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2021 Summer Programs for Middle School Students
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Expert teachers, small groups (8 or less), hands-on, and in person! 
Keep learning and interacting with teachers and peers.
We are offering two, 4-week in-person summer sessions. Each session consists of 4 weeks of our award-winning STEM camps. Each week is a different theme or focus. Each day consists of a fun, well-rounded day of activities including:​
  • A focused STEM area to explore weekly.
  • Daily outdoor time in the form of nature hikes on nearby walking trails.
  • Daily enrichment in literature (new for this year!) 

Camp times (Monday - Friday)
  • Regular camp day is from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm 
  • Before Care available from 8 - 8:30 am for Morning Explorers ($40 per week)
  • After care available from 3:30 - 6:00 pm ($140 per week)​

Method and Location: In person at 12340 Pinecrest Road, #100, Reston, Virginia 20191

Dates
  • Session 1: June 14 - July 9 (4 weeks)
  • Break: July 12 - 16 (No camps)
  • Session 2: July 19 - August 13 (4 weeks)​

Cost: $2000 per session

Maximum Group Size: There is one group with a maximum of 8 students to allow for appropriate physical distancing.

Registration: 

Sample Schedule
​Each day consists of two science or engineering labs, a book club, a STEM or computing lab, and outdoor "green" time. Outdoor time will consist of hikes along local nature trails.

Descriptions

Session 1 Description (4 weeks; June 14 - July 9) - 2 spots remain
  • Engineering: Rocket Cars
  • Battlebots: Combat Robotics
  • Experimental Ecology: Insects
  • Prototyping Lab: Bio-Inspired Robots
Ignite your summer with a 4-week, fun-filled, hands-on science and engineering experience in the labs of Ideaventions. Starting with week 1, Rocket Cars (yes, you read that right!)- design your own rocket-powered model car as you explore concepts in design, aerodynamics, and chemical reactions. Build your skills with tools in our workshop as you move from your design to building, your dream car. End the week with a blast by putting on your safety goggles and testing your rocket car on our specially-designed outdoor test track. In week 2’s Battlebots: Combat Robotics, your life won't be the same once you've built and battled robots! Learn how to build a combat robot from scratch, then battle it in our custom arena. In our workshop, you will build Ant Weight Class (1 lb) robots to battle. Come up with your strategy, design it, and then build it. Will you design a bot with a weapon, or will you choose to make a more defensive-minded "wedge" bot? In Week 3’s Experimental Ecology: Insects spend time outdoors and in the lab while designing and conducting your very own experiments. Expand your knowledge of ecology, learn how to design an experimental chamber, collect and analyze data, and complete studies to gain insights into their fascinating insect world. In the session’s final week, Prototyping Lab: Bio-Inspired Robots we explore the fundamentals and applications of biologically-inspired robots by engineering a gait-mimicking robot.  Design and construct a robot that mimics the movement of an animal. As you work, you’ll be exposed to topics in robotics and advanced manufacturing tools and processes such as computer-aided design and 3D printing.

Additionally, we will have a daily book club. The books we will read are: The Girl Who Drank the Moon, The Last Mission, Call it Courage, and Hidden Figures.

Session 2 Description (4 weeks; July 19 - Aug 13) -  FULL
  • Spiker Box Lab: Neuroscience Experiments
  • Drone Boat Lab
  • Engineering Survival
  • CSI - Mystery Solvers​
Join us for a fun, lab-based adventure in science and engineering. In the first week, Spiker Box Lab: Neuroscience Experiments get hands-on with the electrical signals, called action potentials, that control how we feel, move, and remember. Connect the dots between biology and physics, see how neurons can act as electrical circuits, measure real action potentials using SpikerBoxes, and design your own experiments in this neuroscience experience. Week 2’s Drone Boat Lab dives into a watery world where we take on the challenge of building small-scale drone boats. In the workshop, learn the science of boat design, then build a remote-controlled boat to complete various water-based missions. We will hike to a nearby lake to test our creations and let the drone boats cruise around. In our third week, Engineering Survival, learn about the natural world and what it takes to survive in the wilderness.  Through outdoor hikes and labs, grow your naturalist skills such as identifying plants and tracking animals, as well as survival skills such as starting and building a fire, engineering a survival shelter, and discover new ways to use the resources around you to help you survive. In week 4, CSI - Mystery Solvers learn forensic science and analyze a simulated crime scene. Process evidence in a series of experiments to analyze our scene, test techniques to capture latent fingerprints, and practice identifying unknown substances using chromatography and chemical reactivity. Then, using genetic fingerprinting and restriction enzymes, fragment a real piece of sample DNA, and run your own gel electrophoresis. Using these analytical techniques, we’ll be able to confirm or reject our suspect and solve the mystery.

For our book club session, we will read Enchantress from the Stars, A Wizard of Earthsea, Hatchet, and Gone Away Lake.

FAQs ​

Can’t I just sign up for 1-week?  No, unfortunately, to reduce risk, we are holding extended sessions so the same students come each week, teachers and students undergo a pre-camp health screen, and we avoid introducing new students each week. We want to be able to offer in-person programs and we feel this could help minimize risk to students and teachers.

What happens if my child gets sick and can't attend for 2 weeks? If your child gets sick and is not able to attend camp for an extended period of time (more than 1 week), please provide a doctor's note, and we will refund the prorated amount based on the time attended.

​What happens if my child needs to be quarantined for 2 weeks? If your child needs to quarantine and is not able to attend camp for an extended period of time (more than 1 week), please provide a doctor's note, and we will refund the prorated amount based on the time attended/missed. Due to the very hands-on nature of the program, we won't be able to have a concurrent virtual access to camp.

Withdrawals and Refunds:
If you need to withdraw from a course, please send an email to info@ideaventions.com requesting the withdrawal. We will not process withdrawals from voicemails. Refunds minus the $100 non-refundable fee  can be processed prior to June 1.  After June 1, refunds minus the $100 non-refundable fee can be processed if we are able to fill the spot in the course. We appreciate your understanding, as this is a small program, and we make commitments to our faculty for their summer. ​​