 Where is camp being held?
DSSF has partnered with Utah Military Academy for summer camps this year. All summer camps will be held at UMA in Riverdale (5120 S 1050 W, Riverdale, UT). Where do campers sleep? STAR Camp will use 4-5 rooms for camper dorms. These rooms are regular classrooms during the school year. Campers will be sleeping on air mattresses or cots in these rooms, provided by STAR Camp. The number of dorm rooms will depend on enrollment for each camp, with 4-12 campers in each dorm. At registration, campers should select a dorm: Girls, Boys, Mixed Gender. If choosing a gender-specific dorm, we kindly request that you select the dorm of your child's gender assigned at birth. STAR Camp participants should remember that while we invite and encourage you to stay overnight, this aspect of camp is optional. A camper will not miss out on any activities if they choose to go home at night. The decision to stay overnight or be picked up at the end of each day is reversible at any time, through clear communication between parents and the STAR Camp directors. Read the full dorm policy here. Are there showers? YES. Utah Military Academy has three individual showers in the boys' locker room, and three in the girls'. We arrange a shower schedule at each camp, so every camper has an opportunity to shower most days if they wish. We encourage all campers to shower at least once while at camps that are four days or longer. Where and what do campers eat? Campers will eat in the UMA cafeteria. All meals while at camp are provided. The menu is subject to change at any time, but will generally follow this schedule:
What if my child has special dietary needs? Each student is required to fill out a simple medical form during registration. Please list any food allergies on this form so we can keep our kitchen and cafeteria safe for all campers. If your child requires special meal accommodations, please contact the camp director at least two weeks ahead of camp. Will friends and family be put on the same team? Because of the wide variety of students attending camp we cannot guarantee friends and family members will be put on the same team. Our long experience has shown that it is beneficial if a camper gets to know new people. Each camper will have the opportunity to interact with students from across the country and make new friends. Campers will have the opportunity to submit a dorm mate request when camp packets are mailed in May, and requests will be granted to the best of our ability. What if my child needs to take medication at camp? Utah State Law prohibits us from dispensing medication of any type to campers. Any prescribed or over the counter drugs must be sent with the student to camp. You will need to list all medications sent with the student on the medical form along with the dosage information. We can remind the student to take their meds at the parents’ request, but they must self administer them. If medication requires refrigeration, please let us know and we can take care of that. Because our days can sometimes be very long, it is advisable that parents send a small supply of over the counter headache or stomach ache medicine (e.g. Ibuprofen, Pepto Bismol tablets, etc.). How can I contact my child during camp? Campers will have the opportunity to call or text before breakfast and before lights out. If your camper does not have a cell phone, they may borrow a director’s phone during these times for a few minutes to make a phone call (no texting). Cell phones must be stored in suitcases during daytime hours. If you need to contact your child at any other time, you must call or text the camp number: 801-917-4829 How well are the campers supervised? The director, Annika Jensen, and 5-7 other staff members stay on site 24 hours a day while camp is in session. Annika’s husband, Ryan, is on site at night to provide extra security and supervision. We have tried very hard to set up a program that we, being parents ourselves, would feel comfortable sending our own children to. Can my child attend more than one camp in a summer? Absolutely! We have many campers who spend multiple weeks with us each year and we love it! A discount is automatically applied at checkout when you have multiple camps in your cart. Are discounts available? We work very hard to keep tuition as low as possible for all campers, and never want the cost to be the reason a child can't attend STAR Camp. Families who are registering multiple children for overnight camps will receive a 10% discount for each subsequent child. The children do not need to attend the same camps. You must register all children at the same time to receive the discounts. Contact us if you are adding children at a later date. All campers are encouraged to apply for a scholarship. Is financial aid available? We are always looking for individual and corporate donors to be able to offer scholarships. Please see our scholarship page or contact us for more information. Scholarship application deadlines, when available, are always in late April. Who can attend the graduation ceremony? We encourage all immediate family and grandparents to attend camp graduations! What should my child pack for camp? Packing lists for camp will be sent with the complete camp packet in May. What is your refund policy? Details of our refund policy are found here.
