With a quick swoop of a net, Cooper Peters of Humboldt trapped a dragonfly.
?Caught him,? Peters announced.
?Good job,? Lilly Fernandez replied. ?Do not get him angry.?
?Well, when they get caught, they?re pretty much angry already,? Cooper said, and raised the net so the dragonfly could escape.
The two fourth-graders continued their walk along a trail between two ponds at the former Allen Community College farm. Cooper and Lilly were among a group of area youth taking part in a summer camp focused on science, arts and athletics this past week at ACC.
More than 60 youth from kindergarten to eighth grade participated in the camp, which is in its sixth year. Organizer Beth Toland said the camp has grown in popularity and includes children from as far as Colony and Chanute, as well as Iola, Humboldt and Moran. In fact, so many families wanted to sign up this year, she had to turn some away.
The camp began as a way to introduce students to scientific studies and reinforce skills during summer break, Toland said. She?s assisted by other faculty from ACC, including biology instructor Travis Robb, chemistry instructor Todd Francis and adjunct humanities professor Paul Miller.
Each year, they focus on a different science-related theme.
This year?s theme is environmental science. The group visited the Lehigh Trail system, the ponds at the farm, a creek and river, the county landfill and wind farm, and ?John Brown?s Cave? along the trail system.
The goal was to examine watersheds and the various ecosystems around the county, Toland said. ?We want the kids to start questioning the world around them and think critically, to take it all in and synthesize the information.?
Lilly said she was excited to look at her gathered soil samples under the microscope. She also collected a lot of shells, she said, including a couple of snails. Other students caught (and released) frogs, tadpoles and a crawdad.
Lilly said a surprise focus of the camp is to evaluate ?a lot of poop.?
