Sarah's Science Scrapbook

Welcome back!

2010-07-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Sarah's Science and This Land is Your Land Summer Day Camp Scrapbook!

Summer's been off to a great start and our 6th week of camp is already winding down. This week's theme is "Electrons on the Move!" By the end of the week, campers will know more about electricity than many adults!

Projects include:

Astound your friends with a static stand-up skeleton
Make an electromagnetic tap-to-spin motor
Complete a circuit to light up a picture tube
Create a buzz with a salt water switch

Click on the links or images below to check out highlights from the first few weeks of the summer:

Week 2: Save-the-Earth Science

Campers make their own worm composing bins.

Week 3: Blowin' in the Wind

Campers make their own barometers to measure atmospheric pressure.

Week 4: The Pressure's On!

Campers launch bicycle pump powered air rockets.

Week 5: Sports Science

Campers and counselors play organized activities during Freaky Friday Fun Time.

Next week is "Machine Mania." Space is still available in all of our sites.

To register, call our office at (510) 581-3739.
Drop-in registrations are welcome Monday morning at camp.
For more information, please visit http://www.sarahscience.com/.

For more information about This Land is Your Land summer day camp or other programs offered by Sarah's Science, or to enroll in sessions at San Ramon, Oakland, or Berkeley, please visit our web site or call our office at (510) 581-3739 or send us an email.

Thanks for stopping by. Check back soon for updates.

July 19 – 23, 2010 "Sports Science"

2010-07-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Sarah's Science and This Land is Your Land Summer Day Camp Scrapbook!

This week at camp was "Sports Science."

Music time was filled with great sports songs and cheers.

We had fun building cool sports toys while learning about simple machines and magnetism. Projects included an Arm Flinging Catapult, a Batter's-Up Baseball Blaster, a Reel-It-Up Fishing Rod, a Magnetic Shuffleboard, and a Mini-Backetball Catapult. We also made Sarah's Science visors and racing bibs.

During Freaky Friday Fun Time, we dressed up as our favorite athletes and sports stars.

And we got in the spirit with some face painting and hair styling.

Of course, the week didn't progress without a small rivalry...

During Freaky Friday Fun Time, we also played a number of organized games and participated in relay races including a three legged race, a crab walk, and an egg race.

Thanks for stopping by. Check back soon for updates!

July 12 – 16, 2010 "The Pressure's On!"

2010-07-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

July 6 – 9, 2010 "Blowin' in the Wind"

2010-07-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

June 28 – July 2, 2010 "Save-the-Earth Science"

2010-07-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

July 20-24, 2009 "All Charged Up!"

2009-07-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Sarah's Summer Science Scrapbook!

This past week was our electrical week, "All Charged Up!"

We started the week learning about static electricity. One of our first projects was a Paper Clip Electroscope for measuring static electricity. (The static electricity was, of course, generated by rubbing a styrofoam cup on our heads.)

When a statically charged object is brought near the probe, the paperclips spread apart. The electroscope can be grounded by simply touching a finger to the probe, whereupon the paper clips fall back down. (Animation below may take several minutes to load.)

Our next project was a Static Ball Game where we used a statically charged wand to move balls around a course.

Later in the week, we moved on from static electricity to current electricity. One of the favorites was our homemade Salt Water Battery. The battery, composed of three half cells, was used to power LEDs. And conveniently, when the battery "runs low," it's easy to mix up another batch of super saturated salt water.

Some of our other projects this week included Mini-Flashlights, an Electric Code Tapper, and a Multi-Speed Fan.

With the multi-speed fan, we played with resistors and with the Advanced Project Touch to Light LED we learned about transistors. By the end of the week, we learned more about electricity than many American adults know.

We also enjoyed our hike to Redwood Bowl and fort building in Joaquin Miller Park.