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Chocolate undergoes quite a transformation from cacao beans to the delicious sweet treat we know. So how does it work? Well, let's start with where cacao beans are found.
Cacao trees, scientifically known as Theobroma, only grow in tropical areas within 20 degrees of the equator. Midges, which are tiny flies, pollinate the flowers of the tree, which produce football-shaped pods that contain the beans. When they are ripe, the pods are harvested by hand. After harvesting, the beans are fermented. Microorganisms within the pods digest the pulp that surrounds the cacao beans. This converts the sugars in the beans into acids. This step decreases the bitterness of the beans. The bacteria and yeast produced by fermentation create the compounds that give chocolate its smell. Once fermentation is complete, farmers spread the beans in the sun to dry. At this point, water is removed from the beans, meaning that all of those lovely little microbes that have been munching away at the pulp can no longer live on the beans. After the beans are dry, they are roasted. When the roasted shells of the cacao beans are removed, what is left behind is called cacao nibs. The nibs undergo a process called conching, where the nibs are ground and heated into a paste. This is a key part of the process of making chocolate, as it removes undesirable flavors and improves favorable ones. Finally, cocoa butter is added, which decreases the thickness of the chocolate and makes it easier to mold. It's something to think about while you enjoy chocolate covered anything today! With Christmas almost upon us, you might be scrambling for a last minute present for your child. What's better than a toy that entertains and educates? Check out these recommendations for STEM toys for kids!
ThinkFun Gravity Maze Ages 8+ This game is what you get when you combine a marble run with a series of engineering challenges. Sillbird 12-in-1 Education Solar Robot Toy Ages 10+ This solar powered robot can be assembled 12 different ways. Kinetic Sand Ages 3+ This moldable sand behaves like wet sand and never dries out, so you can build and rebuild over and over again. Snap Circuits Electronics Exploration Kit Ages 8+ This kit gives kids safe, hands-on experience with electricity and circuits. Directions for more than 100 projects are included. Shashibo Shape-Shifting Box Ages 8+ Similar to a fidget toy, this shape-shifting box can be configured into 70 different designs. Test your spatial reasoning folding the pieces back together. ThinkFun Roller Coaster Challenge Ages 6+ This toy turns your child into a roller coaster engineer. Design a roller coaster based on the challenge you draw. Power Your Fun Fort Building Kit Ages 4+ Kids can build endless forts, tunnels, and other play structures with these easy to connect rods and spheres. Educational Insights GeoSafari Jr. Talking Microscope Ages 4+ Slip in any of the 60 colorful slides and learn more than 100 facts about animals, plants, and humans. National Geographic Rock Collection Box Ages 8+ The perfect gift for your budding geologist, this box comes with over 200 samples of rocks, minerals, and fossils, as well as a book and a magnifying glass to aid in identification. hand2mind Numberblocks MathLink Cubes Ages 3+ Use the linking counting cubes to recreate your favorite characters and the wipe-clean cards to complete math puzzles and games. (My own daughter has absorbed so many math concepts from Numberblocks! I am a big fan.) Merry Christmas, space fans! You might have heard people say that it's better to eat fruits and vegetables when they are in season. So what does "in season" mean, and what does science have to say about it? Well, both of those questions actually have pretty straightforward answers.
"In season" means during the season of the year where the fruit or vegetable is at its most ripe. Basically, nutrients in food are at their highest peak when the fruit is at its ripest. When you are eating fruit that is grown locally, it is picked closer to the time of actual ripeness. Foods that are not in season are often flown in from other areas of the world. Most transported foods have to harvested long before they are ripe to avoid spoiling, meaning that it doesn't reach peak ripeness and flavor. (However, if you can't get seasonal fruit and veggies or want to eat out of season food, don't worry! All fruits and veggies are still very nutritious!) Eating seasonally has other benefits too. One of them is that you get a wide variety of foods in your diet throughout the year. No single food can provide all of the vitamins and minerals that you need, so eating a varied diet is important for your body. Eating a varied diet even reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases! From an environmental standpoint, eating seasonally is better for the Earth. Foods that are in season are usually easier to get without having to ship them long distances, which reduces the environmental impact from fuel emissions and refrigeration. This also contributes to making local, in season food less expensive. When there's a lot of a food available in the store (because it's in season), they can charge less for it. Here's what's in season in December: Beets Cabbage Carrots Citrus Fruits Horseradish Leeks Onions Sprouts Turnips Winter squash Happy, healthy eating!   Happy Thanksgiving, science friends! As a celebration of this delicious holiday, here are some yummy STEM experiments that you can try at home!
