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 Rapid City, SD

Parents in Rapid City, SD book summer in February and regret it in July. The Rapid City, SD metro area has about 156,934 residents, ranking 280th in the country. What separates a week worth repeating is whether the child was ever genuinely stuck and then unstuck.

Ages 7-14 · For families · South Dakota · Midwest

Engineering Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in Rapid City, 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

Rapid City, SD — what applies locally

The Rapid City, SD metro area has about 156,934 residents, ranking 280th in the country.
Metro area: Rapid City, SD
State: South Dakota · Region: Midwest

Questions we get from Rapid City, 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 Rapid City

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Engineering Camp elsewhere in South Dakota

Sioux Falls, SDMetro area Aurora County, SDCounty Beadle County, SDCounty Bennett County, SDCounty Bon Homme County, SDCounty Brookings County, SDCounty Brown County, SDCounty Brule County, SDCounty

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