room 26 newsletter
astrocamp edition
Power Pole By Eric & Kendall
astrocamp free time by nick
At Astrocamp, there were so many great classes. However, the free time had a huge variety of choices. Free time occurred after every meal. Some choices we had were playing in the gymnasium, meadow, or the ga ga ball court. "Ga Ga Ball was the best! " said Logan.
The gymnasium was only one of the great events we could participate in. The gym had three basketball hoops, with one full court. Also, it had a sideways rock-climbing wall that was about seven to eight feet high as you climbed at an angle. Our class used the basketball court to play many rounds of bump out. Connected to the gym was the pool, used for free swim and the microgravity class.
Another great thing to do during free time was to play in the meadow. The meadow is a very vast place filled with grass and trees. It also consists of the vibrating bridge. The vibrating bridge is like a balance beam that has the capability to vibrate back and forth. Only a few of the Room 26 students and supervisors made it across without stumbling off.
Last but not least, students played Ga Ga Ball in the meadow area. Ga Ga ball is a fast-paced game where there is a court shaped like a pentagon, and the goal is to not be hit by the cherry ball. Other people in the court with you are trying to get you out by hitting you with the ball below the waist. This process continues until one student is still standing in the court. Overall, all of the 5th graders had a great time at the Astrocamp free time choices.
atmosphere and gases by patrick & litzy
At Astrocamp, we had an opportunity to learn about atmosphere and gases. The purpose was to learn about the atmosphere and gases in the universe. Some of the experiments we did at Astrocamp were putting a marshmallow in an airtight glass that was connected with a tube to a vacuum. Then, our counselor, Jessica, turned the vacuum on and the marshmallow got bigger, then smaller. It got bigger because the change in air pressure made the marshmallow expand. Then, Jessica put more marshmallows in the air tight container. When they were done, we got to eat them. "It was good, but a little dry," said Eric, a student from Skyline Elementary.
Astrocamp Zipline by Carlie & Parks
One of the activities we did at Astrocamp was ziplining. First, we put on our harnesses. We had to put our legs in and then tighten up. Next, we pulled the shoulder part over our shoulders and tightened that. Finally, we tightened the front and back and got our helmets on. As we finished getting equipment on, we looked around at other kids to see knees quaking, faces sweating and nail biting!
The purpose of this was to help people with a fear of heights to get over that fear.
Lights & Lasers by logan & ryan
Right when lights and lasers started, we knew it would be a great class!
We started out by learning about the light spectrum.The light spectrum is mostly known as the rainbow. We fought with pool noodles wearing inversion glasses that made everything seem upside down. We also learned about a phosphorescent wall that is kind of like a glow in the dark wall that saves light in one area for a certain amount of time. In addition, we put glasses on that made everything rainbow depending upon how warm it was. Lastly, we used a black light, we drew with yellow marker on ourselves, and when we turned on the black light, it became neon. James said, "It was super fun when we fought with pool noodles." Overall, a lot of people thought that lights and lasers was extremely fun.
Cafeteria! By Callie & Juanita
At Astrocamp we ate in the cafeteria, the oldest building at the site. We had 7 people at each table. Then we had to put 7 cups on the table for drinks in case you wanted to get water or juice from the machine. The food was set up in carts in the kitchen.
Some of the foods we ate were hamburgers, spaghetti, chicken fingers, and tater tots. There were also desserts which included ice cream sandwiches and cookies. I'm pretty sure everyone loved the food including us.
In conclusion, it was different from home because you had to set up all of the plates and all of the cups. But, it was different, because it was all you can eat! Astrocamp was really fun and we hope we can go there again!!!
astrocamp night hike by greta
The first night at Astrocamp, we did a night hike. Before the night hike, our class was split into two groups. My group instructor was a man named Zack, and he took us on the night hike. It was very cold that night and the hike lasted for about an hour and a half. After we walked for about 5 minutes, we started to play our first game. The game was about an owl that chased a bat for food. The bat had a blindfold on and a set of keys to attract the person who was the owl. It was really fun! Next, we did a marker game. We had to get a marker and guess what color it was and then write it on our wrist. This was a cool game because when it was dark out, you couldn't see the color very well, so it kind of tested how good your eyesight was in the dark. After that, we walked to a nice flat area where our instructor, Zack, showed us some cool constellations and planets. We saw the Milky Way, Orion, Jupiter, Venus, and many other fascinating things! Lastly, we got a chance to look at the interesting constellations and planets through high-tech telescopes. The night hike was an amazing experience for all of us!
