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Future Engineers Summer Camp at Mott School in Trenton

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On the first day of camp, the students were given various creative materials to craft a large nametag for themselves.

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One of the first lessons that Mr. Anderson taught our campers was the importance of drawing an accurate model. He stressed the importance of using a ruler in order to ensure that the students had straight lines in their drawings and that each drawing included precise measurements.

After the campers learned to draw detailed models they were given large pieces of foam in order to create a large “soap” or “sweet” prototype.

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Ms. Bridgette Graham, the founder of  Sweetable Eatables, visited the girls’ class to explain to them the process of creating a business, and patenting an idea. Ms. Graham creates flower arrangements out of chocolates and other flavored candy that look just like a real bouquet. The girls each got to sample the arrangements and learned they they could capitalize on each of their unique talents in the future.

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Mr. Chris Anderson displayed a hydroponics system in the classroom’s giant window, and during the last week we were able to use the fresh basil on our pizza! Some of our students took a keen interest in the plants and planted the seeds in the mini-greenhouses.

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One of our students’ favorite activities was designing and building the mag-lev cars. Each student used his or her newfound drawing skills to sketch an accurate model of their prospective car, and when the drawing was approved, the student was free to build. Everyone received a wooden platform with 10 magnets glued to the bottom, and a foam housing for the CO2 cartridge that would eventually propel the car on our special track.

From there, all students were encouraged to do anything and everything they could think of to safely house an egg during a head-on collision with another students’ car. Each vehicle had to include at least 3 different mechanisms that would keep the egg safe, but each car could be no more than 12 inches in length, 4 inches tall, and the width could not be increased. The car could not weigh more than 224 grams. Students were able to use all materials in the room such as foam scraps, wood pieces, cotton balls, cornstarch peanuts, yarn, water bottles and insulation.

Many of our students were able to crash their cars time and time again with the eggs remaining intact. Students were encouraged to re-engineer their cars after an unsuccessful crash. After each successful crash, the winning car had to surrender one piece of protective material. The winners continued to crash their vehicle until the egg cracked.

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One of the last activities that our students tackled was circuitry. They learned how electricity traveled through wires, how to attach a power source, and how to attach a device that used to power. They also learned how to create a switch. They then applied this knowledge to building a flashlight from scrap materials.

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Campers also learned how to silk screen in the final days of camp.


Boys and Girls – Mondays

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Sports Camp – Tuesdays

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Girls’ Group – Thursdays

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