Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Kelly Ronald, Biology
Document Type
Poster
Event Date
4-12-2024
Abstract
Did you know that mice can hear sounds that humans cannot? Or that birds and bees can see colors we can only dream of? ExploreHope is an organization on the Hope College campus that has been hosting summer camps for elementary to high school level students for 27 years. The ExploreHope Amazing Animal Abilities camp for students in grades 6 through 9 will explore the many incredible sensory abilities of animals. This camp will teach participants about a vast variety of sensory systems observed across the animal kingdom including the visual, auditory, and olfactory systems, mechanoreception and kinesthetics, and the detection of unique fields, including both electric fields— performed by sharks to detect their prey—and magnetic fields—conducted by birds to navigate during migration. Camp participants will be given the opportunity for hands-on learning about these amazing abilities through dissections, including getting the chance to take a close look at the structures of the eye through an eye dissection, working with live animals, and in using technologies like spectroscopy that are important to biologists and allow us to explore realms that are unknown to us. The camp activities will also equip participants with an understanding of how animals make sense of their surrounding environments by piecing together the clues gathered by their collective senses. This immersive and educational experience will inspire a new generation of young scientists to explore the world around them. Camp participants will also be presented with full scholarships provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF), whose priorities lie especially in providing opportunities to underrepresented youth for a bright future in the sciences, demonstrating ExploreHope's mission to have a broad outreach that will invite and welcome young scientists from diverse backgrounds.
Recommended Citation
Repository citation: Sturgeon, Hannah; Archer, Alyssa; and Lauraine, Ashley, "ExploreHope Summer Camps: Amazing Animal Abilities" (2024). 23rd Annual A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2024). Paper 80.
https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/curca_23/80
April 12, 2024. Copyright © 2024 Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
Comments
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2217870. The work was also supported by the Animal Behavior Society.