UW Will Host UW-Teton STEM Academy through Aug. 10

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August 6, 2018 – The University of Wyoming hosts the UW-Teton STEM Academy (formerly AstroCamp) this week on campus.

UW’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, cooperating with the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium, hosts 20 Wyoming students entering the sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Academy is funded by a three-year, $150,000 commitment from an anonymous donor in Teton County.

During the six-day hands-on camp, which began Aug. 5, students will observe the universe with professional telescopes; study astronomical images on computers; construct scientific spectrographs to identify chemical elements; build and launch model rockets; conduct soil tests; create solar ovens; and test their very own Mars lander to see whether, in this case, they can land an egg softly enough without breaking it.

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Campers will attend classes that include problem-solving, earth sciences, and engineering and design concepts. Students also will go on a day hike in the Snowy Range. Students will investigate the scientific, technological and biological factors that will be required to travel to distant planets and stars.

Professional astronomers; UW graduate students majoring in astronomy or education; and high school and junior high school teachers will lead the activities.

Media are invited to attend, with many of the activities taking place in Room 219 of the Classroom Building. Activities also will take place in the Michael B. Enzi-STEM Facility, Coe Library and the UW Harry C. Vaughan Planetarium.

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Chip Kobulnicky, a UW professor of physics and astronomy and a co-director of the camp, has a list of the students and their hometowns available. Call Kobulnicky at (307) 766-6150 or email [email protected].

For more information about the camp, call UW Institutional Communications Specialist Ron Podell at (307) 766-2352 or email [email protected].