Camp GEMS participated at the BICL's annual Christmas party on Sunday Dec 5. The children had fun with slime, tye died bandannas, UV bead bracelets, glow in the dark atomic worms and enjoyed other exciting demos. During the day Professors Rafs and Professor Suds had an exciting GEMS dry ice show where they juggled some boo bubbles, smashed some flowers and fresh fruit and entertained the audience with soapy bubbles and dry ice fumes. 

Here are some pictures from the event.

We are SO excited for our Bruce 2010 Summer Camp!! The Science of Chocolate! Superheroes! Science MAGIC! We have so much awesomeness packed into one week! You won’t want to miss it…CHECK IT OUT!!!

2010 GEMS BRUCE

What better way to learn about COOL science then through a COMIC!? Check it out:

The DRY ICE Experiment

Last day of camp proved to be very busy for the girls. It started with finishing off their Science Fashionistas outfits and finalizing the accessories and the write up that would go along with it. They got a chance to wear their designs and make any last minute adjustments.

Designing was today’s theme and the girls got right in to it. After reviewing the concepts of drag, gravity and thrust and discussing how a rocket operates, they were asked to brainstorm a possible design for a balloon car. The trick was each group had to work with a limited supply of items. After the morning break the teams were eager to get their supplies and get started.

Lunch was filled with excitement for various reasons:

1. It was pizza day
2. There was a HUGE cake to celebrate one camper’s birthday
3. Today was the SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

All teams were ready to put their soccer skills to the test and after a very tough game, The Baconators came out as winners. However, Team Dynamite also took home a prize for showing the best sportsmanship. Way to go girls!

The afternoon activities began with groups working on catapults. Similar to the balloon cars, they had a limited supply of material and time. There were some very interesting and innovative designs that we got to see at the camp. We definitely had some Engineers in making!

When the time was up, we got ready to test the cars and the catapults. Some cars bounced in the air to travel a distance of about 2 meters, while a few successfully crossed the finished line at 3 meters in less than 5 seconds. Catapults were used to launch grapes across the room. Some went as high as 9 meters, while the winning team was able to sent its’ grape as far as 10 meters.

Finally, it was time for the girls to showcase their scientific abilities to their parents. At the Open House, each fashionista displayed her outfit and shared their reasons of choosing the material and design they used. Parents also got a jist of what the girls learned at camp through a friendly game of Gems Jeopardy. And when asked about the probability that the girls will return next year, the answer was a very loud and clear – THREE HUNDRED PERCENT!

Thank you WiN Bruce for a wonderful week; we will see you next year!

What day is it today? BIOLOGY DAY! Our first topic covered the essentials of a balanced diet. We tested various cereals to determine their iron content using a magnet. Frosted flakes came out on top!

Next, we learned why our dentists tell us not to drink pop! We used pH paper and phenolphthalein to rank different types of pop according to their acidity. We mixed pop and water in an Erlenmeyer flask and added phenolphthalein with a dropper until we noticed a permanent colour change. Gingerale was the least acidic, while mountain dew contained the most acidity.

The girls enjoyed a rapid game of Catch the Bacon after lunch – the sun was shining bright!

Our afternoon started with an explanation of enzymes. Did you know you can’t add fresh pineapples to jello? The enzymes in the pineapples eat up the gelatin preventing it from solidifying into jello. The girls demonstrated this by adding fresh, frozen, and canned pineapples to a jello solution. The fresh and frozen pineapple solutions did not solidify, while the canned pineapple jello did! This is because canned pineapples are processed, which removes the enzymes! Cool stuff!

Finally, after snack break, we checked out a pre-dissected dogfish shark! Gross but awesome!  We wrapped up the day with some Shark Jeopardy – winners wereteam  SHARK ATTACK!

Another great day at Camp GEMS! Tomorrow is GEMS spirit day and the open house!