Tech Trek is getting ready for blast off! By Lori Franz
Can you believe it?? It is less than two months until the UC Davis Tech Trek camp welcomes 90 campers. We are so proud that our branch has recruited and will send six campers. We were delighted to receive a slot for one of our alternates as we initially were allocated only five slots. The campers have completed their applications and have just received an opportunity to sign up for one of five exciting core classes which will run the week of their camp. Here are the descriptions of each focus. Wouldn’t it be fun to have the opportunity these girls will have??
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY: Examine the structures of various organ systems through dissection. Look at lungs, hearts, bones and eyes! Learn how your body works by using equipment to measure blood pressure, pulse, oxygen levels and respiratory volumes. We will gather data, build a model lung, and more! (Warning: Not for the faint of heart. Dissection of animal organs is included each day.)
ASTRONOMY & SPACE: We’ll spend the week exploring the frontiers of aerospace. We will delve into astronomy, space and NASA career-related topics. We’ll learn how NASA studies Earth, including its climate, our sun, and our solar system and beyond. You’ll discover many ways to be a part of a very large international team whose goal is to better our life on Earth and enable future exploration to reach new heights beyond our planet.
HIGH ENERGY ENGINEERING: Find out about the vast and growing career field of engineering. Using a STEM approach, we will engage in hands-on team projects while exploring topics like environmental, structural and electrical engineering. We will investigate a diverse set of real problems and use the engineering design process to build prototypes to try to solve them! Join us in building a desalination device and racing solar cars. We will focus on renewable energy and celebrate with a s’more party using our homemade solar cookers!
STORYTELLING WITH DATA: Data is more than just a bunch of spreadsheets. We collect data for a reason: Data is power — the power for good, the power to change, the power to protect. In this class we will use the same methods that scientists at companies, like Google and Meta, and in government use to make the world better with data. Campers will learn how to collect and analyze data as well as use infographics and other visual techniques. You’ll put your new skills to work to create your own powerful visual stories on topics you choose, proving that data is POWER!
WEARABLE TECH: What does this mean to you? Movies show us versions where the heroine has glasses that can see through walls or rocket shoes that let a person fly. Although these are extreme versions of wearable tech, they are not far off from what is possible; shoes with GPS and glasses that are wearable computers already exist. Find out more about this growing industry. Through creative expression, you will learn how to design, code and sew wearable pieces with functional technology. By the end of the week, you will each engineer a drawstring bag that can solve an everyday problem.
Our Tech Trek committee continues to plan a meet-up with our campers and will make sure everything goes smoothly. We have been busy making sure all the vaccinations and paperwork is complete.
In addition, we are excited that our branch is also sending three girls to the virtual Tech Trek camp that allows girls who prefer to be at home to learn from there and also helps us provide STEM activities for those who can’t go to the residential camp because of the limited space.