Middle School Science Camps ( Ages 12-14) - Sternberg Museum of Natural History

2026 registration closes April 10.

About In-Person Middle School Camps

Our in-person middle school camps are over-night programs, lasting from one week.

All in-person camps include the following:

Meals and snacks, typically from lunch on the first day to lunch on the last day. We keep a substanital food budget, and are capable of working around specific dietary requirements so long as they are disclosed in advance in the student's CampDoc application.

Staff supervision includes at minimum a lead instructor and teaching assistant. For our field-based camps we include a staff member with an active Wilderness First Responder Certification. WFR Certification training is done through the National Outdoor Leadership School.

Transportation and accomodations during the camp. This includes pickups and dropoffs at the designated airport for the camp. We cannot do airport pickups or dropoffs anywhere other than the one designated for each respective camp.

Materials and equipment for all camp activities. This varies from camp to camp. For details, please see individual camp descriptions. If you have further questions, contact us at SternbergCamps@FHSU.edu.

Photography of activities by staff. Students are of course welcome to take photos as well. We typically post photos to the Camps' accounts on Instagram and Facebook whenever on-site staff are able to provide some from the field. Larger uploads of photos and videos by staff take place after the camp has concluded. (Sometimes staff are in areas with poor signal strength and are unable to transmit photos. We ask for patience with the frequency we post updates.)

Camping Trips

Our field camps include extensive tent camping on a range of camp site types, including state/federal campgrounds, private campgrounds, and research stations. We will also make use of university dorms and hotels/AirBnBs when called for.

As these programs typically take place in the middle of summer, conditions are often hot and sunny. some programs will include time in cooler conditions including caves, mountains, or areas where temperatures decrease noteably at night. Students should be well prepared for a range of temperature and weather conditions.

Tents and sleeping pads are provided for students, with usually 2-3 students in an appropriately sized tent. We ask that participants not bring their own tents as they may not be appropriate for conditions in the camp, or sized properly for the campsites we reserve. Camp pads are typically thick foam or inflatable. Participants are welcome to bring their own sleeping pad if they desire. Participants must provide their own sleeping bags, pillows, and other such personal items.

As we are camping, access to electrical outlets is limited. We strongly recommend students bring a portable power bank for their phone, and exercise good judgement in battery use. Chargers in the vehicles are reserved for staff to keep devices fully charged, as well as recharging cameras and other devices.

While we do not do any heavy backpacking, the field camps are typically at least moderately physically demanding. Staff put a great deal of time, care, and effort into training students to mentally and physically adapt to the necessities of fieldwork. We know such activities can be quite challenging, and our central goal is helping students be succesful.

Staff

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.

Contact Us

For questions about the Sternberg Science Camps programs, contact us at SternbergCamps@fhsu.edu.

Middle School Camps

Paleontology Explorers: Kansas

Start date: June 14, 2026
End date: June 19, 2026

Camp start location: Sternberg Museum, Hays, KS
Camp end location: Sternberg Museum, Hays, KS

Description: Come explore the fossils of Kansas! Sharks, ammonites, giant clams, ancient sea turtles, and giant mosasaurs are only the beginning of the incredible diversity of fossil organisms found here. In this camp, students will be introduced to paleontology field work done right. Using small hand tools, they will prospect for surface fossils, document sites, and learn how to correctly and safely hunt for fossil material. Along the way, students will learn how to identify fossils, and be introduced to the basics of sedimentary geology. Discussion and building critical thinking skills are also emphasized as we learn about the geologic record, and explore the evidence for evolution we find preserved in the rocks!

This is a tent-camping trip that will be making use of established campgrounds with bathrooms and showers.

Camp activity highlights:

Searching for Cretaceous Seaway fossils in the Kansas chalks
Digging for rhinoceros and horse bones in a mammals fossil quarry
Visiting the Sternberg Museum fossil galleries and traveling exhibits
Touring the Fossil Preparation Lab

Cost per student:

Registration fee: $1,837
Scholarships are available! For more information, please visit our Scholarships page.
Fee covers:
- Meals
- Accomodations
- Transportation during camp
- Group equipment
- Materials for activities
Fee does not cover:
- Transportation to and from camp location
- Personal gear inluding clothing and toiletries (see the packing list linked above for mroe details)
- Accomodations before the camp begins and after the camp ends
- Food before the camp begins and after the camp ends

Travel notes:

Please notify us in advance if you need any assistance with your travel logistics, including once you have arrived in Hays. Cab/rideshare services are hit or miss in Hays, so we can help out with transport from a hotel in Hays to the Sternberg Museum on the opening morning. Rental vehicles are also available at Hays Airport and other rental agencies in town.
We can only assist with logistics taking place in the city where camp is starting. We cannot pick up participants at airports outside of the city where camp is starting. The same is true for dropoffs at the end of camp.

Paleontology Explorers Colorado

Learn more

Start date: July 12, 2025
End date: July 17, 2025

Camp start location: Denver, CO
Camp end location: Denver, CO

Description: This program is a one-week concentrated version of our new two-week Colorado high school paleontology! The group will start out in Denver with a trip to the Museum of Nature and Science. We will also make a trip to the Dinosaur Resource Center, and to Dinosaur Ridge where former Sternberg Camps instructor Amy Atwater is now the Director of Paleontology. Dinosaur Ridge is famous for incredible dinosaur track sites which we'll get to explore. Lastly our group will head south to Florissant Fossil Beds to learn about the remarkable and pristine fossils preserved there, including birds, insects, and flowers! Along the way we'll be meeting with Sterberg Camps alumna Maggie Wolf to do some local wildlife exploration. (Maggie is an educator at a conservation nonprofit in Boulder.)

This is a tent-camping trip that will be making use of established campgrounds with bathrooms and showers.

Camp activity highlights:

Visits to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Dinosaur Ridge, and other local museums.
Fossil hunting at area pay-to-dig quarries (covered as part of camp fee).
Meeting professional paleontologsts at multiple stops.

Cost per student:

Registration fee: $2,673
Scholarships are available! For more information, please visit our Scholarships page.
Fee covers:
- Meals
- Accomodations
- Transportation during camp
- Group equipment
- Materials for activities
Fee does not cover:
- Transportation to and from camp location
- Personal gear inluding clothing and toiletries (see the packing list linked above for mroe details)
- Accomodations before the camp begins and after the camp ends
- Food before the camp begins and after the camp ends

Travel notes:

Staff will be available to pick participants up from the Denver Airport. We cannot pick up students from airports other than the one designated for the camp. The same applies for departures.
Students are allowed to arrive and depart a maximum of one day before camp starts or after it ends, respectively.
Students arriving early or departing late will need to make hotel arrangements and communicate them well in advance. Staff can make sure participants have transportation to a local grocery store if needed.
It is the responsibility of parents to make sure all parties have a clear understanding of student flights to and from the starting airport, and communicating that information in writing to staff.