Lunes, Oktubre 8, 2012

Science Camp 2012- Green Science in Action! (Pre-Science Camp Activities)

The first research grant that I was able to implement was the Green Science Camp. It was a very memorable experience since the time of proposal writing until the evaluation day. My students learned a lot and I learned a lot too! :) The Science camp was spearheaded by student leaders from the Math-Sci club of Philippine Science High School- Southern Mindanao Campus, and I served as the adviser of the club. It has been a tradition of the school that a science camp will be conducted every year to allow students to appreciate Science more by allowing students to do interactive, and fun-filled activities. The students (354 of them) were divided into 7 groups. The first group included the Math-Sci club officers and members who served as the leaders in the implementation of the Science camp. The other six groups include the student-participants of the camp.

To make the Science Camp report more comprehensive, I will be writing three blog posts for this project. First, which will be the main content of this blog, the Pre-Science camp activities, second, the actual implementation of the Science camp and lastly, the evaluation of the activity.

Pre-Science Camp Activities

Conducting pre-science camp activities is very necessary. This will be away of leveling off with the key persons involved in the Science camp and will be a way of making instructions clear to the students involved. Last August 29, 2012 an orientation was given to the leaders and advisers of each subcamps. Among the things discussed during the orientation were the overview of the activity, the program, the tasks and challenges during the tasks, responsibilities of the subcamp leaders and advisers, camp rules and guidelines mechanics of the activities and an open forum was also done.

A week after, a school-wide Science Camp orientation was conducted to acquaint the student body of the rules and regulations of the camp.

The students were excited about the camp as the rules and activities were given to them. I and the officers of the Math-Sci club spearheaded the orientation program.


 Among the things discussed during the orientation are the following:

Science Camp 2012 Overview
The Math-Sci Club is honored to sponsor the Science Camp 2012 on September 20-21, 2012 with the theme “Green Science in Action.” The Math-Sci club chose the theme because of the increasing popularity of the green sciences in our society today especially in dealing with environmental issues, sustainability and climate change.

The Science Camp will be a two day overnight camp, which will be held in the PSHS-SMC to give students ample time to assimilate essential inputs and skills that they will acquire from the prepared activities.

This year’s science camp has the following objectives:
1.      A Green Science Seminar-Workshop shall have been conducted to allow students to have a hands-on, minds-on and interactive avenue where they can understand the foundations of the green sciences.
2.      Fun-filled, engaging and interactive activities shall have been participated in by students during the Think Green Challenge, Sci Musical, Kusina Master Search, and The Amazing Green Race.
3.      Instill in students a scientific mind, excellence, teamwork, friendship, creativity, camaraderie, cooperation, leadership, innovativeness and enthusiasm through their involvement in the various activities in the science camp.

The following innovations are proposed to be incorporated in the Science Camp for this year:
1.      Green Science Seminar Workshop will be conducted by the Math-Sci Club to enrich students’ appreciation of the role of the green sciences in building our nation. 
2.      Think Green Challenge will be done to break each sub-camp into groups and ask them to carry out various tasks and mini research projects (using the MyCOE platform) to enrich their appreciation and understanding of the projects that they make in relation to its impacts to various communities in the country. 
3.      Green Gallery will be a showcase of the students’ outputs from the Think Green Challenge. 
4.      Jazz up your Shirt Contest will be Math-Sci’s way of dealing with the students’ clamor to have a subcamp shirt, but in a fun, creative and inexpensive way. This will be done on September 7, 2012.  

Roles and Responsibilities of the People Involved

Math-Sci Adviser
1.       Shall oversee all the activities and concerns in the Science camp.
2.       Shall make sure that all the activities in the Science Camp are systematically done.
3.       Shall ensure that all preparations are made before the Science camp is conducted.
4.       Shall prepare the proposal for the Science camp and present it to the MANCOM.
5.       Shall coordinate with the subcamp advisers for concerns and questions.

Math-Sci President
1.       Shall serve as the student counterpart of the Math-Sci Adviser.
2.       Shall coordinate with all the Committee Heads regarding the preparations and flow of activities for the science camp.
3.       Shall coordinate with subcamp leaders regarding their preparations for the Science Camp
4.       Shall ensure that all materials and activities are prepared before the Science camp.

Subcamp Adviser
1.       The subcamp adviser shall supervise the preparations of each subcamp for all the activities in the Science camp.
2.       The advisers shall coordinate with the Sci camp Director regarding the preparations and the needed follow-ups for the activities of the subcamps in the Science camp.
3.       The subcamp advisers shall also sleep with their subcamps during the overnight activity.
4.       Shall serve as guide, consultant  and co-research adviser of the students in the writing, preparation and conduct of the research projects in the Think Green Challenge.

Subcamp Leader
1.       The subcamp leader shall lead in the planning, coordination and implementation of tasks given by the Math-Sci club to each subcamp.
2.       The subcamp leader shall ensure that all members of the subcamp are given enough tasks for them to participate in all the activities of the science camp.
3.       He/She shall coordinate with the Math-Sci President for other needed preparations and follow-ups for the respective subcamps.

The program of activities, guidelines per activities, and the camp guidelines were also discussed.  





To culminate the orientation program, students were asked to recite the Sci-camper's oath to give them the ownership of their actions and be responsible for whatever things that they do.


As a whole, the pre-sci camp orientation was a success and it served as an important part of the implementation of the Science camp. IF other sites from the US or abroad would like to replicate a similar activity like the Science camp, then I would highly recommend that a pre-camp orientation be done too!

I think, I will end with this for now, in my next blog post, I will be presenting how things went during the actual implementation of the two day Science camp. So, hang on! We'd love to hear your comments about this pre-science camp orientation, too! Just leave your comments in the comment box!

All the best,


Michael A. Casas :)