Homemade Butter What you need: Mason jar with lid Heavy whipping cream Process: 1. Fill your glass jar about halfway with cream. 2. Make sure the lid is closed tight and shake. 3. Shake and shake and shake and shake.... 4. Observe the changes every five minutes or so. After awhile, you will have a solid clump of butter! What is happening? Heavy cream has a lot of fat in it (which makes things taste delicious!). Shaking the cream causes the fat molecules to separate from the liquid. The more you shake it, the more the fat will separate and clump together, making butter! The liquid that is left over is called buttermilk. Don't waste that! You can use that to make quick breads or tenderize chicken! Bread in a Bag What you need: Gallon zip top bag Large bowl Parchment paper Hand towel 3 cups plain flour 3 tablespoons granulated sugar .25 oz packet rapid rise yeast 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 cup of warm water 3 tablespoons olive oil Process: 1. Open your zip top bag and place it in a large bowl. You will be mixing your ingredients inside the bag. 2. Scoop 1 cup flour into a large zip top bag, with 3 tablespoons sugar, packet of rapid rise yeast, and 1 cup of warm water. 3. Squeeze the air out of the bag, then seal the bag closed and mix from the outside of the bag with your hands. Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes. 4. Open the bag and add 1 cup of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Seal the bag, and mix again. 5. Add 1 more cup of flour, seal, and mix again. 6. Remove the dough from the bag and knead for 10 minutes on a piece of floured parchment paper to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface. 7. Cover with a warm damp hand towel for 30 minutes. 8. Place in a greased bread pan and bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. What's going on with the yeast? Did you know that yeast is actually a living fungus? This bread in a bag recipe uses a type of yeast that is dormant until you activate it. When you combine the yeast with warm water and give it food (sugar), it "wakes up" and starts the fermentation process. As the yeast eats the sugar, it gives off carbon dioxide, which causes the bread to rise as air pockets get trapped in the dough. If eating a living fungus sounds gross, don't worry. Cooking the bread kills the yeast. Paper Bag Popcorn What you need: Popcorn kernels Brown paper lunch bag Salt and butter (optional) Process: 1. Open a brown paper bag and pour in 1/3 cup popcorn kernels. Fold the top of the bag down twice. 2. Place the popcorn in the microwave, and cook on high for about 1 1/2 minutes. Listen to the popcorn. When the pops start to slow down, remove the bag to avoid burning your popcorn. 3. Add melted butter and salt to taste. Why does popcorn pop? Inside each solid kernel of popcorn is a small drop of water. When you add heat, the liquid inside the kernel turns to steam, eventually bursting the kernel when the pressure becomes too much for the hull to hold! Happy eating! STEM is used in all kinds of jobs, including solving crimes! Here are some ways that police and investigators use their STEM skills in law enforcement.
Analyzing evidence: When forensic investigators collect evidence at a crime scene, they are using science skills! An investigator might collect and test substances, weapons, and even biological evidence like fluids or hair. All of these clues help them piece together what happened and who was involved in the criminal activity. This could also include identifying bomb or other weapon components. Using algorithms: Modern investigators rely heavily on computers to help automate examination of evidence. Fingerprints, facial recognition software, and DNA databases are all used to identify perpetrators and others present at crime scenes. Data analysis: Another way investigators solve crimes is by using computer data to identify commonalities in criminal activity. This can help identify "hotspots" of crime and can even help analyze networks of organized crime. Cryptanalysis: When investigators find a jumble of code or an unfamiliar gang tattoo, they use cryptanalysis to decipher its meaning. Code cracking relies heavily on STEM analysis skills. If you are interested in a career where you can utilize STEM skills while fighting crime, check out the FBI's STEM Careers website here. NASA has had a long history with the United States Armed Forces. Many astronauts have been selected from their ranks, and the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command currently provides support to NASA. While NASA's astronaut program is open to both military and civilian applicants, military training, particularly in fields like aviation and engineering, can provide valuable skills and experiences that are relevant in space. Flip through this slideshow to learn about just a few of these heroes. November is Native American Heritage Month, and we want to take a moment to appreciate people of Native American descent who have made great contributions to STEM. Each of these individuals has made a great contribution to their field. Unfortunately, while marginalized racial and ethnic groups still only make up a small percentage of people working in STEM, it is important to note that indigenous people in America are greatly underrepresented in the sciences. American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN) peoples hold only 200,000 out of 34.9 million STEM jobs. Click here to learn about initiatives to grow indigenous participation in STEM. Halloween candy is great! And you can do so much with it! Check out these ideas for how to use your candy.
