San Diego--This summer the Fleet Science Center turns curious kids into happy campers with science-themed summer camps! The Fleet's science summer camps provide exciting experiments, intriguing investigations and fantastic fun for kids from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade.

Weekly full and half-day science camps begin Monday, June 19, and continue through Friday, August 18. The camps feature different science themes, are divided up by grade level and include fun, educational, hands-on activities at the Fleet Science Center.

"Our Summer Science Camps offer something for all ages," said Valerie MacPhee, Education Manager at the Fleet Science Center. "Each week is a different topic and it creates an environment where kids can learn something new about science all summer long."

Examples of science camp curriculum include Magic for Muggles, where kids in grades 3-4 will investigate the science behind potions, magical creatures and more; Young Tinkerers camp, where students disassemble and tinker with household objects such as toasters and computers to see how they work; and eCamp, in which campers work with computers, iPads and apps to hone their technology skills and build a PicoCricket robot.

Girls in grades 5-8 can enjoy Women Scientists in Action. Each day they'll explore a new field of science, interact with local women scientists, participate in incredible hands-on experiments and investigate their own future careers in science. There is also Mindstorm Robotics for boys and girls, in which kids will work in teams using LEGO Mindstorms to construct and program robots to perform complex tasks. The camp will also feature exciting programming challenges throughout the week.

For grades 1-2 there is Superhero Science for a "behind-the-mask" look at how friction, magnetism and gravity play a role in super-human feats, and Super Solar System, that unlocks the secrets of our closest celestial neighbors.

Also available for grades 3-8, the Fleet partners with ThoughtSTEM to host weeklong half-day and full-day Computer Science Camps. Future programmers in grades 3-5 can explore Adventures in Minecraft Modding & Game Design to learn how to re-program Minecraft creatures and entire worlds. There is also Video Game Academy where campers will create their own 2D video games using Stencyl, a tool that makes game design and development easy and fun.

Computer whizzes in grades 6-8 can learn how to program awesome websites in HTML, CSS and Javascript: Mastering the Web; blend art with code in Java Programming: Get Creative with Code; and explore electronics and conductivity in Electrical Engineering with Arduino.

These are just a few of the many camp options available to kids at the Fleet throughout the summer.  

Summer Science Camps extend the Fleet's mission of bringing science education to students of all ages in ways that are fun, engaging and accessible. Through participating in summer camps, students' minds stay active and learning during the school break through activities that are enlightening and enjoyable.

Half-day camps are offered each week, with morning or afternoon options. Morning camps run from 9 a.m. to noon and afternoon camps are 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Prices for the week-long camps are $155 for nonmembers and $140 for Fleet members. The Fleet can also coordinate midday trade-offs to other institutions participating in the Balboa Park Collaborative Exchange. Full-day campers at the Fleet will have a supervised lunch and recess hour before continuing the afternoon camp.

The Fleet also offers full-day Science Camps on selected weeks to accommodate the serious science enthusiasts. Camps run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Weekly rates are $285 for nonmembers and $255 for Fleet members.

Last, the weeklong half-day ThoughtSTEM Computer Science Camps run select weeks from June 26 to August 4. Weekly rates are $210 for nonmembers and $195 for Fleet members.

More information and a full list of Summer Science Camp activities can be found on the Fleet website here:

http://www.fleetscience.org/events/summer-camps

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The Fleet is available to showcase demonstrations of Summer Science Camp activities for media previews either here at the Fleet or in your studio. Fleet educators and demonstrators can be available to relate the science ideas behind each demonstration, and we can even bring the kids.

To schedule a media preview of Fleet Summer Science Camps, please contact Fleet Science Center Public Relations Manager Nathan Young at 619-685-5743 or nyoung@rhfleet.org.