This past week at the Oakland site, we continued our new tradition of honoring some of our great counselors with a Maillot Jaune (French for Yellow Jersey) modeled off of the tradition from the Tour de France. The recipients from this past week are Travis and Natalie! This coming week, they will pass on the shirts to two new counselors.

Can't get enough of Sarah's Science? Our exciting upcoming themes include "Amazing Adaptations" (July 27-31 session in San Ramon, Oakland, and Berkeley) and "Gravity Works!" (August 3-7 session in San Ramon, Oakland, and Berkeley).

In "Amazing Adaptations" we will

Take home our own insect-eating plant
Get a close-up look at nature’s weirdest creatures with Owen from the East Bay Vivarium
Make a magnetic board to match birds to their food
And more!

And in "Gravity Works!" we will

Design a downhill dragster
Perform amazing feats of balance with a tightrope unicyclist
Defy gravity with a hover ball machine
And more!

Space is available in both of these sessions as well as most other weeks at most locations for weekly signups, or daily drop-ins.

Thanks for stopping by. Check back soon for updates.

July 13-17, 2009: "Backyard Beasts and City Critters"

2009-07-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to Sarah's Summer Science Scrapbook! This is the second update for Summer 2009.

This past week, we explored "Backyard Beasts and City Critters" with one of our nature oriented weeks. Projects this week taught us about our natural world while we explored electricity and basic circuits, air pressure, kinetic and potential energy, and simple machines.

One of our projects was a Hummingbird Feeder. During this lesson, we learned about hummingbirds and their unique migratory and flight abilities. We also learned about the careful balance of air and water pressure used to keep the hummingbird's food from falling out of the feeder.

Another fantastic project was our Critter in a Can. In this project, we made rubber band powered raccoons that would pop up (or completely fly out) of our little trash cans when the lid was removed. During this lesson, we learned about the amazing intelligence and memory of raccoons as well as the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy.

We also built a Rolling Grasshopper toy where we learned about wheel and axles and friction.

Some of our other projects included an LED Matching game where we had to identify which animals were backyard animals and which were not, a Butterfly Garden where we planted Milkweed seed to attract Monarch butterflies, and a City Critter Tracking Kit. This week's advanced project (for the older groups) was a Fly Fetching Frog. This rube goldberg machine had a series of simple machines and counterweights that would stick out the frog's magnetic tongue to catch the magnetic flies.

We also got to spend some quality time in the woods where we went on hikes, played games, built forts, and just relaxed.

And we also enjoyed healthy snacks prepared by our CITs and Junior Counselors. For more information about our CIT leadership program, please see here.

This past week at the Oakland site, we established a new tradition of honoring some of our great counselors with a Maillot Jaune (French for Yellow Jersey) modeled off of the tradition from the Tour de France. While we await for our official yellow super staff t-shirts, we did some creative improvising to bleach tie-dye some regular staff shirts into super staff shirts. The recipients from this past week are Eva and Ted! This coming week, they will pass on the shirts to two new counselors.

Can't get enough of Sarah's Science? Our exciting upcoming themes include our fantastic week of electricity "All Charged Up!" (July 20 – 24 session in San Ramon, Oakland, and Berkeley) and "Amazing Adaptations" (July 27-31 session in San Ramon, Oakland, and Berkeley).

In"All Charged Up!" we will

Make a mini-flashlight
Create an electric code tapper
Build a homemade battery to light an LED
and more!

And in "Amazing Adaptations" we will

Take home our own insect-eating plant
Get a close-up look at nature’s weirdest creatures with Owen from the East Bay Vivarium
Make a magnetic board to match birds to their food
and more!

Space is available in both of these sessions as well as most other weeks at most locations for weekly signups, or daily drop-ins.

Thanks for looking. Check back soon for more updates.

July 6-10, 2009: "It's A Small World"

2009-07-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to Sarah's Summer Science Scrapbook!

This past week's theme was "It's A Small World" where we used the theme of small things to explore different science concepts. Concepts included electricity, magnetism, simple machines, and the insect world.

