Teen Titans Magazine Vol. 5 Issue 3 Final Copy-3 | Page 12

Article By: Erick L. and Angelica G.
Staff Members, Gr. 8
It’s been a long standing tradition for
our Titans to take annual field trips in
order to get hands-on involvement with
their grade’s designated science-related
topic. Since our 8th graders primarily
study physics and chemistry, it’s only
natural that we invite them to a place
involved with such a specialization;
hence, Astrocamp.
Astrocamp is a two-day science
camp that involves a plethora of
experimental activities as opposed to
just reading a source and then
answering questions. For example,
instead of just reading about how a
balloon filled with hydrogen would
react with a flame, we actually held a
flame to a hydrogen balloon (A giant
explosion was the result).
One activity we were involved in
was called The Sky Coaster. Essentially,
this was an activity that allowed for our
group to work together and bond. One
at a time, we were suspended by a
harness about 50 feet in the air. Once we
were at our maximum height, we were
instructed to yank a rope that
Whilst being involved with the
bottle-rocket activity, each student was
provided a plastic 2 liter bottle along
with the materials to actually craft them
into rockets (cardstock, tape, and even
clay to balance out the center of mass).
After an hour of building, we went off to
the launchers (which filled the bottle up
about halfway with water and the rest
of the way with air in order to
pressurize it) and sent them shooting
into the air.
Rock climbing consisted of being
clipped to a rope by a harness, which
greatly assisted in pulling ourselves up
and slowly lowering to the ground. The
wall was crafted to look identical to
Mars’ surface. Before we actually had
the ability to climb, we had to learn at
least one interesting fact about Mars.
During the night, we were all
standing in the middle of an empty field
staring up at the stars. We witnessed
iconic stars like Betelguese, Rigel, and
Sirius. Constellations like Orion and the
Gemini Twins glistened proudly against
the shadowy, navy blue night sky.