BY AMY BALTODANO
Hays Post
The Sternberg Museum of Natural History is getting ready for its second year of summer camps — and slots are filling up quickly.
One of the returning camps will be a two-week high school paleontology program offered from July 5 to 18.
According to Education and Outreach Director David Levering, the kids get a significant amount of hands-on experience.
“Last year, we had four students come out, and we dug out Mosasaur material — prehistoric non-dinosaur, marine reptile,” he said.
Last year, Sternberg had a fundraiser and came up with close to $10,000 to buy equipment and financial aid to pay for the camps.
“They were able to use hand tools and to basically learn the techniques of getting the fossils out of the ground to the museum,” Levering said.
This year, seven participants have already signed up. There will be students participating from all over the United States, including California, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Kansas.
“If you are interested in doing this and want to pursue this beyond just being a hobby or interest, you come here and we will show you how to do it the right way,” said Levering. “We will give you information that you will need to understand paleontology as a modern scientific discipline as opposed to something less than that.”
Levering said they are trying to have money available and to make it affordable for the students. During the program, students also will be camping in the field while being taught to cook and outdoor skills.
Safety issues also will be a topic of conversation. Students will be taught the importance of proper hydration to ensure they are able to function in the field and be a helpful, contributing member of a crew.
Another option for high school students will be the biology camp this summer that will focus on more modern wildlife and plant life.
A scaled-down version of paleontology camp will be offered to middle school students from July 19 to 25.
The goal is to teach students not just to know things but also to ask questions and think about them in a deeper sense.
There will also be six camps for elementary aged students. They are each one-day programs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Some of the programs include Fun with Fossils, Reptiles and Amphibians, Bird Biologists, Marvelous Mammals, Plants, Insects and Spiders, and Rocks and Minerals.
For the younger group, the camps take place at the museum. The kids are taken to the nature trails and are able look for different animals.
Last year, at the Mammal Camp, students set around 50 different traps and left them overnight.
“They found a lot of different critters, including deer mites,” said Levering. “We have work gloves for the kids to wear, so they were able to hold some of medium-sized rodents we caught.”
To register or for more information, visit the museum front desk or the museum website.
Levering hopes students appreciate the programs.
“For all the camps, regardless of the age group, I’m really hoping they’ll just take away appreciation not just for science but for wildlife and the outdoors and understanding that these things are not abstract concepts. These places really exist they can go and evolve themselves,” he said. “They can get out there and do stuff. Just because you don’t live in the wilderness does not mean you should not feel attached to it or you shouldn’t get out and explore it.”