Sternberg Science Camps are based at the FHSU Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Kansas. We are a non-profit organization pursuing equitable access to exceptional earth and life science education programs for kids and teens. All of our program fees go to program execution, paying our staff, and funding our scholarship program. We use small groups to boost community development and increase per-student attention from staff. Our instructors are experts in their fields, with experience and training in education as well as research, field work, and other scientific career paths. Our alumni can be found across the country, pursuing careers in academic research, resource management, science education, industry, and the arts. Many of them even come back to work for us as counselors and teaching assistants.

Curious to learn more? Read on! You can also check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, all @SternbergCamps!  

You can contact us directly at SternbergCamps@fhsu.edu, or at 785-639-5249. 

The Sternberg Museum Science Camp programs are built around a core philosophy of student development and advancement. We train our students with dedicated lessons and by example, giving them new tools and knowledge to use as they pursue their goals. To paraphrase many of our past students, it will be the most challenging, amazingly fun thing you’ve done!

Supportive Peer Community
Our staff goes above and beyond to foster safe, supportive, inclusive learning communities built to help our students have fun while they learn and grow. We believe in the importance of building a trusting, fun atmosphere to help our students pursue advanced academic topics and content to their full potential. 

Active Hands-on Learning
Working with professional scientists, students work alongside their fellow campers as the learn to use authentic techniques and equipment. Students are introduced to essential ins and outs of research structuring, and how to apply techniques taught at camp as general tools for their future endeavors. Special emphasis is placed on preparing students to pursue research projects in college.

Skill-Building
Having a core set of professional skills can be incredibly valuable for students looking to advance their opportunities in the natural sciences. By introducing and developing these essential skills, we train our students to be productive, competitive, and prepared for science beyond the classroom.

Empowerment
Using active learning techniques, we challenge our students to think about science beyond raw facts and figures. Our staff implement engaging learning games and problem-solving scenarios, guiding our students as they learn to consider and connect their knowledge in a comprehensive fashion. In our field-based camps, our students are taught to safely and responsibly carry out our field tasks in a variety of favorable and adverse conditions. In doing this, students discover their own depths of resilience and strength. Students are taught to monitor themselves and others in their team, and take initiative to get the job done right. In our virtual camps, we exchange field tasks for higher level cognitive skills and professional development. In each type of program, students are uniquely trained to take on future novel academic and professional challenges. 

“This camp experience provided many “firsts” for me. I had never camped in a tent before; I had never been away from family for that length of time; and I learned that given a significant purpose, I had endurance beyond my belief. It was definitely the highlight of my year.” – Alex Landwehr, Sternberg Camps alumni

Advanced Academics
We introduce our students to foundational concepts in earth and life sciences to start out our programs. From the Law of Superposition to the population basis for evolution by natural selection, students are set up to learn content quickly as we build understanding through observations and focused discussions. Our staff are broadly trained in the topics of their respective camps, and are excited to engage with student questions. We use research-backed teaching strategies to make advanced content engaging, accessible, and fun!

Fun
We are program built for science geeks, by science geeks. We love spending time in the field or in the lab, and want to make sure our students see that while science can be hard work, it’s also a ton of fun. Networking and peer-group-building are also immensely important for us, as such connections are crucial for any aspiring future professional. We strive to keep the work of field, lab, and classroom science balanced with a healthy dose of laughter!

Student applicants must be ages 14 to 18 as of June 2021.

The final 2021 application deadline is June 1st. We will not review an applicant’s packet for admission until it is 100% complete.

• Complete online application.
  • To do this, you will need to set up an account with CampDoc. You can do this by clicking the “Apply Today” link at the top of this page. Once this is done, you’ll be able to log back in to your account as you complete the application process.
  • If you already have an account with CampDoc, simply log in. Your personal information should all be saved from your last application.
  • The waiver can be found in the online application.
  • The financial aid application can be found in the online application.
• 2 page (5-7 paragraph) letter of interest from the student applicant.
  • You can find suggestions for writing your letter of interest here.
  • This must be submitted through the CampDoc application system.
• Letter of recommendation from the non-family member for the student applicant.
  • This must be submitted through the CampDoc application system.
  • You can find instructions for recommendation letter-writers here.
  • Returning students in good standing do not need to submit a recommendation letter.
    • Standing is determined by staff. A student not in good standing will be expressly notified by the Camps Director.

• Click here to learn more about our scholarship program.

A 10% deposit is paid at the time of registration. Students who are accepted into the camp must then have the remainder of the registration fee paid by the June 1st, 2020 payment deadline.

