Regional Summer School of Excellence
Environmental Awareness: Research - Technology - Habitats

ABOUT MYEARTH

Unfortunately, due to a decrease in state funding, this program will be on hiatus until further notice.

Participants: Gifted and talented students in grades 5, 6, 7, and 8

The MyEARTH program provides Berks County gifted and talented students moving into grades 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 with the opportunity to explore environmental habitats at the Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center using current environmental technology (GPS, GIS, and electronic probes).

In previous years, students created bird feeders from recycled milk jugs, painted T-shirts, and created camp banners. They also took hundreds of digital photographs and filmed many movie clips to use in the PowerPoint presentations they presented to parents and camp staff at week’s end. See the link below to view the digital photos.

ACTIVITIES

Students who attend a MyEARTH session will:

use the process of scientific inquiry to solve problems by making observations and collecting data;

participate in hands-on activities;

work with state-of-the-art technology;

identify relationships among organisms;

explain the roles of components and organisms in a system;

identify variables causing change in the natural system;

identify and reflect on the local, regional, and global environmental conditions;

develop leadership skills;

think critically about their interactions and impact on the environment;

develop a multimedia project that incorporates photographs, sound, video, and animation;

highlight environmental findings;

express personal creativity; and

clearly and effectively communicate evidence, inferences, and information on reports by developing a Web site dedicated to their project.

Students will collect data and evidence on environmental conditions and use this data to make inferences about the relationships among environmental conditions, changes, and organisms. Students will report on their findings through the use of multimedia (photographs, audio, video, and animation).

2010 PROGRAM

View a video from the 2010 camp:

2009 PROGRAM

View a video from the 2009 camp:

Click here to view photos taken during the camp.