Animal Camp
Animals, animals, animals—on the farm and in the wild!
Visit a farm and study the behavior of chickens, goats, and llamas and then head to a stable for a bit of horse behavior. Explore Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge and observe birds in their natural habitat as they raise their young. Travel to the Oregon Zoo to check out over 2,000 animals from around the world.
On the first day of class, you will learn how ethologists (animal behavior scientists) collect and analyze their data. The next three days, we will be out discovering how animals interact and behave, collecting and organizing data. On the last day you will present your findings.
Class #12111 (entering grades 6–9): M–F, July 16–20; 9 AM–4 PM at Portland State University.
Animation Academy
Create your own short animated movie using Adobe Flash®, the software used worldwide to make award-winning animated films.
Get the “tricks of the trade” from a professional animator and learn techniques to develop your ideas.
Apply the principles of animation such as staging, arcs, squash & stretch, anticipation, and overlapping action, to make your characters’ movements more lifelike and believable. Create your soundtrack and/or dialogue using GarageBand and add synchronized sound effects to your movie. Your finished movie will be ready for entry in film competitions. Students will be mailed a copy of their movie.
Class #11993 (entering grades 7–12): M–F, August 6–10; 9 AM–3 PM at Portland State University.
Class #11992 (entering grades 7–12): Four meetings, Monday–Thursday, July 23–26; 9 AM–3:30 PM at Sunset High School.
Class #11991 (entering grades 7–12): M–F, July 9–13; 9 AM–3 PM at Reed College.
Architecture: Process and Design
Let your imagination fly in this hands-on architectural workshop.
Experience the process of designing spaces and buildings through teamwork, brainstorming, drawing, and building models. You will work on both individual and team projects developing bubble diagrams, floor plans, elevations, and models. Look at buildings and outdoor spaces through the eyes of an architect as we tour downtown Portland. Learn design concepts and theories. At the end of the week you will have portfolio quality materials.
Class #11984 (entering grades 9–12): M–F, August 6–10; 9 AM–3 PM at Portland State University.
Club Med: Medical Careers
Spend a week at Oregon Health & Science University exploring medical careers.
In simulation labs, you will conduct physical exams, give injections, practice suturing, intubate a "patient," and participate in a research lab.
During a session on high tech imaging you will learn the skills used to read an MRI image and CT scans. The week will include presentations and hands-on workshops taught by medical professionals, scientists, and community experts. Throughout the week you will explore jobs that provide direct health care services such as primary care, nursing, radiology, pediatric medicine, and biomedical research
Class #11986 (entering grades 11–12): M–F, August 6–10; 9 AM–3:30 PM at OHSU Center for Health & Healing.
Class #11985 (entering grades 9–10): M–F, July 9–13; 9 AM–3:30 PM at OHSU Center for Health & Healing.
Engineering Academy
This action-packed week includes working with engineers, research scientists, and community experts to investigate engineering through hands-on testing, workshops, design laboratories, and field trips.
Through experiential workshops, explore traditional engineering disciplines, such as chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, and industrial engineering, and emerging interdisciplinary fields such as nanotechnology and biotechnology. Visit a biotechnology lab at OHSU, learn about using sustainable engineering, and investigate the teeny, tiny world of nanotechnology.
Class #11989 (entering grades 9–12): M–F, June 25–29; 9 AM–3 PM at University of Portland.
Engineering Camp
Spend a week exploring the many careers available in the field of engineering.
Visit biotechnology labs at OHSU, tour the nuclear reactor facility at Reed College and explore CAD (computer aided design).
Design and build a bridge model, testing for strength and stability. Learn about sustainable engineering, and gain an understanding of nanotechnology and nanoscience.
Through hands-on workshops, explore civil, chemical, mechanical, industrial, electrical and nuclear engineering. This action-packed week will include working with engineers, scientists, and community experts to explore engineering through presentations, hands-on testing, workshops, design laboratories, and field trips to see engineering in the real world.
Class #11935 (entering grades 6–8): M–F, July 16–20; 9 AM–4 PM at Portland State University.
Engineering Careers: Electrical, Mechanical & Computer
Experience some of the many exciting projects that engineers work on as you explore the fields of electrical, mechanical, and computer engineering.
Design, code, and debug computer programs, create computer games, design and simulate basic digital and analog electrical circuits, build and program lego robots, and custom build a computer from the motherboard up. Learn to think through and solve problems using professional methods and communication tools, just as engineers do in the workplace.
Class #12042 (entering grades 9–12): M–F, July 9–13; 9 AM–4 PM at Tualatin High School.
Eye of Horus: Egyptology Ed-ventures
Join Thoth, the God of Knowledge in an educational adventure through the ancient cultureof Egypt.
In Egyptian myth, the Eye of Horus was not a passive organ of sight but more an agent of action, protection, or wrath and represented a fractional measurement system that is linked to separate parts of the eye.
