CINSAM Summer 2008 Student Camp Plans
June and July 2008

For registration, please download and print the registration form: (Microsoft Word) (Adobe PDF)
Mail completed form to:

Ms Heather Howard, Academic Assistant
CINSAM at NKU
519 Founders Hall
Nunn Drive
Highland Heights, KY  41099

For more information, contact Betty Stephens at 859-572-1308 or email at stephensb@nku.edu

For information on the iSPACE robotics camps for grades 1-10 that will be held on Northern Kentucky University's Covington campus, please go to their website at www.ispaceohio.org

* This refers to the grade level into which the student will enroll for the 2008-09 school year.
** Scholarships are available from CINSAM.
*** This is a grant-funded program.

CINSAM Summer 2008 Teacher Events
Professional Development Sessions for Science and Other Teachers
June and July 2008

CINSAM Summer 2008 Student Camp Plans
June and July 2008

Note: Referenced grade levels are the grades into which the student will enroll for the fall semester 2008

Camp Descriptions:

Urban Fun With Science Camp
Grade Levels 6 -- 8
This camp is designed to offer the opportunity for participants to work with university faculty from a variety of areas of science disciplines in laboratory and field experiments and activities.  It will be offered as day camp for urban middle school students from the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area. The camp will expose the students to a variety of science fields by providing hands-on activities and field experiences within the following areas: astronomy, chemistry, ecology, environmental science, genetics, geology, microbiology, nutrition, and physics.  NKU faculty members, undergraduate student teaching assistants, and local government/industry scientists will contribute to the camp. The objectives of the camp are to encourage greater interest in science and science careers among urban middle school students.

Java Computer Programming Camp
Grade Levels 9 – 12
This camp offers highs school students the opportunity to participate in a program designed to introduce and explore the logic and strategies of game programming.  The Java programming language including object-oriented programming, graphics, graphical user interfaces, basic data structures, and game-oriented algorithms will all be introduced and used.  A variety of programming projects will be included with the goal of creating some interesting computer games.  Previous programming experience is not assumed or necessary.  However, students who already know some Java may be advised differently and may (optionally) skip the first several session s as other students are taught the basics of Java programming.

CSI – II Camp
Grade Levels 9 or CSI – I camp attendee
Students will continue investigations based upon skills from experiences in a CSI – I camp and/or school science experiments all in order to solve crimes through scientific methods.  New skills will include forensic entomology and expanded “crime scene” evidence and information gathering work.  Participants will gain more knowledge of DNA analysis, use of forensic anthropology, geology, and for those who elect to participate, a possible visit to the NKU cadaver laboratory will be available.  A “make shift” burial site will be exhumed and evidence from this site will provide much of the experimental materials and background for many scientific activities that will span various disciplines of science.

CSI – III Camp
Grade Levels 9 – 12 or CSI – II camp attendee
This camp is a continuation of the CSI experiences of CSI – II camp activities.  New activities will be included such as the physics involved in an automobile accident reconstruction, chemical analysis of evidence gathered at a fire scene, more advanced DNA analysis, and mathematical analysis of data to assist in the use of blood spatter data for resolution of factors at a crime scene.  Part of this camp will take place off campus at the Central Campbell County Fire Protection District’s training facility located just off Martha Lane Collins Boulevard in Highland Heights.  The crime scenes that will be provided for the campers at this site will be developed by the firefighters as arson scenes for evidence gathering and processing.  The actual fire burns will be conducted and safety inspected days before the camp so that the campers may safely enter the scenes in the training building and examine the fire sites and gather evidence.  A part of this phase of the camp will be focused on fire safety for the campers as provided by the firefighters.

Engineering Camp
Grade Levels 9 – 12
This camp is designed to foster students’ interest in engineering, engineering technology, and the physical and environmental sciences.  Activities will include use of the NKU Engineering Technology’s program AutoCAD laboratory to learn about computer graphics and the roles of the use of these tools in design and manufacturing.  A prototype design for a small plastic device will be developed and then manufactured in the prototyping manufacturing cell associated with this laboratory.  The camp participants will have opportunities to work with a number of faculty members in physics as well as engineering technology and in the NKU Pre-Engineering program.  They will visit some local consulting engineering offices and at least one construction site to see the plans that the students saw in the office become reality on the land.  A tour of the Toyota manufacturing plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, will be a part of this camp’s activities.

Women in Engineering Camp
Grade Levels 9 – 12
This camp is designed to foster female students’ interest in engineering, engineering technology, and the physical and environmental sciences.  Women faculty members from the physical science will participate in the deliver of this camp’s activities.  These activities will include use of the NKU Engineering Technology’s program AutoCAD laboratory to learn about computer graphics and the roles of the use of these tools in design and manufacturing.  A prototype design for a small plastic device will be developed and then manufactured in the prototyping manufacturing cell associated with this laboratory.  The camp participants will have opportunities to work with a number of faculty members in physics as well as engineering technology and in the NKU Pre-Engineering program.  These participants will visit local consulting engineering firm offices and project sites.  Currently, a tour of the Ford Motor Company transmission manufacturing plant in Sharonville, Ohio, is planned.  Women engineers will be involved in the planning and delivery of this tour.

