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Ellis Abel Learns.

Engineering Summer Camp in San Jose, CA

The San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA metro area has about 1,984,473 residents, ranking 36th in the country. Engineering Summer Camp works the same way here as anywhere: give a child a problem too hard to guess at, then refuse to hand them the answer.

Ages 7-14 · For families · California · West

Engineering Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in San Jose, CA
Engineering Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in San Jose, CA

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

San Jose, CA — what applies locally

  • The San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA metro area has about 1,984,473 residents, ranking 36th in the country.
  • Metro area: San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA
  • State: California · Region: West

Questions we get from San Jose, CA

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 San Jose

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Engineering Camp elsewhere in California

Los Angeles, CAMetro areaRiverside, CAMetro areaSan Francisco, CAMetro areaSan Diego, CAMetro areaSacramento, CAMetro areaFresno, CAMetro areaBakersfield, CAMetro areaOxnard, CAMetro area

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