Load-bearing structures, simple machines, catapults, water filters — physical things that either work or fall over.

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.

Engineering Summer Camp in Independence, MO

Independence has a population of about 117,240. 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 · Missouri · Midwest

Engineering Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in Independence, MO

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

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

Independence, MO — what applies locally

Independence has a population of about 117,240.
State: Missouri · Region: Midwest

Questions we get from Independence, MO

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 Independence

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Engineering Camp elsewhere in Missouri

St. Charles, MOCity Florissant, MOCity St. Peters, MOCity Lee's Summit, MOCity Blue Springs, MOCity O'Fallon, MOCity Chesterfield, MOCity St. Louis, MOMetro area

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