Astronomy Camp
Grade Levels 6 – 8
Please visit NKU's Haile Digital Planetarium's summer camp page for further information and a camp description:
http://physics.nku.edu/planetarium/summer.htm

Mathematics Camp
Grade Levels 9 – 12, must have completed geometry
This camp will include a variety of real world applications of mathematics!  Topics will be taken from areas of algebra and geometry as well as other facets of mathematics such as measurement and data analysis.  Mathematical games will be used to approach the solutions to real world situations as well as to learn a variety of entertaining applications.  Campers will discover tricks that will help them to use mathematics in practical situations.  Even mathematics magic tricks will be demonstrated and learned!  Participants will use the World Wide Web to examine applications of mathematics and to solve problems.  This camp is planned to be an enrichment experience for students as well as a time to learn how important mathematics is to our lives.
 

Statistics/Mathematics Camp (StatCamp)
Grade Levels 6 – 8
StatCamp will provide an introduction to the area of statistics for middle school students.  The camp’s goal is to introduce the participants to these topics through a variety of fun, hands-on activities.  Such topics as data collection, graphical representation of these data, and numerical summaries will be covered.  These will lead to the use of the concepts of population sampling, basic probability, distributions, and the use/application of descriptive statistics.  From these experiences, the concepts of experimental design and statistical support for conclusions based upon experimental data will be developed.  Various graphical methods such as scatter plots and linear models will be introduced and used.  Many hands-on activities are planned.  These will also overlap science concepts including experiments with such fun materials as Gummy Bears, Skittles, M&Ms, macaroni shells, etc.

Middle School Emerging Technologies Camp
Grade Levels 6 – 8
This camp is designed for gifted middle school students as an enrichment camp in applied science, mathematics, and technology including engineering concepts.  This camp will offer a choice of projects that will involve research on the part of the participants. The participants will use the information discovered and as supplemented by laboratory experiments to focus attention on new and emerging technological issues.  Additionally, university faculty members and community professionals will provide leadership and input to design solutions to challenges or to further the understanding of a phenomenon.  Project tracks that are being developed include alternative energy sources, improved efficiency in the use of available energy, expansion of the understanding of living things, their development, and their interactions with earth’s crust, nana-technology and its applications as may be modeled in the physics and engineering technology laboratories on the NKU campus, just to name a few.  This is a day-long camp with lunch provided each day.  It is anticipated that some 20 applicants will be selected to participate in this camp.  This small enrollment will provide the opportunity for considerable student – faculty member/professional interaction.  Each participant will have the opportunity to become deeply involved in the study and learning of the topics of two tracks offered in the camp.  At the end of the camp week, the campers will give a short symposium explaining their work during the camp and how it leads to a better understanding of the topics that were researched and studied. 

High School Emerging Technologies Camp
Grade Levels 9 -- 12, must have completed geometry
This camp is designed for gifted high school students as an enrichment camp in applied science, applied mathematics, and engineering design and engineering technology concepts.  This camp will offer a choice of projects that will involve research on the part of the participants. The participants will use the information discovered as supplemented by laboratory experiments to focus attention on new and emerging technological issues.   Additionally, university faculty members and community professionals will provide leadership and input to design a solutions to challenges or to further the understanding of a phenomenon.  Project tracks that are being developed include carbon dioxide (CO2) sequesterization/storage and CO2 reduction technologies, innovative and/or improved alternative energy sources, improved efficiency in the use of production of energy and/or the use of available energy, expansion of the understanding of living things, their development, and their interactions with earth’s crust, nano-technology and biotechnology and applications as may be modeled in the physics and engineering technology laboratories on the NKU campus, just to name a few.  This will be a day-long camp with lunch provided each day.  It is anticipated that some 20 applicants will be selected to participate in this camp.  This small enrollment will provide the opportunity for considerable student – faculty member/professional interaction.  Each participant will have the opportunity to become deeply involved in the study and learning of the topics of two tracks offered in the camp.  At the end of the camp week, the campers will give a short symposium explaining their work during the camp and how it leads to a better understanding of the topics that were researched and studied. 

CINSAM Summer 2008 Teacher Events
Professional Development Sessions for Science and Other Teachers
June and July 2008

Activity and Event Descriptions:

Teachers as Engineers Camp

This teacher experience is planned to be developed around the concept of the STEM  team teaching group, i.e., each team will have at least one English, one social studies/history, one science, and one mathematics teacher as the core teaching professionals of the team. Teachers may register as a team or CINSAM will assemble teams and notify the members.  A practicing engineer or engineers will provide each team with a typical problem from the company’s practice.  This engineer will then serve as a resource for the team’s work.  The team will then have time and resources to solve the problem, craft the technical report, and develop a presentation to represent the team’s solution.  Each team will be given a budget of “EngrBucks” from which to spend for consultation with their respective engineer at the usual hourly billing rate, for consultation with NKU faculty members at a typical hourly billing rate, and for other expenses of the team’s work.  Use of internet and library references will be cost-free!  Consultation with political and other decision makers will be charged at a flat hourly rate.

