PTMSC offers scholarships for summer science camps
Kids have an exciting opportunity of fun learning this summer for a week of day camp at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center (PTMSC). Bones, Bugs & Bluffs Camp is for ages 8-12, July 7-11, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. And for teens, grades 9-12, there’s a week-long overnight camp called Adventures in Marine Research, July 27-August 2. Scholarships are available for the first ten kids that sign up for Bones, Bugs & Bluffs Camp and for the first two teens that sign up for Adventures in Marine Research.
Bones, Bugs & Bluffs Camp
“The kids participating in the Bones, Bugs & Bluffs Camp will be all over Fort Worden State Park, having outdoor adventures while they explore various sites like a hidden pond, an unusual wetland, rocky headlands, sandy beaches and forest-covered hillsides,” said Anne Murphy, executive director for the PTMSC. “They’ll get to play with big things and small—mammoths and microscopes; living and dead—forests and fossils; and science and imagination—dissection and drama.”
Campers will assemble skeletons of marine mammals, catch bugs and learn about them, and find out about earthquakes detected on a seismograph. Kids will be immersed in the natural world for five days and develop both the knowledge and desire to conserve and protect this world, not just in Fort Worden State Park, but in their own communities as well.
Adventures in Marine Research Teen Camp
“Are you, as a teen, thinking about science as a field of study or a career? If so, then here’s your chance to spend a week conducting field studies and observations with other teens this summer,” said Murphy.
Teens will spend a week backpacking on the outer coast, learning about current research projects designed to assess the health of our marine environment while exploring tide pools and watching marine birds and mammals play in along the shore.
Cost for the Bones, Bugs & Bluffs Camp is normally $190. With the scholarship, the cost is $100—the remainder will be paid for by foundations and individual gifts to the Seth Bender Scholarship Fund. Cost for Adventures in Marine Research Teen Camp is $775 and partial scholarships are available for the first two campers to register.
For more information about the summer camps, please call the Port Townsend Marine Science Center at 385-5582, go to the Web site at www.ptmsc.org or e-mail the Center at camps@ptmsc.org.
The Port Townsend Marine Science Center is devoted to understanding, preserving and teaching about our marine and shoreline environment as guardians for a sustainable future. Located on the beach at Fort Worden State Park, the PTMSC offers two public exhibits: the Marine Exhibit (ME) features large touch pools and aquaria, and the Natural History Exhibit (NHE) highlights the rich zone where land meets sea. Both exhibits are open Wednesday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for youth and free to PTMSC members. Currently there’s a featured exhibit on Plastics in the Marine Environment through the summer season.