Is your candy acidic? Candy pH Test What you'll need: Sour candy (like lemonheads, nerds, or sour gummy worms) Skittles M&Ms Candy Corn 8 plastic cups Distilled water Measuring cup Baking soda How it works: 1. Taste one of each of your candies. Order your candy by how sour it is and write down your observations. 2. Put 1/4 cup of water in four of the cups. Place one piece of each candy in the cups (one kind of candy per cup). These are your controls, which means you won't do anything else with them other than observe what the water does to the candies. 3. Write the letter C on each of these cups and set them aside until the end of the experiment. 4. Put 1/4 cup of water in four new cups. Place one piece of each candy in the cups and let the candy dissolve completely. You can crush candies that are taking too long to dissolve. These are your variable cups, the ones you'll be working with. 5. After the candy has dissolved completely, sprinkle one tablespoon of baking soda into each of the variable cups. The baking soda is your independent variable, the only thing that changes in the experiment. Watch for bubbles. 6. The bubbles are your dependent variable, which is the thing that happens after you add the independent variable. Record your observations about the bubbles. The greater the amount of bubbles, the greater the acidity of the candy! Dancing Frankenworms What you'll need: Gummy worms Baking soda Vinegar Cutting board Sharp knife 2 clear cups How it works: 1. Cut 3 gummy worms into quarters the long way. It may help to make your knife wet or dust it in baking soda to prevent the candy from sticking to it. 2. Stir 3 tablespoons of baking soda into a glass filled with 1 cup of warm water. Mix your cut worms into the baking soda solution. 3. Let the worms soak for 15 minutes. 4. Fill the second clear glass with vinegar. 5. Fish your worms out of the baking soda solution with a fork. Add a few to the vinegar. 6. The baking soda in the gummy worms will react with the vinegar by producing carbon dioxide bubbles. The bubbles form on the outside of the gummy worms, causing the worms to rise and "dance" their way to the top of the glass. Growing Gummy Bears What you'll need: 2 small bowls Water Salt Gummy bears How it works: 1. Make about a cup of supersaturated salt water solution. To do this, add salt a little bit at a time to a cup of boiling water until no more salt dissolves. 2. Allow your salt water to cool in the fridge. 3. When the water is cool, fill your bowls. Put salt water in one and plain tap water in the other. 4. Gather your gummy bears and pick some that are similar in size. Put a couple in the salt water and a couple in the plain water. 5. Allow the gummy bears to soak for several hours. (Don't soak longer than overnight or the gummy bears may fall apart.) 6. Observe the changes in size of your gummy bears.  Image credit: Phil Ejercito In the autumn, we see a beautiful change of color as the trees that are green in the summer become red, orange and yellow. Due to the changes in sunlight and temperature experienced during the fall, trees undergo a chemical process that changes the color of the leaves.
During the summer, leaves have a very important job. They are the factories where the food that trees need to grow is processed. This happens in leaves containing a chemical called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll absorbs energy from sunlight that is then used to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates. Chlorophyll has a large amount of green pigment, giving leaves their color. Other colors are present in leaves, but during the summer, the chlorophyll masks them. In the fall, when it gets colder and there is less sunlight, leaves stop the food-making process. Chlorophyll breaks down, and its green color disappears, allowing the other colors present in the leaves to become visible! Read more about this incredible process here! |
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