Middle school students from throughout the state of Wyoming along with parts of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Regions will have the opportunity to participate in the University of Wyoming's AstroCamp: Journey to the Stars.

According to the University, the camp goes from June 16 through June 25th where the hands on experience will be a great learning experience for all involved. The University's release goes onto say students will see the universe with professional telescopes, study astronomical images on computers, construct scientific spectrographs to identify chemical elements, build and launch model rockets, conduct soil tests, create solar ovens, and test their very own land with egg experiments.

“We hope they see college as part of their future and hope they are excited by STEM (science, technology, engineering and math),” says Chip Kobulnicky, a UW associate professor of physics & astronomy. “STEM fields offer exciting careers for students who can be turned on to science in junior high rather than turned off. These will be tomorrow’s leaders and problem solvers.”

The University says this is their 4th year of hosting the camp where with the partnership between UW's Department of Physics and Astronomy and Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium. The release states UW's camp is now one of 20 ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camps.

The release goes onto say the camp was originally founded in 1988 by Bernard Harris Jr. whose based in Texas with his own non-profit organization: The Harris Foundation. The release says the foundation is located in Houston.

The University states that a total of 48 students were selected for the camp out of a plethora of Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth graders who applied. UW graduate students majoring in astronomy or education will lead the activities along with High School teachers, Junior High teachers, and professional astronomers.

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