Day 1 activities:
Welcome and Orientation
The students arrived at the USU campus, checked in and then received a welcome and orientation session where multiple speakers talked about the activities the students will be engaged in during the week. Students enjoyed learning about what they will be doing during the week and they commented about what they learned in that session. Some of the comments included: "Today I learned a lot about pollution that is created with many different methods and how humans' everyday actions affect not only the air, but the water too." Another student wrote: "I learned about the effects of pollution, on our air, bodies of water and streams and ways to collect data about what is happening." And another student commented: "The presentations made me see and realize how much damage is in our planet."
Building a Submarine:
Groups of students assembled submersible ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) to use during the week to check water parameters such as temperature and turbidity (water clarity) as well as take underwater videos. Students enjoyed this activity a lot. Some of the comments students wrote in their daily journal about this activity included: "I would tell my friends about how we built a submarine and how cool it was." Another student wrote: "I learned that submarines can be built out of more than just metal, like PVC." And another student commented: "I learned that you can put wax around motors to make them water-proof!"
At the end of the day some of the students commented on the camp so far with one of them saying: "It gave me more of an interest in engineering" Another student said; "I would tell me friends it was really fun, talked to new people, got out of my comfort zone and got to build something with pipes." Another student wrote: "Before building the submarine, I thought that STEM was not very fun, but important, now I think it is fun and even more important." Another student said: "I would tell my friends to try out engineering camp, because the campus is beautiful and it's a ton of fun."
Canoeing and Paddle Boarding:
The students went to first dam park on the Logan river and spent a couple of hours canoeing and paddle boarding.
