Enter the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center on Tuesday morning, and the tangy smell of sea life would probably hit your nostrils almost immediately.
Enter the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center on Tuesday morning, and the tangy smell of sea life would probably hit your nostrils almost immediately.
Walk a bit farther in, however, and the culprit became obvious.
Inside a classroom at the center, more than a dozen deceased squid lay lifeless in metal dissection pans, subject to relentless pokes and prods from keiki.
“It smells gross, but I think it’s cool,” 7-year-old Sky Bardwell-Jones said as she pulled apart with tweezers her squid’s ink sac, an organ that stores a substance to deter predators. “(A squid) has different parts than a human, and it’s interesting.”
Welcome to Science is Everywhere, a first-year science, technology, engineering and math camp put on through a partnership between ‘Imiloa, the Mokupapapa Discovery Center and the Hawaii Science and Technology Museum.
About 60 second- through sixth-grade students are enrolled in the five-day spring break camp that concludes Friday. Most state Department of Education schools are closed this week.
The camp aims to expose students to a range of STEM subjects — marine science, entomology, engineering and botany, to name a few. Employees from all three organizations are leading a slew of hands-on activities for the attendees which, in addition to squid dissection, include kaleidoscope making, robotics and crime-scene fingerprinting.
Camp participants hail from schools throughout East Hawaii, said Roxanne Ching, ‘Imiloa’s guest services operations manager. ‘Imiloa has hosted camps in past years, but this marks the center’s first year partnering with the two other STEM organizations.
“There’s a lot of demand for this type of activity during break,” Ching said. “Not everyone gets to go on vacation or take a trip everywhere. Parents are always looking for an activity during this intersession.”
The Hawaii Science and Technology Museum, a Hilo-based nonprofit founded in 2015, hosted a similar STEM camp in October during the DOE’s fall break.
The museum aims to further STEM education on the island, said camp organizer Christian Wong, particularly by exposing them to careers and opportunities in STEM. It currently operates as a mobile museum and hosts exhibits and activities throughout town.
The museum also is starting up a robotics team, Wong added, and is planning a second fall break camp later this year.
“It’s really to give our kids options,” Wong said. “I feel that, in many cases, a lot of our brightest kids are forced to relocate, and it would be nice for kids to (get exposed) to future (STEM) occupations they can do here and make a difference in the world and community, but not necessarily having to move away from Hawaii to do it.”
Camp participant Jake Tokuuke, 9, said he already is interested in local STEM jobs. He said math and science are among his favorite topics to learn in school. On Tuesday, he sifted through robotics bits and pieces with fellow campers as part of an activity led by Keaau Middle School’s robotics team.
“Building (robots) is probably my favorite (activity) because I can change it if it’s not working and make it look better,” Jake said. “Science is pretty much my favorite subject. It’s a lot of fun.”
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.