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The Lab Ratz Science Club Summer Camp is back for 2010! Building on the success of past years we are working to provide a fun, educational experience that will be the most exciting week of your child’s summer! Enrollment is open to all students in grades 1-4 and 5-8. This year will be similar to past years in that we will offer two half-day long sessions, each exploring a different topic. You may register for either half-day program or you may sign up for the full day, which includes both half-day sessions as well as a lunch and recess break. This year our two half-day sessions will again focus on topics from either the biological sciences or the physical sciences, however, the activities will be new. The location for this year’s camp will be our brand-new laboratory facility in the newly constructed Forum Center, located in Allison Park on Alpha Drive, near the intersection of Duncan Avenue and Mount Royal Boulevard.

This summer we will be exploring a concept that we first began to look at during last year’s Summer Camp-Space Travel and Alien Life. Once again, we will be hosting weekly ‘star parties’ where families are invited to come out and use our telescopes to observe planets, nebulae, star clusters and neighboring galaxies however this year we will be taking this one step further. Each week, camp participants will work together with our staff to construct a fully functioning Dobsonian reflecting telescope. The children and their families will have a chance to test the finished product each week at the star party. At the end of camp a few of the finished telescopes will be donated to area learning centers for homeless children. The remaining telescopes will be raffled off to a few lucky students!

Students participating in our biology-based program (Aliens and Earthlings) will explore the five kingdoms of life on Earth to learn what requirements all living organisms share. We will dispel common myths about what living organisms need by setting up and conducting experiments and by growing tadpoles, vegetables, bacteria and fungi. Participants will become proficient in working with microscopes and making slides, will have the opportunity to participate in optional dissections (Shark, Owl Pellets, Gourds and Starfish) and will even get to explore the inner workings of cells by extracting real DNA. In addition we will explore chemistry and biological energy by mixing, dissolving and blowing-up different substances to test their reactivity. As the week draws to a close we will combine the results from these experiments with the astronomical observations from the Star Party to develop a mock mission to another world in search of alien life.

The Physics portion of camp (3,2,1, Blast-Off) will focus on the fundamental forces of nature, the laws of motion, collisions and energy. Participants will explore motion by launching, crashing and building. We will construct a variety of different simple machines and students will be challenged to invent devices that apply the concepts we discuss in camp. As the week progresses participants will form groups and work through a number of fun competitions and challenges to apply what they have learned. And, again, back by popular demand, we will construct ’space capsules’ at the end of the week to allow the participants to apply their knowledge as they attempt to protect eggs from the force of a rough landing on an alien world.

To request enrollment information, visit the ‘contact’ section of this site and send us your mailing address or call us at 412.965.3024 and enroll by phone.

Cancellation Policy: Due the the limited space available for students to enroll, coupled with the high demand for this program, we are unable to refund Summer Camp registrations. Camp registrations are transferrable to other children but once you have enrolled we cannot issue a refund. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.