Did this lead to the mathematics used in the architecture and engineering of pyramids? Explore the scientific mysteries of the Middle Kingdom.Could viruses survive mummification?How does the chaos theory relate to Egyptian mythology? Using hieroglyphs and Egyptian art forms, you will create your own architectural designs, glass amulets, magical staffs, animal headdresses, and even learn how to make paper for scrolls. If you liked Rick Riordon’s Red Pyramid, come find out more about Egyptology.
Class #12073 (entering grades 4–8): M–F, August 6–10; 8:30 AM–4:30 PM at University of Portland.
Geological Excursions
Learn to read the secrets of the rocks.
We live in one of the most geologically dynamic locations in the world. In an action-packed week of field trips, explore the rocks formed by massive volcanic flood basalts that covered the Pacific Northwest when tectonic shifts ripped the earth open.
Learn how Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens and the volcanoes of the Cascade Range formed, why they erupted, and when they might erupt again. See the rocks left behind from the Missoula Floods that were big enough to cover Portland with 400 feet of water. Investigate nearby fault zones, volcanic vents, and visit the Rice Mineral Museum. From explosions, to earthquakes, to floods, put on your hiking boots and see your region as you never have before.
Class #12186 (entering grades 7–10): M–F, July 16–20; 9 AM–4 PM at Portland State University.
Marine Campout: San Juan Island Adventure
Experience the awesome beauty of the San Juan Islands!
Travel by ferry into the Puget Sound and straight into some of the most incredible, awe-inspiring scenery in the United States!
Spend an entire week exploring the islands’ unique natural history and rich biodiversity as you search for life forms large and small. Keep a lookout for the pods of Orca Whales that hunt for salmon in the Salish Sea, seek out the elusive river otters that have adapted to a marine life, and bird watch to your heart's content, keeping an ever-vigilant eye for the Bald Eagles that inhabit the islands.
During this action-packed week, you’ll learn how to sea kayak as you explore tidal areas in these unique watercraft.
You’ll visit the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor and head out to sea on a whale-watching cruise to learn even more about these fascinating marine mammals. Hike the beautiful forests of Orcas Island and swim in its pristine mountain lakes. Spend three nights in the lush forests of Moran State Park on Orcas Island and spend the next two or three nights at a campsite overlooking the Sound in San Juan Island County Park—the only camp in the lower 48 states where you can see whales without even having to get out of your tent.
This class is co-offered with the Audubon Society of Portland. Tuition assistance is not available for this class. No cancellations or transfers less than 21 days before the first day of class.
Class #11814 (entering grades 9–12): Seven days, Sunday–Saturday, August 5–11; 7:30 AM (Sunday)–5 PM (Saturday) at Audubon Society of Portland.
Class #11812 (entering grades 6–8): Six days, Sunday–Friday, July 15–20; 7:30 AM (Sunday)–5 PM (Friday) at Audubon Society of Portland.
Class #11813 (entering grades 6–8): Six days, Sunday–Friday, July 22–27; 7:30 AM (Sunday)–5 PM (Friday) at Audubon Society of Portland.
Medical Camp
Explore the many careers available in the field of medicine. Learn what it’s like to be a physician, nurse, imaging professional, radiologist, emergency medical technician, medical researcher, or a professional working in sports medicine.
This action-packed week will include presentations and hands-on workshops with medical professionals, scientists, and community experts. Workshops include learning how to take vital signs, suturing, conducting physical exams, and participating in an anatomy lab.
Class #11999 (entering grades 7–8): M–F, June 25–29; 9 AM–3 PM at OHSU Center for Health & Healing.
Ocean Technology
Our oceans are under increasing threat from human and climate stress.
Experience how oceanographers investigate these changes and communicate them to the scientific community and public at large.
Work with professional research scientists and explore the inner workings of one of the world’s leading ocean observatories: SATURN (www.stccmop.org/saturn). SATURN is deployed for the study and management of the mighty Columbia River. Learn how oceanographers collect data, run computer models, and transform this data into meaningful knowledge for science and society. Activities include practicing computer modeling and deciding where to guide a glider torpedo to take water samples.
This class is co-offered through the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction (CMOP) located at OHSU’s Department of Science & Engineering.
Class #12153 (entering grades 7–10): M–F, July 2–6 (no class July 4); 9 AM–3 PM (except Tuesday: 8 AM–5 PM) at OHSU Department of Science & Engineering (Beaverton).
Oceanography
Experience first hand, in the lab and on the sea, the latest in ocean science research and technology.
Join research scientists for a day on the Columbia River estuary to investigate the impact of chemical changes in the ocean environment.
Learn scientific sampling and filtering procedures as you collect water samples, both aboard a scientific research vessel and on shore. In the lab, perform chemical analysis of the samples and extract DNA and RNA to identify the microorganisms present. Then assess levels of chlorophyll, phytoplankton, and nutrients in the water.
Discover how mercury in our environment enters the aquatic food chain and poses a health risk to those who consume fish.
