc  Technology and Invention - Britannica Kids  NASA STEM at Home - NASA  Science Snacks for K-5 - Exploratorium  STEM Activities/Experiments for Kids - Science Buddies  The Ocean Cleanup – Ocean Pollution Cleanup

Thank you for joining the Inside the Outdoors Virtual Summer Camp! We hope to see you all next summer!