We kicked off the mornings with Music Time led by Jessica. Favorites included "The Cat Came Back", "Boom Chicka Boom", our very own Counselor Radio, and of course, our theme song "This Land is Your Land."

Two of our projects included a mini golf green and a mini skateboard park, both of which taught us about simple machines and Newton's Laws of motion.

The big hit was our mini ladybug motels that each camper got to construct, furnish, and decorate and rent out to their very own resident ladybugs.

By the end of the day, the ladybugs were warmed up and ready to explore.

Some of our other activities included a hike in the woods, swimming, and fort building.

Some of our visitors at camp this week included a Nuttall's Woodpecker and a not so mini bumble bee.

Can't get enough of Sarah's Science? Our exciting upcoming themes include our nature themed "Backyard Beasts and City Critters" (July 13 – 17 session in Oakland and Berkeley)and our fantastic week of electricity "All Charged Up!" (July 20 – 24 session in San Ramon, Oakland, and Berkeley).

In "Backyard Beasts and City Critters" we will

Create a critter-in-a-can pop-up toy
Grow our own butterfly garden
Test our animal knowledge with an electric light-up matching game
and more!

and in "All Charged Up!" we will

Make a mini-flashlight
Create an electric code tapper
Build a homemade battery to light an LED
and more!

Space is available in both of these sessions as well as most other weeks at most locations for weekly signups, or daily drop-ins.

Our newest site is located at beautiful Little Hills Ranch on Bollinger Canyon Road in San Ramon. Little Hills Ranch is a secluded, peaceful oasis removed from the hectic everyday world. This lovely, rejuvenating location next to Las Trampas Regional Park features 100 acres of open grassy areas and large shade trees, covered picnic tables, a fenced swimming pool, play structures and hiking trails. There is ample free parking for drop-off and pick-up.

Thanks for looking. Check back soon for more updates.

February 21: Bug of the Month Club (Snails)

2009-02-21T00:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Sarah's Science Scrapbook!

We learned that snails are hermaphrodites (each snail is both male and female).

This made naming our pet snails a bit of a challenge, but the bugsters came up with some great names.

Some of the names we came up with are: Sticky, Feelers, Slimey, Smonkey, Mini, Goldie, Stinky, and Sleepy Head.

By the way, Rayna discovered that May 24th is National Escargot Day! But don't worry, we won't be eating our pet snails.

Thanks for stopping by! Check back soon for updates from our year round programs.

Can't get enough of Sarah's Science? Check out our other year-round programs such as the Bug of the Month Club, Science Night, and Winter Camp.

For more information about This Land is Your Land summer day camp or other programs offered by Sarah's Science, or to enroll in sessions at San Ramon, Oakland, or Berkeley, please visit our web site or call our office at (510) 581-3739 or send us an email.

September 06: Bug of the Month Club (Milkweed Bug)

2008-09-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Sarah's Science Scrapbook!

This past Saturday, we had a great time at the Bug of the Month club where we learned all about the Milkweed Bug.

The milkweed bug is a True Bug or Hemiptera (an order of insects composed of around 80,000 species). We learned the defining characteristics of the Hemiptera order (their distinct mouthpart and wings). We were fortunate to find that many of our milkweed beetles were in the process of creating the next generation of Milkweed bugs.

"Do you know what it's called when they are mating in a hiding spot? It's called eloping."

__Sophie D-F

We also learned about their life cycle. Milkweed bugs undergo gradual metamorphosis or incomplete metamorphosis, a characteristic of the Hemiptera order. Their young, called nymphs (pictured below) closely resemble the adult, except for the absence of wings, which they develop in the final transformation.

We also had fun setting up their habitats and learning about their diet. They are seed eaters. In the wild, they eat milkweed seeds, but in captivity, they will eat cracked, unsalted sunflower seeds. We got to take home sunflower seeds and milkweed seeds so we can plant out own (also a great Monarch Butterfly attractant).

