Weekly Media Roundup  July 1, 2015

Durango Girls Learn Elements of Science at Maker Camp (Durango Herald, Colorado)

Some girls use electric mixers to create cookies and cupcakes; the girls in the Girls Only DIY + Maker Camp, on the other hand, dismantle them to make steampunk jewelry. The camp, part of several weeklong sessions scheduled throughout the summer, encourages the girls to channel their inner inventor. “They begin to self-identify,” instructor Leisha Lawson told the Durango Herald. “At the end of the week it’s, ‘Oh, that’s what a scientist looks like – it’s me.” In addition to taking apart blenders and miniature cars, the girls made ‘cyborg masks’ out of paper-mâché-covered balloons.

Students Create Environmental Public Service Announcements (Austin American-Statesman, Texas)

Students in the Smithville ACE afterschool program are educating their community about how to dispose of household hazardous waste through creative public service announcements. Two students’ video ideas were chosen from more than 100 students who participated in a poster and essay contest about environmental messaging. One video, a 1920s-inspired silent film, depicts a villainous “Dastardly Dan” dumping hazardous waste into a river before the hero “Clean-up Kid” nurses harmed woodland creatures back to health. “All the students did an outstanding job,” afterschool technology instructor John Dees told the Austin American-Statesman. “They worked hard to learn about recycling and communicate their environmental message through posters and essays.”

Blog Connects Kids to Nature (Salem Gazette, Massachusetts)

Thirty Salem students spent the past year learning about the wonders of the natural world located right in their backyard. Kids in the Expanding Horizons afterschool program’s Outdoor Science Adventure section took field trips to parks and conservation areas throughout Salem then shared their findings with the world through the program’s blog. In addition to learning more about nature, ecology and the layout of their city, students gained leadership skills by managing the blog and participating in other aspects of the program. “Each student takes on different jobs – editor, photographer, safety… equipment manager and sketch artists,” Jessica Kagle, founder and director of Kestrel Educational Adventures, which runs the program, told the Salem Gazette. “We give them all different avenues to find their strength in the team.”

FUNdamental (Newton Kansan, Kansas)

Fourth and fifth graders at Latchkey’s summer program recently got the chance to experiment with ‘flubber,’ a thick goo-like substance they created out of water, glue and borax. They poked and prodded the goo to see what kind of noises it would make, smiling and laughing the whole time. The most positive thing we do is keep them up on the educational things,” afterschool instructor Nicki Van Der Weg told the Newton Kansan. “They don’t lose that over the summer.” The program rotates children through creative learning stations in science, art and reading, allowing students to build social skills, character and knowledge while playing and learning in a safe and fun environment. “