Students and teachers look through eclipse viewers the students made during their solar camp. They used post office boxes to create the viewers. Photo provided.Caidence Britt gazed through a telescope as part of a solar camp held at Egyptian School last week. Photo provided.

Egyptian School hosts solar camp

Egyptian School in Tamms recently held a two-week solar camp.

The camp was headed by two Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduate assistant students: Nick Lamkey and Joe Krienert.

The theme of the camp was the solar eclipse that will take place Aug. 21. 

Southern Illinois will be a key focal point along the nationwide path of the total solar eclipse.

The eclipse is expected to bring thousands of visitors to Southern Illinois.

Students who attended the camp at the Alexander County school made solar powered cars, sundials, cameras out of household items, spectrographs, eclipse viewers and more.

Members of an astronomy club from Murphysboro brought four telescopes to the school one evening.

The students were able to view the sun, the moon and the planet Jupiter with its four moons.

They also skyped with Dr. Georgianna Kramer, a planetary scientist from the Lunar Planetary Institute.

Lamkey said the students who attended the camp covered a variety of topics including the physics of light, prisms, the moon, sun and more.

“They are at a age where curiosity is booming,” Lamkey said.

Lamkey said his goal was to provide the kids with a take-home kit of tools to keep them engaged in science and hopefully give them a little push to go into science. 

Elijah Price, a 6th grader, said he attended the camp so he could learn about the upcoming August eclipse and space.

His favorite activity was taking mineral rocks and placing them under ultra violet rays.

Breanna Plott, an 8th grader, thought it would be cool to learn different stuff about the solar eclipse.

Her favorite activity was building the solar powered cars.

Krienert said the students were very brilliant.

“(They had a) tendency to be interactive and curious. Their questions were limitless,” he said.

His goal was to show the students cool, basic physic concepts and to nurture a love of science.

Krienert also said he wanted to put the students in a position where they could safely view the eclipse.

The Gazette-Democrat

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