Students unearth fun at Velocity camp

Area students are unearthing fun and a love of history and science through a Velocity Jr. summer camp.

Young archaeologists recently spent a week taking part in a “Dino Dig” camp that allowed them to study the history of the animals and take part in mock archaeological digs.

Teacher Landon Polley said the students are experiencing “Indiana Jones-type stuff” that is reinforcing their interest in sciences and how it applies to other content areas.

“These younger students are discovering science and saying ‘hey, this is fun,’ “ Polley said. “We can also use what we’re learning today in different subjects, like history.”

The five through nine year olds take part in all parts of a dig - from learning how to discover the dinosaur bones, how they are cleaned and how they are preserved.

The students are even charting their digs using math grids that break down the different areas of the dig.

While describing how she breaks the dig into different areas of a table graph, Wiley Elementary Olivia Lobb explained why she has enjoyed the camp.

“I love animals,” she said. “I also want to learn more about dinosaurs because I have a couple of books I really like about them.”

The camp was held this year at Velocity Jr., housed at Rose Kidd Elementary.

Velocity Jr. is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) partnership between UCS and the city of Sterling Heights designed to create and sustain a workforce capable of filling current and future high-tech job opportunities that will help Michigan’s economy grow.

For a listing of classes, please visit this link: http://www.ucscommunityeducation.com/Tim/summer15.pdf

The Dino Dig program was also partially funded through a $12,500 grant from the FCA Foundation, formerly The Chrysler Foundation.