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Ellis Abel Learns.

Engineering Summer Camp in Salem, OR

Parents in Salem, OR book summer in February and regret it in July. The Salem, OR metro area has about 445,814 residents, ranking 122nd 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 · Oregon · West

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

Salem, OR — what applies locally

  • The Salem, OR metro area has about 445,814 residents, ranking 122nd in the country.
  • Metro area: Salem, OR
  • State: Oregon · Region: West

Questions we get from Salem, 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 Salem

Engineering Camp elsewhere in Oregon

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