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Home > Archive > Mar 22, 2007

Camp Invention Sparks Imagination
By Katrice Schimbeck
Staff Writer
This summer, children entering grades one through six get the opportunity to go to the Wild Blue Yonder to explore scientific possibilities in Camp Invention. A week-long program, Camp Invention uses scenarios to provide practical application for scientific thinking.
“Camp invention fosters creativity, teamwork, inventive-thinking skills and science literacy,” Sue Stewart, director of the St. George program, said.
Camp Invention was created in 1990 by the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization “dedicated to recognizing, honoring and encouraging invention and creativity through the administration of its programs,” according to the Web site www.invent.org.
Camp Invention is one of three programs that make up the activities of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. The other two are Club Invention and the Collegiate Inventors Competition. Club Invention is similar to Camp Invention, and for the same age children. It expands on the same curriculum. Collegiate Inventors Competition is a contest for those in college and awards a $50,000 grand prize, a $25,000 prize for the graduate level, and a $15,000 prize for the undergraduate level.
Camp Invention in St. George will run June 25-29 at Sandstone Elementary. The cost is $199, with discounts available. Sessions go from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Fees for the camp go toward T-shirts and daily snacks, paying instructors, and supplies sent from the Foundation. Community Education helps sponsor the camp with advertising.
Another Camp Invention will take place in Cedar City July 9-13. The director is Marsh Bial and can be contacted at 435-586-3972.
Certified teachers will give instruction during Camp Invention in St. George: Darlene Mertin, from Coral Canyon Elementary; Doug Bulloch, from Riverside Elementary; Paula Dufresne, from Sandstone Elementary; and Randy Richardson, ESL director for Washington County School District. Richardson takes his vacation week in order to participate in the camp. 
Four years ago, when Sandstone Elementary teacher Sue Stewart, started Camp Invention in St. George, all the camp’s teachers taught at Sandstone. The staff remains the same, but the teachers return every year from other schools to enjoy the camp. Sixty students signed up last year for Camp Invention’s biggest turnout yet. Students came from as far away as Provo.
Camp Invention has a limit of 110 participants and maintains a ratio of one adult for every eight children. Currently, there are four instructors, two administrators, and two parent volunteers as staff. Camp officials are looking for more parent volunteers, who can get a discount for their child. If interested, call Sue Stewart at 688-8565.
The activities at Camp Invention are not the same every year. Three curriculums rotate to make for a new experience every year. This year, two of the curriculum programs are new. 
For “Create” curriculum, students imagine they have crash landed on a strange planet. They must reassemble their spacecraft. They build shelter and clothing for the appropriate weather, figuring out how to know what the weather is. They must figure out how to reach a hard-to-find food source. 
Another class deals with redesigning skateboards, building and crash-testing cars for an egg crash-test-dummy. In another class, students learn the physics of amusement park rides. Two classes are included in all three curriculums: inventing something by taking an old appliance apart, and inventing amazing games and playing them.
The “Experience” curriculum includes classes on how to make a movie with lighting, sound and sets; studying bugs and helping one survive; along with inventions and games.
The “Explore” curriculum is what St. George students will experience this year. They will solve a mystery using Crime Scene Investigation techniques of fingerprinting, foot printing, and teeth impressions. They will learn about transportation and invent a new transportation machine. They will also invent something with an old appliance and create games to play.
Founded in 1973 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and National Council of Intellectual Property Law Associations, the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation is housed in the Hall of Fame Building in Akron, Ohio, which is open to the public and offers hands-on activities to visitors.
Every year, new members are nominated and inducted into the Hall of Fame. In order to be inducted, inventors must hold a U.S. patent, and their invention must contribute to the welfare of mankind by promoting the progress of science and the useful arts. Useful arts are something that makes life easier or better. For example, Otto Wichterle is nominated this year for inventing the soft contact lens.
The current nominees have impressive accomplishments. Paul Baran and Donald Davies invented Digital Packet Switching. Peter Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield invented the MRI. Interestingly, individuals in both pairs worked independently from each other. John Franz discovered Roundup herbicide and Maurice Hilleman pioneered developments of many modern vaccines, including the MMR. For a complete list of 2007 inductees, visit www.invent.org.

Registration for St. George’s Camp Invention continues up to the day the camp begins, but after May 31, a $20 late fee is required. You can register your child at www.campinvention.org or call (800) 968-4332.

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