NIU’s Outdoor Hands-on Classroom
By Debbie Kerman, NIU STEAM Assistant Director
At NIU STEAM, we love to engage our campers using the outdoors as a hands-on classroom! This July, we’ll be taking our middle-school campers out to NIU’s Lorado Taft Field Campus near Oregon, IL, for camps centered on drones, the science of food and role-playing games.
To start with, here’s a little history of the Lorado Taft Campus.
NIU has been providing residential outdoor education experiences at Lorado Taft since 1954. The field campus is located near Oregon, IL, on the bluffs of the Rock River and on more than 140 acres of forested land. In addition to the many woods and trails, our campers enjoy the large gulley crossing campus, fields, rock outcrops, flowers, wildlife, and – of course – the beautiful view of the Rock River. Campers at Lorado Taft stay in climate-controlled dormitories with bathroom and private shower facilities in the buildings. More information about the facilities can be found at: https://www.niu.edu/taft/facilities/index.shtml.
What about the food?
If you’re wondering about the food, our Lorado Taft campus is well-known for delicious, home-cooked food served family style. Our cinnamon rolls are famous! The dining hall is peanut/tree nut free and – with advance notice – the staff at Lorado Taft can accommodate most special dietary needs.
Tell us about Drone Camp!
Campers who choose our Exploring Drones session will become experts as they practice their drone flying skills and drone terminology, as as they engage in a game of drone Simon Says. They’ll also investigate the difference between passive programming (which involves coding your drone to carry out a set of predetermined actions, without any interaction from the environment) and active programming (in which your drone is coded to observe its environment and perform actions based on its observations). Finally, campers will learn to take video with their drones and then use some basic editing software to create a short movie, documentary or other media of their choosing.
What about Role Playing Game Camp?
Campers in the Role Playing Game camp will use their creativity and imagination to overcome challenges and create interesting stories. They’ll imagine, design and 3D print their own character mini and then design a dice box to store and transport their dice and character. Throughout the week, campers will practice storytelling and improvisation while engaging in quests with fellow campers.
What’s The Science of Food all about?
At NIU STEAM’s Science of Food camp, campers will conduct lab investigations to learn about the science behind the foods we eat. For example, what causes something like “enzymatic browning,” a process that occurs on foods like an apple, once it’s been cut open? How does this browning process impact some foods, and are there ways to prevent it? Campers will also investigate how much added sugar they’re consuming in the sugary drinks and how those add extra calories while offering no nutrients or fiber. They will even get an opportunity to make their own fresh fruit drink!
Camp registration is open now!
If you have a student entering grades 6-9, register today for one of these interactive camps on the beautiful campus of Lorado Taft. We’ll participate in night hikes and tell stories around the campfire. We’ll also take advantage of the super dark skies for stargazing. Campers will be amazed at the difference in the skies as we head out just west of DeKalb. NIU STEAM will provide transportation to Lorado Taft, from the DeKalb campus and will return campers to DeKalb on Friday for family presentations and pick up.
To learn more about these and other NIU STEAM camps, visit niusteamcamps.com.
