Activities:

Sensing Our World '02 moved this year to the brand new MSU Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building with great facilities for the camp. This year's campers experienced a wide variety of engaging hands-on/minds-on activities to explore the world of Physical Science.

Building and testing motors, experimenting with density, "experiencing" air pressure, dissecting and building speakers, constructing laser-fences, doing light-wave communication, and "cool science" experiments were on the week's schedule.

A day was dedicated to chemistry experiments determining acidity and alkalinity of substances and experimenting with polymers. Campers also learned about scientific glass blowing where some even got to "blow" glass a nd shape glass tubing over high intensity flame. Demonstrations in the Laser Laboratory impressed students with the possibility of materials study with lasers.

In the Engineering Microscopy Lab, students were able to "see" material with scanning electron microscopes. They learned about fiber optics and triboluminescence through experiments with optical fibers. Campers experimented with the effects of cryogenic temperature on materials and the magnetic properties of metals.

To cap off the full week, students shared their discoveries and experiences of Sensing Our World with families and guests during the Friday afternoon Demonstrations and Awards Program.