Even Bad Weather Can't Dampen the Fun at AstroCamp

Our seventh-grade Ravens took on the remnants of Hurricane Michael during their trip to AstroCamp this year. Lola Patel '24 reflects on the experience.

Even Bad Weather Can't Dampen the Fun at AstroCamp

By Lola Patel '24

Even though the weather was bad, I had an awesome time at Astrocamp. So many amazing things happened this year.

I had so much fun doing all of the activities, such as Go-Kart racing, bottle rockets, frozen liquid nitrogen chips and so much more! We learned a lot about magnetism, electricity, lasers, gravity, the fabric of time and space, vision, aerodynamics and space landings.

I have learned so much about science after going to Astrocamp. For example, when we did the bottle rockets we had to make sure that our rockets are aerodynamic, so I made the tip pointy and made three wings so that it could slice through the air. I learned about vision and how our brain flips what we see back around so we can understand what we are looking at. Also, we learned a lot of science history facts. For example, a group of scientists wore goggles that flipped their vision for three months, and by then their brains had flipped the image right-side-up so that when they took their goggles off they saw everything upside-down until their brains readjusted.

We learned about light and how some animals use bioluminescence to benefit themselves. Next, we learned about landing capsules and how to protect landing rovers — balloons, in our case — from breaking upon arrival. Other students used different techniques such as wrapping the balloon up, using a basket or tying on a parachute. In the end, the best method was to wrap it so that as soon as it reached the surface, it would not bounce around, therefore stopping the balloon from popping. Finally, we learned about liquid nitrogen. We even got to eat chips that had been dipped in liquid nitrogen so it made it look like smoke was coming out of our mouths and noses.

I am so happy I came because had so much fun learning about all of these topics. It was a fun experience learning outside of the classroom. The one thing I would recommend is to wear a watch because, since there are no clocks in the cabins, you never know when to leave for lunch!