We also watched a great video about True Bugs with John Acorn, a Canadian Entomologist; and we shared our stories of our own insect sightings. We heard of all kinds of experiences with unusual bugs.

"I befriended a moth."

__Sophie D-F

"There's never ever going to be enough books about bugs."

__Emily S

Thanks for stopping by! Check back soon for updates from our year round programs.

Can't get enough of Sarah's Science? Check out our other year-round programs such as the Bug of the Month Club, Science Night, and Winter Camp.

August 25-29: Sarah’s Favorite Projects (Oakland & Berkeley)

2008-08-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to Sarah's Science Summer Scrapbook!

We just finished our last week of camp in Oakland and Berkeley where we studied the science behind an assortment of Sarah's favorite projects.

We started off the week with an Electric Pinball Game where we learned about electricity and motors. We then built a Spinning Bird that used air vibrations to generate noise.

For our next project, we grabbed our bowling shoes, and built our own Mini-Bowling Alleys. This project was an example of an inclined plane (a simple machine capable of doing work), and Newton's Laws of Motion.

We also had some visitors at camp, some of whom thought that the bowling alley would make a good home.

The week continued with our Rolling Lady Bug project. While the lady bugs did make colorful hats, they also demonstrated the transfer of kinetic energy to potential energy and back again.

Our Mechanical Waving Hand was an example of a camshaft capable of transferring circular motion to linear motion, and back again.

We blasted off the end of our projects with our Sky High Rocket Launcher, a baking soda and vinegar chemical reaction powered rocket. The older groups also got to work on the Advanced Project, an air powered rocket which shot off to impressive altitudes.

In addition to the fun science projects, we also went swimming one day, and built gnome homes and forts in the woods.

For campers 11+, we have a great Counselor in Training Program available. Please see here for more information.

On Friday, we had a blast with Freaky Friday Fun Time where we cooled off with our super soakers, did face painting and crazy hair, and sang a little bit of karaoke at our dance party.

We ended our day with a big appreciation circle and popsicles.

Thanks for looking. Check back soon for updates from our year-round programs.

Can't get enough of Sarah's Science? Check out our other year-round programs such as the Bug of the Month Club, Science Night, and Winter Camp.

August 18-22: Build It! (Oakland & Berkeley)

2008-08-22T16:59:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to Sarah's Science Summer Scrapbook.

This week in Oakland and Berkeley, This Land is Your Land wound down with our second to last week of the summer: "Build It!" In this fun filled week of creative homemade projects, we constructed a Bow-String Generator. This project used alternative energy (human power) to spin a motor which, in turn, generated electricity to power LEDs.

We also built and decorated our own Mini-Basketball Catapult game that converts potential energy into kinetic energy, the energy of motion. By the end of the day, many campers were ready to head off to Beijing to compete in the Basketball Catapult Olympics!

Other projects included a Battery Cell Lightning Bug (complete with habitat), a Magnetic Mixer (perfect for mixing up individual size portions of Tang), a Conductivity Crab (great for testing which objects are conductive), and a Camshaft Car (why buy one when you can make one?!).

During Fun in the Sun, we had a blast on the play structure...

And a great time building forts and gnome homes in Joaquin Miller.

When the fog burned off in the afternoons, we went for a dip in the pool.

And we also enjoyed healthy snacks prepared by our CITs. For more information about our CIT leadership program, please see here.

Thanks for looking. Come back next week to see what happened during the final week! Also, we invite you to fill out a brief online feedback survey. It's a great opportunity to give us any feedback or suggestions. You can find it here.

July 7-11: All Wired Up (San Ramon) & Batty About Bats (Oakland & Berkeley)

2008-07-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Sarah's Science Summer Scrapbook!

While the Oakland and Berkeley sites were in full swing in their 4th weekly session of their 12th and 6th summer respectively, we cut the ribbon for the San Ramon location grand opening.

