Summer at GDS: Week 7 Newsletter

MIDWEEK CHECK-IN July 31, 2019 1

LS WILDLIFE AMBASSADORS

2

CREATIVE CHALLENGES: TRANSPORTATION

3

FUNDAMENTALS OF COMPUTER CODING

4

LITTLE HOPPERS CAMP

5

SPORTS OF D.C.

JULY 31, 2019

SUMMER AT GDS MIDWEEK CHECK-IN

LS Wildlife Ambassadors On the first day of camp, students designed covers for their field notes journals.

They learned about the conservation status scale of animals and about invasive species. At the end of the day, campers chose a wild animal to research and explained their importance to the environment and how to help them if their population was on the decline. On Tuesday, the group went on a nature walk on the GDS school grounds where they identified different living things. Later in the day, campers played outdoor games and completed their research projects to share with the others. On Wednesday, Wildlife Ambassadors spent most of the day at the zoo where they met the curator of the big cats exhibit and learned a lot about lions and tigers. When they returned to the school, the campers started to make a memory book of their visit to the zoo. Thursday, the students will get a personal tour at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History with a shark expert in celebration of Shark Week.

JULY 31, 2019

SUMMER AT GDS MIDWEEK CHECK-IN

Creative Challenges: Transportation This week campers in Creative Challenges have been learning all about transportation! The class studied different modes of transportation including cars, planes, boats, rockets and more. Campers started the week by learning about the history and future of automobiles. They designed cars of the future and made their designs come to life with LEGO’s. On Tuesday, Creative Challenges went to the Air and Space Museum where campers explored robotics and observed planes taking off and landing. For the rest of the week, the camp will continue learning about transportation by creating bottle rockets, having paper airplane races and designing boats that will actually float in the water!

JULY 31, 2019

SUMMER AT GDS MIDWEEK CHECK-IN

Fundamentals of Computer Coding This week, Coding campers have been learning the fundamentals of computer programming. Using Scratch and Python, students have been creating a series of programs and games to master the concepts of variables, conditional statements, and loops. Some of their projects include creating a short animation, as well as trying to recreate the iconic video game Pong.

JULY 31, 2019

SUMMER AT GDS MIDWEEK CHECK-IN

Little Hoppers This week during Little Hoppers camp students are embracing summer! The campers are crafting, playing, imagining, and turning on their scientist brains in STEM activities. Our paper plate sunflowers let our Little Hoppers practice their fine motor skills while using scissors, our walking water rainbow led the campers to make predictions and observations about what would happen next and seeing how primary colors combine, and our name caterpillars let our campers practice spelling their names and putting the pieces in the right order. Little Hoppers students are excited to see what the rest of the week brings as they continue exploring different parts of summer!

JULY 31, 2019

SUMMER AT GDS MIDWEEK CHECK-IN

Sports of D.C. To start the week of camp off, Sports of D.C. campers ventured to the Redskins FedEx Football Stadium. At the stadium, they toured the field, the locker rooms, and the hall of fame. Tuesday, while they did not travel anywhere, campers continued learning about the sports teams here in DC and the surrounding areas.

They also were able to play some sports related activities. On Wednesday, the group went to a Washington Nationals baseball game! Although the Braves won the game, the campers still enjoyed their time at the field watching the Nationals play. Thursday, Sports of D.C. camp will be heading to Capital One Arena to get a tour and learn more about the Washington Capitals.