Camp Astra 2025: Camp Overview!
- Lawrence Chao
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Kicking off on June 30th, Camp Astra is back again. After dozens of weeks of hard work and planning, this year's Camp Astra is determined to be the best one yet!
Over the course of 5 days, campers were versed in the exciting and intriguing subjects of STEM, covering chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy and even psychology.
Starting on Day 1, students learned about chemistry by delving into macromolecules, learning about atoms, molecules and bonding.
Students then got the opportunity to decipher a slime recipe using the knowledge of macromolecules that they had learned.
In the afternoon, students learned about crystals and were pleasantly surprised when they were able to make and keep their very own made bismuth crystals.
Starting on Day 2, students learned about physics.
Focusing on electro-magnetism in the morning, students were eager to learn about the underlying forces of our universe. They would then get a chance to work with their own circuits.
Although initially, students had difficulty being unfamiliar with the circuits, after a while of tinkering, things started clicking and success started showing. Students started getting creative making unique circuits and devices.
After lunch, students learned about physical forces, which they would need for later when competing in an egg drop competition.
Using their knowledge learned from the previous lecture, students were then given a budget to buy materials for the egg drop challenge.
Students then were given an egg and started engineering and designing their creation that could help protect their egg from a large drop.
Biology was on Day 3 with students excited to start a new day with new fun activities.
Starting off the morning, students learned about DNA, the basis of life. Although comprehending DNA was difficult, students still had the chance to do their own DNA extraction to further their understanding of this new material.
In the evening, students were overwhelmed by the concept of DNA, to help visualize and have fun with DNA, students were given candy and materials to build their own candy DNA molecules!
Day 4 was a unique day, students would be learning a mix of anatomy, ecology, as well as psychology. Students would even get the chance to dissect a dogfish at the end of the day.
Starting off the day with psychology, students would have the chance to learn, and participate in experiments to teach them about the brain and how it thinks.
Breezing through, students dived right into ecology, learning about changes in pH and how acids and bases can affect the habitats around us.
Although students didn't seem very interested in ecology, they nevertheless bored through waiting for the anticipated and exciting dogfish dissection that preceded the lecture.
Students then had a blast learning and dissecting a dogfish, understanding the different outer and inner functions of a dogfish.
Ending off the camp with Day 5, students were ready for a day full of fun competitions and activities showcasing their knowledge learned from the past week of STEM-packed activities.
After a quick warm-up activity, students then were put into a forensics detective case.
Using their knowledge from the past days, students had to piece together and analyze who was the guilty suspect. Students caught on quickly and correctly identified each unknown substance to catch the suspect.
Students then experimented around with elephants toothpaste, after learning the basics of how elephant toothpaste expands, students were given freedom to try and make bigger and more powerful elephant's toothpaste with the same materials.
Continuing the fun, students then checked in on some rock crystals that they had been growing. Students were dazzled by the sizes and beauty of their homegrown crystals.
Finally, students ended the camp with a game of jeopardy with the winning team getting a huge amount of candy. Students competed against each other, using whatever they remembered from the camp to try and get an edge on the other students.
Camp Astra was a huge success thanks to organizers, parents, students, and, most importantly, mentors. Without you all, this camp would not be possible.
See everyone in Camp Astra 2026!