Situated in the beautiful Little Hills Ranch on Bollinger Canyon Road in San Ramon next to Las Trampas Regional Park, our newest location features 100 acres of open grassy areas and large shade trees, covered picnic tables for snack and projects, a fenced swimming pool where we swim twice a week, play structures and hiking trails for our bug safaris. Here, campers had a blast exploring nature, and learning the science behind cool, homemade projects and toys.

We started off the week with wonderful musician, Ben, who engaged us in fun camp songs, including the camp theme song, This Land is Your Land.

Sarah Shaffer (teacher, founder and CEO), led the morning meeting and explained the day to come.

This week, our projects got us "All Wires Up" as we learned about electricity, or "electrons on the move." One of our projects was an electric buzzing burglar box to safely store our treasures.

We also built a circuit box to test what materials conduct electricity. The materials that did conduct electricity caused our optical illusion tops to spin.

We lit up the forest with our electric headlight glasses.

And we also learned about the relationship between electricity and magnetism with our electromagnets.

We left our table laboratory to explore the natural phenomena that surrounds us. In the creek, we discovered fossils and bones.

And on bug safaris we discovered a variety wildlife and learned about their habitat.

Renowned naturalists Norm Kidder Jan Southworth-Kidder helped us view and connect with nature at a deeper level. Here, we got to see, catch, and hold lizards (some of us, for the first time)!

Our Counselors in Training (CITs) helped to prepare snack and assist younger campers with the projects, gaining valuable leadership skills. For more information about the CIT program, please see here.

Friday we cooled off with Freaky Friday Fun Time where we had a blast dunking our counselors in a dunk tank and splashing down the Slip 'n Slide.

We ended the week in San Ramon with our closing appreciation circle.

Terrific Transformers (June 30 – July 3)

2008-07-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to Sarah's Science Summer Scrapbook!

For our third week of camp at Robert's Regional Park in Oakland, and Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley, we had fun with the science of "Terrific Transformers." We made glow in the dark robots that transform in the night,

and also amphibious vehicles that roam the land or float in the sea (or bathtub).

We also got a few of them racing with their engines revving and their wind-powered turbines spinning.

Our transforming truck robots morphed from robot to truck and our flip stick machines changed two images into one.

The highlight of the week was getting our own Painted Lady butterfly larva, learning about their lifecycle, and building the habitat for the butterfly after it undergoes metamorphosis.

In our hike to Joaquin Miller Park, we built gnome homes and forts, and encountered several banana slugs.

We enjoyed delicious and healthy snacks twice a day during snack time prepared by our Counselors in Training (CITs).

For more information about our CIT leadership program, please see here.

Thank for stopping by. Be sure to check back next week!

The Science of Snooping (June 23-27)

2008-06-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to Sarah's Science Summer Scrapbook!

For our second week of camp at Robert's Regional Park in Oakland, and Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley, we explored "The Science of Snooping." One of our projects was an electric intruder alarm, which reportedly caught several unsuspecting parents and cats!

We also built functioning periscopes...

...and backwards viewing spy glasses for secret snooping.

Several of our other projects included secret message decoders and launchers.

During morning music, our talented campers helped our musician in "The Cat Came Back" and other camp favorites.

And on a Bug Safari, we encountered banana slugs (the camp mascot), and caterpillars.

This week, our wonderful Counselors in Training (CITs) helped assist the counselors and campers in their groups with projects and other activities.They also helped with snack preparation. Please see here for more information about the CIT program.

Thanks, and see you next week!

Loco-Motion! (June 16-20)

2008-06-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Sarah's Science Summer Scrapbook!

Here at camp, we just finished our first week, "Loco-Motion!" We built a mini freight train, a camshaft horse, and an uphill roller just to name a few. These projects demonstrated the science of motion and machines.

We also had a few visitors at camp, a caterpiller and a wild turkey in the parking lot!

We ended the week with Freaky Friday Fun Time face painting and water play to cool down.