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Hazelwood students participate in math, science activities during ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp at Washington University Five Hazelwood School District students from at least two HSD schools attended the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp at Washington University last month.

The Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp is a free, two-week academic residential camp that aims to increase students’ interest in math and science through innovative, intensive programs. Students in grades five through seven who have at least a B average in science and math are eligible to attend.

Dr. Bernard Harris is the first African American who walked in space, in 1995. He is a trained aerospace flight surgeon and completed his residency at the Mayo Clinic and a fellowship at the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center.

In camp, the students work on problem-solving, math and communication with biology, chemistry and physics activities. They take field trips that combine learning with recreation. Washington University graduate students and faculty members from area school districts lead lessons involving robotics, computers, engineering and astronomy. Student campers live in residence halls for most of the camp.

At a recent morning activity in a student lounge in Ridgely Hall, students worked in small groups to build rafts with drinking straws and aluminum foil. Dr. Harris participated as well, stopping at each table to lend his opinion of their designs. The teams estimated how many coins it would take to sink their raft. Each group then took a turn placing their rafts in containers of water and added coins until they sank. Students counted how many coins it took to sink the raft and compared the actual amounts to their estimates.

Jason Mathis, who will be an eighth grade student at Hazelwood North Middle School this fall, talked about his favorite parts of the camp.

“I thought it was really awesome when we got to build water rockets and solar cars. Today, we had to find a way to design our raft, so we picked a triangle. We guessed it would hold 50 coins but we put 60 or 61 in there,” he said.

Lexi Randman, who will also begin eighth grade at Hazelwood North Middle School, described her experiences.

“My favorite activity was going on field trips. We went to Tyson, the Earthways house and a landfill,” she said. The campers’ visit to Washington University’s Tyson Research Center included a stop at a cave cooled naturally. A stop at the Earthways Urban Green Home revealed a three-story Victorian-era home in the city renovated with the latest in environmentally-friendly materials and systems.

“We got to see how they are creating energy-efficient trash decomposition with worms,” she said, referring to the house’s vermicomposting system, in which worms digest all food and houseplant waste. They also visited the Fred Weber Landfill in Maryland Heights.

“We learned how they are turning gases into electricity there,” Randman said, referring to the site’s ability to capture and use landfill gas as an alternative energy source.

She cited a camp challenge – the robots campers made during a session.

“We had to be very intricate with them because if you made one mistake or put one piece on wrong, you could ruin the whole project,” she said. Other Hazelwood student campers were Keiondre Jordan, who will attend sixth grade at Hazelwood North Middle School, and David Jordan and Jaylen Smith, who will attend eighth grade at Hazelwood Central Middle School.

Harris founded the summer science camps in 1994 and he partnered with ExxonMobil to offer these camps. This summer, 30 universities across the nation sponsored camps.. (story courtesy of Hazelwood Communications Dept.)

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