July 12 – July 23, 8:30 – 11:30 AM, Grades 5 though 8, cost $180 for one week, $325 for both weeks. Mr. Tormoehlen and Mr. Fischer have worked together to develop this camp over the last 10 years and most of our instructors have been teaching with us since the beginning. It is our most popular offering with well over 100 students attending in past years The camps primary focus is to teach students math problem solving skills. We focus on general problem solving techniques, but also teach specific lessons on material not often taught in a traditional classroom. This camp is also designed to help students wanting to improve in math competitions. The core curriculum comes from a variety of popular middle school math contests, with a primary focus on MATHCOUNTS and AMC 8. It is not designed for students needing to stay sharp over the summer, but rather for students that want to tackle problems that they normally do not see in traditional math classrooms. The camp has five sections for the different levels of students. This year, for the first time, we are introducing two new non-competition sections that will focus on general problem solving and be designed around fun, interactive problem solving activities. The goal will be to encourage a love of mathematical thinking and learn some problem solving skills and techniques along the way.
July 11 – July 22, 8:30 – 11:30 AM, Grades 5 through 8, Cost: $180 for one week, $325 for both weeks. Students will take the rolls of astronaut, mission scientist, spacecraft technician, medical officer, flight control leader, mission analyst, and more. After training for these positions, the team will conduct a simulated space flight in Sycamore’s Space Shuttle Simulator. While in the simulation, the astronauts will conduct science experiments and solve problems thrown at them by mission control personnel. Students will not only learn about the Space Shuttle, but they will also be challenged to solve real world problems, learn to work as a team, and learn valuable communication skills. Instructor: Jim McCarter