Campus News

Middle Schoolers Experience Thrill of Discovery at Science Camp

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 31, 2012) — The University of Kentucky Outreach Center for Health and Science Opportunities this summer hosted a middle school science camp, directed by Edward DeMoll and Margaret McConnell.

Students performed experiments in physical, analytical and biological chemistry, behavioral science, physiology and forensic anthropology. They were challenged daily to figure out the properties being demonstrated by the "Physics Petting Zoo," which was on loan from the UK Department of Physics. 

One entire day was spent at UK’s North Farm collecting aquatic invertebrates with Blake Newton of the UK Department of Entomology. The students then were able to assess the water quality by the invertebrate populations.

Another morning, Russell Brown and Laura Graham of the UK Department of Mathematics came to the Outreach Center and showed the students how the study of the mathematics of lines and polyhedrons can be fun.

An afternoon was spent at the UK Department of Chemistry with professors John Selegue, Jason DeRouchey, and Marcelo Guzman, experiencing what it was like working in a chemistry lab. 

The last day of the camp was spent developing presentation skills and ending with the students presenting experiments to their parents in a semi-formal setting.

"In choosing to create a middle school science camp we hoped to help students of that age to retain the interest they naturally develop in elementary school about how the world works," DeMoll said.

"We gave the students experiences in a number of topic areas in a number of settings in the expectation that they might find areas of interest to which they had not yet been exposed.  As anticipated, some enjoyed wading through the creeks searching out bugs, while others preferred the clean and air-conditioned environment of a laboratory."

MEDIA CONTACT: Keith Hautala, (859) 323-2396; keith.hautala@uky.edu