Forensic Science Workshop

It is anticipated that this will be a workshop conducted by middle and high school teachers who will bring and share activities and lessons that they have used in their own classrooms.  All activities presented will be easily adapted to the classroom with materials that are readily available and low cost.  Teachers will be able to actually go through the activities, collect “evidence,’ and try to “solve” the “crime” using typical scientific methods and procedures.  The use of the TI 84 graphing calculator will be demonstrated in one activity to show display and analyze data collected at one of the “crime scenes.”  Each participant will receive a compact disk with all of the activities and lessons presented as well as other lessons that were not presented.  This compact disk will hold a variety of activities for teachers to be able to pick and choose the particular ones that will fit their teaching station and curriculum.

Teachers' Energy Tour
Visit an Electric Generation Station and a Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Gas-to-Electricity Plant

This is a one-day trip to tour the East Bend Generating Station owned and operated by Duke Energy and the landfill gas powered electric generating plant at Bavarian Solid Waste Landfill.  The tour also examines the design and operation of this municipal solid waste landfill.  These sites visits are hosted by engineers and operators of the various facilities. Lunch and transportation from the NKU campus are provided.  The dates shown are tentative and open to change based upon input from participants.  Materials for teaching will be provided.

Rocks and Minerals in Modern Society
A day and a half workshop hosted by the Kentucky Crushed Stone Association and offered in collaboration with CINSAM
Georgetown College Conference Center

This will be a truly hands-on workshop for elementary and middle school teachers with emphasis on science and social studies standards.  Participants will spend 1.5 days in central Kentucky experiencing interactive classroom activities, visiting actual quarries, and receiving classroom materials and notebooks, handouts, and samples to enhance instruction and engage students.  Activities will include:   “Birdseed Mining,” Mineral “Detection,” “Cookie Mining,” along with on-site visits of local quarries and networking at the educator/industry cook out.  A binder of class room and laboratory exercises that have been developed and used at the middle school level will be provided for each teacher participant.  These lesson plans and laboratory exercises will be correlated to the Kentucky Core Content and the Kentucky Program of Studies for middle school science.  Additionally, correlations between these lessons and topics in mathematics and social studies will be provided.  CINSAM will provide certificates for the 1.5 days of professional development work associated with this workshop.

Teachers' Materials Tour
Visit an Underground Limestone Mine, Lime Manufacturing Kilns, and Laboratories

This is a one-day trip to tour the Black River Mine and the associated surface processing plant.  This facility is located along the Ohio River with a Butler, KY, address.  This is a unique opportunity to tour an active underground mine and learn how a mine is designed, operated, and kept safe.  The products of this mine, various qualities of limestone, are processed in kilns to produce “burned lime” products used in a host of production process that provide for our daily needs.  The tour is hosted by engineers, chemists, a variety of highly skilled professionals underground and in the laboratory and kiln areas.  Lunch and transportation from the NKU campus are provided.  Lunch and transportation from the NKU campus are provided.  The dates shown are tentative and open to change based upon input from participants.  Materials for teaching will be provided.

Teachers' Manufacturing Plant Tours

These are one-day trips which are currently being planned.  Visit two of Northern Kentucky’s manufacturing plants.  No specific sites have been selected but principal state-of-the-art NKY operations are prime candidate.  Lunch and transportation from the NKU campus are provided.  The dates shown are tentative and open to change based upon input from participants. A second tour will provide an opportunity to tour a sand and gravel production operation and a surface limestone quarry where the plan is anticipated to include the opportunity to see a production blast event as well as the whole of the operation, including a chance to sit in the operator’s seat of some of the large equipment.  Materials for teaching will be provided.

Teachers’ Astronomy Workshop
Visit and experience/use the Haile Digital Planetarium on the NKU campus

This workshop is designed to offer the participants opportunities to collaboratively use and develop hands-on teaching materials for any grade level where topics in astronomy are taught.  The astronomy faculty members of the Department of Physics and Geology will offer a variety of activities which may be scaled and/or re-fitted to any teacher’s teaching station and curriculum.  The Haile Digital Planetarium will be used for a variety of activities.  These experiences will provide the opportunity for participating teachers to learn of the capabilities of this state-of-the-art facility and how they will be able to integrate visits to the planetarium into their teaching plans.

P – 3 Science Activities Workshop
Join with CINSAM faculty members and you colleagues to develop and share science teaching activities.

This one-day workshop is anticipated to provide opportunities for Preschool through grade three teachers to bring activities that they have successfully used or ones that have been less successful to the group to share and refine.  Also, Mrs. Reeda Hart will offer activities that have been found to be “best practice” at these grade levels.  Handouts and a compact disk will be provided to the participants.