Campers will spend the morning traveling to McWane Science Center in Birmingham, AL. There, students will experience a guided tour and four floors of various hands-on learning experiences to interact with. Upon leaving the Center, the campers will look up resources and interact with ACT preparation materials as they head to Evansville, Indiana. Students will arrive at the University of Evansville, where they will eat dinner and then head to the dorms to unpack for the evening. https://www.mcwane.org/
Day Two: Tour of the University of Evansville; Head to Green Tree Plastics
After spending the night in the dorms at the University of Evansville, the students will eat breakfast and tour the university campus. They will have an opportunity to participate in a thirty-minute STEM session before heading off to Green Tree Plastics. Campers will then travel to Green Tree Plastics, where they will see how the "Buddy Benches" are made. The campers will drop off the plastic lids they have been collecting throughout the year and pick up the benches to take back to Thomasville. Once the campers have collected their benches and toured the facility, they will load the vans and head to Mammoth Cave, located in Kentucky. Once the campers reach Mammoth Cave National Park, they will set up their campsites/cabins for the evening. That evening, campers will roast hot dogs and hamburgers and make s'mores.
Day Three: Mammoth Cave
Campers will take the morning to pack up their belongings and sleeping bags and explore the cave and vast caverns. During this time, campers will learn about the various ecosystems that make up Mammoth Cave. Additionally, they will see that this is the world's longest known cave system. It includes multiple subterranean basins which cover approximately 400 square miles. After grabbing some lunch nearby, the students will travel to Chattanooga, TN. Upon checking into the Creative Discovery Museum, where they will spend the night, the campers will have dinner and then complete several overnight STEM activity-based lessons. http://www.cdmfun.org/
Day Four: Traveling Back to Thomasville
After spending the night in the Museum, the campers will eat breakfast on-site and then begin packing up to head to Thomasville. Campers will communicate with parents and guardians via text message/phone about what time they will need to be picked up from the Thomas University parking lot. While traveling back to Thomasville, campers will start working on putting together their video documentary of the trip.
Day Five: Culminating Day
On the last day of camp, students will split into small groups and will spend the morning delivering the benches to the schools around Thomasville. During their delivery, the students will meet with school personnel and share their experiences from the week. When all students return to the Thomas University campus, they will complete their documentaries about what they experienced throughout the week. Additionally, the campers will finalize their thank you letters to their sponsors. At 3:00 p.m., community members, University faculty, and family members are invited to attend a presentation ceremony, where they campers will display their documentaries.
If you would like to donate bottle caps to our camp project, please mail them to: The Division of Education Bottle Caps to Benches Thomas University 1501 Millpond Rd. Thomasville, GA 31792
All caps need to adhere to the following guidelines:
As you travel July 8-12- “Bottle Caps to Benches” Adventure: Day one- Begin the trip with general information about the things you expect to see and do. Then introduce the videos by Tyler Willis about the creation of a documentary. Hello STEAMers! My name is Tyler Willis, and I am a former graduate of Thomas University. Currently, I am the Digital Media teacher at Liberty Tech Charter School in Brooks, GA. During my first year at the school, I implemented the use of digital cameras (DSLRs) along with tablets to allow my students the opportunity to tell stories and showcase their understanding of content through mixed media, rather than just simply with pen and paper. It was amazing to see their creations come to life over the course of the year, and it was awesome to watch their content get better and better!
Mrs. Penton reached out to me a few months ago and asked if I’d be interested in helping you all with your documentaries, and I instantly said yes! The items you will use to create your movies are some of the same pieces of equipment that my students at LTCS use every day, so I hope you find the tutorial video helpful to get a head start on setting up and using the various pieces of equipment. Also, I’ve provided two additional videos that will help you think through the process of creating a documentary of your experience.
Additionally, Mrs. Penton found some articles that we’d like for you to check out prior to your trip so that it gets your thoughts focused on what you’ll be experiencing soon!
Video Tutorials Getting to Know Your Equipment - https://youtu.be/bkFSlLzk5XY
Thought Process for Video Production - https://youtu.be/ckFPjKtWSDo
Leaving With a Challenge - https://youtu.be/oS3rMtVW9TU
Articles:
The Impact of Plastic Consumption https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/photos-plastic-pollution-caribbean-sea
How Students Become Agents of Change https://www.cbsnews.com/news/juliana-versus-united-states-climate-change-lawsuit-60-minutes-2019-06-23
President Carter Changing Power in Plains, GA https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/jimmy-carter-powers-half-of-town-with-solar-panels
I CANNOT wait to hear about your trip, and I’m excited to see what you all create! Go forth and become moviemakers!! Have a great time,
Tyler Willis -- Tyler Willis Computer and Technology Teacher, Liberty Tech Charter School