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 Pennington County, SD

Pennington County is one of 66 counties in South Dakota. 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 · South Dakota · Midwest

Engineering Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in Pennington County, SD

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

Pennington County, SD — what applies locally

Pennington County is one of 66 counties in South Dakota.
Every public school district inside Pennington County is eligible for the district licensing terms.
State: South Dakota · Region: Midwest

Questions we get from Pennington County, SD

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 Pennington County

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Engineering Camp elsewhere in South Dakota

Aurora County, SDCounty Beadle County, SDCounty Bennett County, SDCounty Bon Homme County, SDCounty Brookings County, SDCounty Brown County, SDCounty Brule County, SDCounty Buffalo County, SDCounty

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