Camp information:
- The three-day camp will be June 14-16 for girls in fifth to seventh grade
- A preview day will be held from 2-3 p.m. on May 14 at the Charles W. Brown Planetarium
- Reservations are required. Contact Sara Hopf at smhopf@bsu.edu for more information
A group of Ball State faculty is putting together a free, three-day summer camp to get young girls interested in science.
The girls — who will range from fifth to seventh graders — will start each day of camp in the Charles W. Brown Planetarium. Dayna Thompson, assistant planetarium director, said the cause is important to her, being a female herself.
“When they go to school, they learn physics or they learn science…but when they come to a camp or come to the planetarium, they learn to love it,” Thompson said. “I want them to be excited about science at the end, or just curious about anything. It doesn’t have to be science, it can be the arts…as long as they’re leaving asking questions and wondering things they didn’t wonder about before, then I’ll be happy.”
Biology professor Sue McDowell said the camp will have activity stations, and her hands-on station will have organisms placed in different environments to see which environments the organisms can survive in. The environments will mimic the atmosphere of different planets.
She said she's enjoying planning for the camp more than just about anything she's ever done at the university, other than researching with students.
McDowell is doing the camp because in elementary school, she would go to the Cooper Science building and do experiments with scientists. Despite that being years ago, McDowell said she still has images of herself in the lab as a child in her mind.
“Those experiences are a huge part of why I’m in science, and I love my career,” McDowell said. “It all started from when I was a kid. If I can possibly provide that kind of opportunity to some students in the area in a way, it’s just me finally being able to really thank those professors that did it for me when I was a kid and laid out a great life for me.”
The camp is targeting students who don’t have all of the advantages that McDowell said she grew up having.
“They may have parents who really do care and really do wish that their kids could be doing these really expensive camps that really wealthy kids get to go to," McDowell said. "There are a lot of parents that just simply can’t afford to send their kids to some great camp, and we’re providing an amazing opportunity without an amazing price, and I just think that that’s incredible.”
Susan Johnson, associate dean for the College of Sciences and Humanities, said they wanted to do the camp because society needs to have more women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers.
“Humans have these very basic questions about their role in the universe, and so we want to start tapping into that curiosity," Johnson said. "Curiosity is such a basic aspect of human beings, and we don’t want to dampen that. We want to let people grow, let girls grow into mature, accomplished women through this process, and we just want to say ‘You can do it.’”
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