Day Camps
Full Steam Ahead At the Edison and Ford Winter Estates’ new STEAM program, children learn to power an entire city with the sun. Words: Artis Henderson
Calling all inventors. The Edison and Ford Winter Estates hosts one- and five-day programs for science and engineering enthusiasts. Kids can study the solar system, build and launch a rocket ship; design, build and code a robot; and explore chemical reactions with handson experiments. “We want our students to experience the whole process of invention, from beginning to end,” Pearce Augustenborg, education coordinator at the Estates, says. The camps are designed to inspire kids to pursue “chasing that interesting idea”— like former resident and revered inventor, Thomas Edison, would do. “Edison was always curious,” Augustenborg says.
summer stands out. In it, students learn to
“That’s why he got up early and stayed up
generate electricity using sustainable solar
The Estates’ camps foster a sense
late. Ideas were like a book he couldn’t
panels, hydropower and windmills. The
of discovery, as kids learn to
put down.”
program begins with a lesson on building a
build rocket ships, code robots
basic light circuit using solar power; by the
and create renewable energy.
Among the many unique offerings, the renewable energy camp debuting this
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end, they’ll be building Innovation City, a