All of our online camps include a box of materials mailed to students for use during that respective camp. Items are selected by instructors as part of the curriculum, and organized for use in guided and independent activities. This is in addition to online resources being used in each camp, and web-meetings for students with staff for lessons, activities, and discussions.

Please keep in mind that we will have students from across time zones, so we are having to be flexible with daily start and end times to not force any student(s) to wake up overly early, or stay up too late.

Virtual Learning Environments:

Here a group of our camp alumni along with our Director do a walkthrough of one of our virtual learning and exploration environments we are debuting summer 2021. This area is part of a simulated volcanic island comparable to the Galapagos or Hawaii.

Camp Kits:

Each virtual camp participant will receive a box of materials that go with planned activities and projects in the camp! These materials are the student's to keep. These items include things like books, USB microscopes and handlenses, rock samples, pinned insect specimens, art/craft supplies, casts of animal skulls and skeletons, and other unique resources relevant to each respective camp topic. Kits are sent in the mail in advance of camp starting. Participants outside the US will be charged an additional fee to cover the increased cost of shipping. We will contact international participants about this on a case by case basis. 



Approximate daily schedule:

Morning

• Pre-assigned narrated presentation from instructional staff, and/or YouTube video with question prompts related to upcoming topics and activities.
• Live-chat (Zoom) presentation or discussion with instructional staff to review previous day, go over new content for that day, and preview the next day or two. These live lectures/presentations will typically only be 15-20 minutes at a time (though student questions and conversation will likely extend this timeframe), as we value engagement-based content exploration and student inquiry.
• Go over projects and activities. Do progress checks on larger scale projects.
• Individual or group project work time. We will have Zoom rooms set up so students can talk with each other and the staff during these portions. We want the students to be able to socialize with each other as well as ask the staff questions in real-time. 

Evening

• Prompted Q&A sessions, where students bring questions to pose to staff about previously announced topics (applying to college, working with faculty, finding internships, specific science subjects related to the camp, etc). 
• Documentary/movie watch parties, with students and staff watching a program with opportunities to discuss what they are seeing and interpreting the “movie science”, or questions students may have about content in the documentary. 

*Students may not enroll in overlapping camps.*

Questions? Contact us at SternbergCamps@FHSU.edu, or at 785-639-5249

Our camps staff are professional scientists and science educators, graduate students, undergraduates, and select program alumni. We value a wide range of professional skills and career paths, in order to provide a broad set of skills training and perspective to our students. All of our staff are deeply passionate about science outreach and education in addition to their professional specializations.

Each field-based program includes at least one staff member with a Wilderness First Responder certification, ensuring quick, decisive action when dealing with any kind of injury or health concern in the field.

For questions about the Sternberg Science Camps programs, contact us at SternbergCamps@fhsu.edu or 785-639-5249.

1. How much time will be spent with online lectures each day?
   • This will depend on the age group to an extent. We certainly won’t have as much live online lecturing for elementary schoolers as high schoolers, for example. A safe range will probably be anywhere from fort minutes to two hours of live instructor-directed content delivery; at the high school level, there may be some days that extend beyond this, though they should be infrequent. 
   • We will also be using some pre-recorded mini-lectures for some flexible content delivery. Typically this will mean a powerpoint presentation with recorded voiceover by the instructor or teaching assistant. Students will be given time to watch these videos and do any individual or group work associated with it. 
2. How will you keep the students from getting bored?
   • We’ll be using a blend of learning and engagement approaches to keep things fresh and interesting throughout each camp. This will include, but is not limited to:
     • Guest speakers
     • Problem-solving games
     • Single and multi-day projects done individually or in groups via web-chat
     • Screen-share documentary viewings as a group, with time to chat and ask questions
     • Skill development activities
     • Remote field trips to outdoor areas, museums, labs, and more
     • Q&A sessions with staff and guest scientists/educators
3. What time will camp start/end each day?
   • As our students are from across the United States (and beyond, in some cases), we aren’t going to know a specific daily schedule for each camp until after it completely fills up, or we pass the application deadline on May 23rd. We want to make sure the daily schedule for each camp is workable for all of the students across time zones, so no one is forced to get up super early, or go to bed super late. Once we have groups locked in for each respective camp, we will be in communication with participants about scheduling live-chat portions of their camp.
4. What is a “virtual field trip”?
   • Camps staff and/or guest presenters will do a live-video from a museum, lab, or field area, with students viewing and using the text chat feature to make comments and ask questions. Locations visited will vary widely between respective camps.