The Brashear Kids: Eco Camp in Review

Eco Camp kicked off our summer camp series at ALEC and was a big hit! This camp was for grades 1-4 and ran from June 15-25. The driving idea behind the lessons at Eco Camp was to learn about the Earth, how to take care of the Earth and healthy eating choices. A typical day at Eco Camp included free time, Food Science with Mr. John and an Eco Camp lesson.

Day 1: The first day of camp set the stage for Eco Camp. In Food Science, Mr. John began talking with the kids about what exactly is food and how food is filled with nutrients, vitamins, minerals, other digestive aids. He also talked about just how important water is to your body. The Eco camp lesson talked about Oikos, the ecosystem and how the Earth is our home.

Day 2: The second day of camp, the kids dove deeper into learning about nutrients during Food Science. They talked about the differences between fats, carbohydrates and proteins. During the Eco lesson it was all about energy and the different forms energy can take.

Day 3: The third day of camp, Mr. John talked to the kids about the differences between vitamins and minerals and how they are important to your body! In the Eco lesson, the kids learned about the water and carbon cycle, complete with a cool experiment involving vinegar and baking soda! We also had our friends from the Carnegie Public Library come and read books about water!

Day 4: The fourth day of camp was especially tasty. Food science was all about fruits and vegetables and the importance of eating foods that are different colors in the rainbow. The kids even had a chance to sample some different fruits and veggies! Yum! In the Eco lesson, the topic of the day was bees! The kids learned that bees are very important to flowers and with out bees we wouldn't have very many yummy fruits and veggies!

Day 5: The fifth day of camp, Mr. John talked to the kids about protein! The learned the difference between animal and plant protein and even talked about serving sizes. Today's Eco lesson talked about the importance of cutting down pollution, not littering and habitat destruction. The kids were sad to learn that so many animals homes were in danger! But the kids had an awesome way to help the earth by making seed bombs! They loved playing in the dirt!

Day 6: The sixth day of camp, food science was focused on going more in depth about what exactly are carbohydrates and they talked more about serving sizes. Reduce, reuse and recycle was the focus of the Eco lesson. The kids talked about ways to reuse, re-purpose and adapt different objects to help cut down on waste. As an example, they kids helped melt down old broken crayons in order to reuse them into making new crayons.

Day 7: The seventh day of camp, the kids learned about planning a meal! They talked about how its important to look at the nutrition facts, calorie sources, have a variety and follow the serving sizes. Mr. John also had them vote on a couple different foods and helped them plan their own meal! The Eco lessons today were jam packed! Our friends, Jean and Maggie, from Carnegie Public Library came and read us stories again! During the Eco lesson, the kids also went on a little walk to throw their seed bombs! Not only will the seed bombs help the bees, but it will help beautify the neighborhood!

Day 8: The eight and final day of camp was extra special. During food science, the kids have spent the last two weeks talking about healthy eating and on day seven, the kids planned out a meal and today they were able to make that meal happen! The kids helped make fruit salad, regular salad, baked beans and potatoes and were able to have a little picnic! It was delicious! The Eco lesson was spent reviewing what the kids had learned the last two weeks while coming up with different ways for the kids to reduce, reuse and recycle at home!