Summer Camp at Computer Museum of America
Full STEAM Ahead camp in Roswell offers hands-on science learning.
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Computer Museum of America in Roswell houses what is touted as one of the world’s largest, most comprehensive collections of artifacts from the digital revolution. This year, it is offering a summer camp opportunity focused on science, technology, engineering, art and math, otherwise known as STEAM education.
Elementary and middle grade students can participate in a varied and stimulating science curriculum at CMoA’s Full STEAM Ahead! summer camps. The activities include hands-on learning, starting with Monday’s Science focus, and then Technology Tuesday challenges students to diagnose and repair a malfunctioning part on the Space Shuttle CMoA.
As lead mechanics, campers simulate and test their repairs before the next launch, developing digital and tactical tools, determining repair plans and presenting solutions. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday focus on engineering, arts and mathematics to complete the week’s STEAM activities. They are full of hands-on and enriching experiments, labs, projects and activities to elevate curiosity and understanding of STEAM concepts in everyday life and future careers.
CMoA executive director Rena Youngblood said what makes the STEAM camp different from others “is that campers will have access to select museum artifacts, including pieces not available to the public at this time, as they gain an understanding of where we are today, how we got here, and the possibilities for tomorrow. Studies show that more than half of professionals currently working in STEM-related careers became seriously interested in this area before high school,” she said.
“Campers participating in Full STEAM Ahead! will have the opportunity to explore many of these areas. They may arrive thinking they want to know more about engineering, but leave with a new interest in design.”
Campers bring their lunch and their own device daily. If help is needed to rent a device, CMoA will work with the camper’s family and is very supportive. Camp runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday with two sessions each for upper elementary (fourth and fifth graders) and for middle grades (rising sixth through eighth graders).
Upper elementary camper sessions are the weeks of June 7 and June 21. Upper middle grades sessions are the weeks of July 12 and July 19. The cost is $375 early bird through May 7 and $450 thereafter for members. Non-member camp price is $400 early bird through May 7 and $475 thereafter.
Opened in 2019 with four exhibits. CMoA presented “A Tribute to Apollo 11,” “Supercomputing: Vanquishing the Impossible,” “Timeline of Computer History,” and “The Byte Magazine Collection.” CMoA unveiled a major new exhibit last year featuring a fully restored and operational Enigma machine, the World War II-era cipher computer made famous in the 2014 film “The Imitation Game” about the revolutionary code-breaking work by Alan Turing.
Museum of America in Roswell
CMoA has worked with educational institutions, museums and film companies with technology-related exhibits and artifacts, including Georgia Institute of Technology and the Smithsonian Institution and is committed to the preservation of computing devices, documents and technology in order to exhibit, educate and encourage future innovation.
The museum is currently open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays and is located at 5000 Commerce Parkway in Roswell. Call 770-695-0651 or register at www.computermuseumofamerica.org.
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