Learn about the ocean observing platforms within the Columbia Estuary, what data is collected, and how the data may be used by researchers. Study the fundamentals of computer modeling and examine visualizations of the data.
This class is co-offered through the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction (CMOP) located at OHSU’s OGI School of Science and Engineering.
Class #11876 (entering grades 8–10): M–F, August 13–17; 9 AM–3 PM (except August 14: 8 AM–5 PM) at OHSU Department of Science & Engineering (Beaverton).
Social Justice Academy
Mahatma Gandhi advised, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
You can learn how at the Social Justice Academy.
Habitat for Humanity, micro-financing organizations like Kiva, and Doctors Without Borders are examples of communities participating in social action in response to injustice. Social justice encompasses economic, political, environmental, and human rights issues through avenues such as civil discourse, policy making, civil disobedience, arts, and entrepreneurship.
During the week you will explore the factors that contribute to injustice issues on both a local and global scale. Be the change as you select a problem you feel passionate about and design potential solutions. Practice your skills in public speaking and debate, explore how art activism (artivism) can inform and persuade the public, and discover the power of participation in affecting change.
Class #12202 (entering grades 9–12): M–F, July 16–20; 9 AM–4 PM at University of Portland.
STEM Academy: Science & Engineering in the Modern World
Explore modern applications in science and engineering with hands-on experinments and activities.
Sample and experience science, inside the lab and in the field, as we ask questions and conduct experiments.
Explore the principals of biotechnology and gain an understanding of its uses in medicine, marine biology, food science, and more. Examine chemical properties in the lab and find out about nanotechnology. Solve engineering challenges and learn about sustainability, alternative energy, and lessening your carbon footprint. You are the scientist as you perform tests and experiments, record your results, and draw conclusions.
Class #12104 (entering grades 6–8): M–F, July 16–20; 9 AM–4 PM at Concordia University.
Super Science Adventures
Explore biology, chemistry, paleontology, physics, and earth science in a week of experiments, investigations, games, and activities.
Investigate the chemistry behind your favorite super hero’s extraordinary powers and then concoct your own special powers. Be Albert Einstein for a day as you delve into the mysteries of physics. Search for fossils on “Safari Day” and discover how paleontologists combine archeology and geology when reconstructing the history of earth. Explore the systems of the human body and the organs that compose it.
Class #12079 (entering grades 2–3): Four meetings, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, July 2–6 (no class July 4); 9 AM–3 PM at Portland State University.
Super Science Camp
Share in the excitement of scientific discovery as you conduct investigations and experiments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Learn the science behind chemical reactions and explore food science. Solve engineering challenges and learn about sustainability, alternative energy, and lessening your carbon footprint. Collect water and soil samples and learn about living things from bacteria to whole ecosystems. Investigate marine biology and animal anatomy. Examine chemical properties in the lab as we concoct solutions and perform scientific tests. Be prepared to think, act, and breathe like a real scientist!
Class #12103 (entering grades 4–5): M–F, July 23–27; 9 AM–4 PM at Concordia University.
TAG Challenge Camp: Our Place in the Universe
TAG Challenge Camp returns in 2012 with a new theme and a host of new classes. This year we are going big (and very tiny) as we explore our place in the universe.
Universal themes will be integrated into all areas of curriculum, allowing students to investigate our world through different perspectives.
We’ll examine the origins of life, peer into outer space, navigate the solar system, delve into the past and predict the future. Collaborative thinking will be emphasized in a multi-disciplinary approach to challenge students on a variety of levels.
Students choose three courses from a variety of offerings in the academic areas of math, science and engineering, and language and creative arts.
TAG Camp classes are designed to provide the academic challenges that TAG students need in order to thrive.
Advanced subject matter taught by experts will promote in-depth exploration, active inquiry, and hands-on participation by students.
In addition to academically rigorous classes, a variety of challenging games and activities will be offered, creating opportunities for peer interaction and an enhanced learning experience.
Special registration form required. Click on the link in the left hand navigation bar for more information.
Class #11924 (entering grades 6–8): M–F, July 30–August 3; 8:30 AM–4:45 PM at University of Portland.
Class #11923 (entering grades 4–5): M–F, June 18–22; 8:30 AM–4:45 PM at Reed College.
Veterinary Medicine
Experience veterinary medicine during three days at VCA Northwest Veterinary Specialists, a 24-hour specialty and emergency veterinary hospital.
Spend your time rotating between different veterinary specialties, including internal medicine, surgery (soft tissue and orthopedics), ophthalmology, oncology, neurology, diagnostic imaging (radiology, ultrasound, CT, and MRI), and emergency care. Learn first-hand how veterinarians diagnose and treat a variety of difficult and complicated medical disorders associated with dogs and cats. Work closely with veterinary technicians and learn about future employment opportunities in the veterinary field.
Class #12015 (entering grades 9–12): Three meetings, Wednesday–Friday, July 18–20; 9 AM–3:30 PM at VCA Northwest Veterinary Specialists.