Tubes, Tunnels, & Tornadoes
Every day, many people start their days by looking at the weather. Understanding the climate that we will encounter each day sets the tone for what we wear, how we use transportation, and how we plan to battle the elements. For our children, it is no different. Children experience climate and differing conditions every day, but do they have an understanding of these concepts? To familiarize our scholars with this knowledge, we created our STEM Summer Camp program called “Tubes, Tunnels, and Tornadoes”—a week of learning and interacting with different elements of the weather that Colorado has to offer.
To start the week, our scholars learned everything about tornadoes. They practiced their auditory learning skills by listening to clips of how tornadoes sound and the immense wind forces that they create. Our scholars also utilized our brand-new school age classroom while they learned about wind and cyclones. Our Lead Teachers showed them the properties of cyclones by spinning 12-liter bottles with different objects in them. This activity demonstrates how tornadoes start to spiral and pick up everything in their immediate path. The scholars also spent time utilizing our sensory water tables, which our teachers used to illustrate the movement of water. In addition, our scholars used different tubes and cups to show how gravity affects the movement of various objects.
This kind of learning builds on and reinforces the concepts learned in “Big Backyard Bugs, Plants, and Critters”.” In our first week of summer camp, our scholars learned about the foundations of caring for a plant: soil, water, sunlight, etc. Through “Tubes, Tunnels and Tornadoes,” our scholars utilized the knowledge from our first camp and learned where that water comes from in nature and how weather patterns affect plant growth during seasonal changes (e.g. spring and fall). The scholars also took an in-depth look at the perception of weather patterns along with differing climates across the world.
As the week came to a close, our scholars also grew their past knowledge of “Big Backyard Bugs, Plants and Critters”, as they learned about tunnels. They learned which animals burrow into the ground and how they use this a home and even a defense mechanism. They even reinforced their engineering skills as they discovered how tunnels are constructed and implemented in society. Our scholars created their own tubes and tunnels through the use of STEM tunnel toys. Once completed, they rolled marbles through the tunnels they had created to understand how a tunnel operates when other objects move through it. On the last day of the week, the scholars created their own tubes and tunnels installations against the classroom’s walls. They poured water, marbles and glitter through the tunnels to learn how each of these different materials move as it travels down the installation.
These basic science concepts are the fundamentals to all children’s love for science, math, and the outdoors. Rather than being afraid of a rainy day, our STEM scholars learned this week to go out and splash in every puddle.
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