Welcome to summer! Nerdtopia week gives participants a glimpse into our year. This is a time to ease into summer with a relaxed atmosphere. Attendees will have open options within our facility. One student favorite is our own Minecraft server where students are encouraged to program and build challenges or to just play in an inclusive environment with the whole group. We watch Sci-fi movies on our big screen TV, play board games, create physical build challenges with our many and various building materials, explore science with individual projects and group activities.

A once a year favorite for anyone interested in flight, space, engineering, or hands on technical construction. We build rockets! Learn the guiding principles of flight and rocketry. Make your own: air powered, water powered and two types of chemical powered rockets to launch and modify and launch again. Includes a minute by minute discussion of the movie Apollo 13 and the origins of the US National Space Program.

Put on your goggles and gloves. It's time to learn the science behind some of the foods we eat and the products we use. Learn basic laboratory and kitchen skills while formulating your own bath fizzies, lip balms, creative flavor hard candies, pickles, pretzels, and more.

These two things are not mutually exclusive. Learn to manipulate 3D CAD programs to create your vision in a computer workspace. Then see it come into reality as our 3D printer renders it layer by layer. Explore the history of origami & its modern uses in medical technology & space exploration.

This is Minecraft. (With a twist). Team members on this expedition will be landing on an abandoned world where they will be challenged to rebuild the civilization. Our private server will be set up as a heavily modded world. Team members will have to be just that, TEAM members. It takes a collaborative effort to overcome the challenges and make a functioning sustainable society. Many scientific concepts dealing with exploration and environmental sustainability will be utilized in this long term group project.

Calling all hands to action. At Scientastic we like to take a “hands on” approach to learning. This is a build it challenge week. Make a fully functional crossbow. Design and build your own hydraulically controlled robotic arm to battle with the others. Learn how to dissemble and scavenge parts to use to build your own motorized microbots. Warning: this week involves the use of soldering tools. You will be taught the basics of circuitry and the proper use of several tools.

Do you even game? This is all about game design. Lean the elements of gaming through game play and discussion. What makes a game interesting? What makes it playable challenging and fair? We will explore this interesting field with different games challenges, analysis and discussions. Then tackle an even bigger challenge: design and create your own game! Students will develop an appreciation of the elements of game design and the creativity involved in making something new.

This is a new take on our ever popular BattleBot week. Now, students will design and build their own arena in Rocket League fashion. Then construct their own R/C vehicle to compete and score goals verses their opponents. Figure out what works and what works better, then redesign and compete some more. It's all great fun and high paced.

Learn about technologies created by other cultures in different parts of the globe. Make an aboriginal bullroarer or a small scale trebuchet to launch marshmallows for distance and accuracy. Explore the history, sciences and discoveries that have shaped the course of history. Learn the art and science of Kumihimo, the ancient Japanese technique of making super strong and decorative braids used to construct armor.

A chance to prepare for the upcoming school year to begin. A sort of have it your way week. Do you want to work on your upcoming science fair project with expert guidance and an abundance of materials or just take some time to relax in a social environment. Utilize our facilities for research or watch a movie and play a game with friends. This is an open ended week where students chose their level of activity.