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Ellis Abel Learns.

Engineering Summer Camp in Eugene, OR

The Eugene–Springfield, OR metro area has about 381,584 residents, ranking 147th in the country. The case for engineering summer camp here is not that the area lacks camps — it is that most of them end without the child being able to explain what they made.

Ages 7-14 · For families · Oregon · West

Engineering Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in Eugene, OR
Engineering Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in Eugene, OR

What the week actually is

Engineering week is constraints week. A bridge that must hold a weight, with a fixed pile of materials and a deadline. Children who have never been told no by a problem before meet one here, and learn that the answer is a redesign, not a tantrum.

Day by day

  1. Constraints and a materials budget
  2. First build, first collapse
  3. Redesign from what failed
  4. Load test to destruction, record the number
  5. Showcase: defend the design choice

Eugene, OR — what applies locally

  • The Eugene–Springfield, OR metro area has about 381,584 residents, ranking 147th in the country.
  • Metro area: Eugene–Springfield, OR
  • State: Oregon · Region: West

Questions we get from Eugene, OR

What do they build?
Load-bearing structures, simple machines, catapults, water filters — physical things that either work or fall over.
Is it messy?
Yes. That is not incidental.
Do they work alone or in teams?
Both. Solo build first, then a team build where they have to defend a design choice out loud.

Other camp themes in Eugene

Engineering Camp elsewhere in Oregon

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