dorm life by amaris & andrew
When we went to Astrocamp we stayed in dorm rooms. The purpose of the rooms was to have a place to store our stuff and sleep. Some nights we didn't get much sleep but we still had fun. Our dorms had windows, a heater, and three bunk beds. Each room had six girls or boys. The girls were on the top floor and the boys were on the bottom. The chaperones stayed in a room a couple of doors down and if we needed them, we could see them. In the dorms we could talk, rest, play cards or play a board game. During free time the students could get ready and play in the dorms before our next class after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In every room we had good behavior but, at night we got a little bit reckless and crazy. In the morning we were so tired and during free time we had fun.
Microgravity by Will & Ryann
The purpose of getting in the pool and building a giant cube was to use our teamwork. It wasn't just for fun. It was to see how much teamwork and how fast we could make a big cube out of PVC pipes. We learned that astronauts go in 40ft deep pools and practice building like we did in the pool. We wore wetsuits to keep us warm. We had snorkels so we wouldn't have to take a breathe every single second. The next thing we did was discuss the safety rules. There were a lot of safety rules would and we would say that all of us followed them in the pool.
Astrocamp Store by Evan
The camp store sold cool souvenirs. The most popular thing that you could get there was astronaut ice-cream, which was so good. The ice-cream was dried chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream. Most people got the astronaut ice cream. Another popular thing you could've got there was the Astrocamp sweatshirt. They only had the color green and it had the Astrocamp logo on it. The coolest thing that you could get there were rainbow glasses . The rainbow glasses make every thing look rainbow. The rainbow glasses were better when you had light. The most expensive thing that you could've gotten there was the sweatshirt. The sweatshirt was $30. Those were some of the coolest things at the store!
Initiatives by Alex
In the initiatives class at Astrocamp we played 3 different games. The point of playing them was to use teamwork to win. The first game had the objective of following commands from our counselor. If you failed to follow a command, you would be out. Teamwork was used when the instructor ordered a command that involved several people to do. However, you could not follow another command after you just followed one right away, your instructor had to say a magic word so you could do it. The last one remaining wins!
The objective in the second game was to get around 40-50 tennis balls in a bucket under a certain time. But you cannot move if you're holding a ball, so you could use teamwork by passing or throwing the ball to other people so eventually the ball would make it in the bucket. Our time was better each time because each time we used more teamwork.
The third game we played was my favorite. The instructor had to tell us either green light, red light, or purple light. Green means go, red means stop, and purple meant dance in place. You had to get to the other side where the instructor was and take the fish that was next to him. When he says go he turns around and everybody uses their moves. When he says red he turns around and if he catches anyone moving everyone goes back to where they started. Once you take the fish you have to get it back to your side. But if he sees his fish is missing, he gets one guess to find out who has the fish. As soon as you get the fish to your side you win. You use teamwork by passing the fish to one another to get it to the other side.
The last game we played involved tagging people with a rubber fish. There's one person who is it and tries to throw the fish at people. You cannot move your legs while you are holding the fish. If there is more than one person it, you can pass the fish to other people who are it. The people who aren't it run for their lives. The last one standing wins.
Long Division by James & Emily
"Long division" was a extra activity if you got to finish the power pole early. We got to do it because we had extra time from power pole and because we had a small group. We were privileged to do this because not everyone got to do it. It is called long division because not many groups got to do it and it might hurt others feelings if they didn't get to do it and others did.
We did this activity because it simulates how in space it is dark. It also simulates the team work of being in space. We had to communicate to keep going into the maze and when to stop or go a different direction. We also had to use all of our senses to solve problems. Those are some ways it simulates being in space!
When the door opened to the building we saw a airvent like hole, and then a tube coming from the middle of the building. That was the entrance and the exit. We also had to take off our shoes when we went inside. When we crawled into this black hole we couldn't see a thing! It was also a little cold too. The maze was hard because we had to figure out to go left, right, up and behind and down. It was hard to do those because we couldn't see and we had to feel with our hands. It was fun because we got to practice what it was like in space and because you had to feel where to go which was a challenge and challenges are fun. We thought the maze was very awesome and I would totally do it again!