Summer Science Programs for Kids in Santa Clara

Rock-It Science, Santa Clara:
Rock-it Science is based in Santa Clara in the heart of Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Rock-it Science provides project-oriented science programs that are creative, challenging, and fun! In a Rock-it Science session, children experience cooperative learning and playful science activities. The instructors utilize storytelling and innovative science experiments to capture the children's attention and imagination.

Summer Camps
2013 Summer Camp Schedule

Times: All camps are half-day Mon-Fri, from 9:00-12:00 OR from 1:30-4:30. For your convenience, each camp is offered four times during the summer. NOTE: The week of July 4th, the camp will be only 4 days, and the price is discounted.

Age Group: The age group for all programs is 5 - 11. All students will be together for the introduction and story part of the lesson, but for most of the experiments they will be split into two groups by age.

Location: Programs are held in our laboratory/classroom at Rock-It Science, 2110 Walsh Ave., Ste. F., Santa Clara, CA 95050.

For further information on the summer science camp programs available, including dates and fees, please contact us quickly via our Contact Page. We do not provide brochures.

Fighting with Fire-Breathing Dragons
Each day we will select two or three experiments from the following list, depending on weather and ability of the students. We reserve the right to change the subjects as necessary to meet the needs of the children. The age group for all programs is 5 - 11. All students will be together for the opening part of the lesson. Then we randomly split them into two groups for the tory and the hands-on experiment.

Launching Water Balloons:  What better way to douse the dragon’s fire? Use our 12-foot-tall slingshot to make water balloons disappear.
Smoke Rings: This is useful for distracting ridgeback dragons. Use stage fog to create smoke rings from all sorts of containers.
Hovercraft: Float heavy weapons over land and water right to the dragon’s lair.
Parachutes and Leaf Blowers: These are handy if the dragon decides to give you a toss from up in the clouds.
Cork Shooters: With loud noises and flying objects you can create a diversion.
Straw Rockets: No dragon will be safe in the sky. These go so high they seem to disappear.
Gigantic Stretchy Wobbly Soap Bubbles: It turns out that dragons are deathly afraid of bubbles!
Water Bottle Rockets: A barrage of water bottle rockets will put out the fire and scare away all but the bravest dragon.
Launching Film Cans: Using dry ice we can hide in the fog and launch objects with impunity.
Marshmallow Cannons: Never look directly into the eyes of a dragon or you will become hypnotized. Ddiscover a way to shoot marshmallows around corners!
Roller Coasters: Dragons just can’t resist trying to eat people riding on roller coasters. Better make yours go fast!
Box Towers: Build towers of cardboard boxes as tall as you can and then knock them down.
Stomp Rockets: Dragons love eating messengers, but it might be possible to send a message by way of a simple rocket.
Curveball and Frisbees: Dragons just don’t know what to do about things that don’t fly straight.
Balloon Rockets: When dragons see these, they get so furious that they start fighting with each other.

Evil Mister Fred's Dungeon
Each day we will select two or three experiments from the following list, depending on weather and ability of the students. We reserve the right to change the subjects as necessary to meet the needs of the children. The age group for all programs is 5 - 11. All students will be together for the opening part of the lesson. Then we randomly split them into two groups for the tory and the hands-on experiment.

Laser Sound Waves: Evil Mister Fred just can’t get to sleep unless he knows that the prisoners in his dungeon are screaming, and he found a way to turn their screams into dancing lights on the wall. How can Jack and Jill create similar patterns while they rescue the prisoners?
Exploding Film Cans: Jack and Jill need to launch their kick-me friends across the bay and into the dungeon of evil Mister Fred’s pirate ship. How can they do it with only breath freshener?
Dry Ice: Jack and Jill are trapped in evil Mister Fred’s dungeon by a dragon and a clever security system. How can they escape with just dry ice?
Freezing: It’s a hot day and King Evil Mister Fred is demanding ice cream, but he has taken away every freezer in the land. How can Jack and Jill freeze the ingredients?
Solar Furnace: Evil Mister Fred has captured Jack and Jill and has graciously told them that he will let them go if they can turn a rock into molten lava but they don’t get to use any fire. How can they escape?
Tesla Coil: Jack and Jill have found out that evil Mister Fred has sent his minions to destroy Goodville at midnight. How can they make a monster with snakes of electricity coming out of its eyes and hair to scare them away?
Van De Graaf Generator: Evil Mister Fred’s minions have stolen a shipment of Girl Scout cookies. What can Jack and Jill do to the sweet little girl scouts so that all the minions run away screaming when they come to get their cookies back?
Melting Plastics: Evil Mister Fred is trying to save money by giving his minion army plastic baseball bats instead of their wooden ones. Can Jack and Jill use this to save Goodville from another attack?
Hand-Crank Electricity: Evil Mister Fred has cut all the electric lines into Goodville and has sent a vicious horde of kittens against Goodville to attack and destroy the town. Can Jack and Jill do anything to save the town?
Calcium Carbide: Evil Mister Fred claims that he is now a good guy and has made a car that runs on water alone. Should Jack and Jill invest money in this project?
Fire Drills: Evil Mister Fred had his minions build a super-sized dungeon and he filled it with prisoners. It is cold and dark in there. How can Jack and Jill make a fire with only sticks and string?
Hot, Cold, and Fizzy: Evil Mister has released the Abominable Snowman, Tony the Tornado, and a river of hot lava against Goodville. How can Jack and Jill protect the town?
Kill the Candle: Evil Mister Fred has trapped Jack and Jill in an underwater cave. Their only hope for escape lies in making the water level rise in the cave. How can they do it?
Earthquakes: Evil Mister Fred bought a box of earthquakes and has been tossing them all over the place ruining buildings, bridges, and dams all over the world. What can Jack and Jill do to stop him?
Exploding Bubbles: Evil Mister Fred has turned the people in Disneyland into zombies and Jack and Jill have to find a way to put their brains back into their heads. How can they do that?

What to Do When Vampire Bunnies Attack
Each day we will select two or three experiments from the following list, depending on weather and ability of the students. We reserve the right to change the subjects as necessary to meet the needs of the children. The age group for all programs is 5 - 11. All students will be together for the opening part of the lesson. Then we randomly split them into two groups for the tory and the hands-on experiment.

Echoes: Vampire bunnies do not like loud noises… discover how to amplify very small sounds into incredibly loud sounds without using any electricity and then make them echo.
Glove Bagpipes: And vampire bunnies change into something else when confronted by a moose playing bagpipes.
Super Hearts: Create a heart that will provide so much energy that the vampire bunny’s head will explode.
Catapults: Vampire bunnies love to chase evil Mister Fred’s minions. So all you have to do is make his minions go far away.
Foam Cutters: Vampire bunnies can fly, but they have poor eyesight. Can you find a way to stop them?
Shrinky Dinks: Strangely enough, vampire bunnies like to eat miniature stained glass windows. Discover how to make a bunch of them fast!
Bouncing Goo: If you can set a trap with something sticky and gooey, perhaps you can capture a live vampire bunny.
Magnetic Creatures: How can you collect a whole flock of vampire bunnies with airplanes and magnets?
Screaming Metal: Hear the screams of agony as you force pieces of metal against dry ice… can this be used to freeze the brains of the vampire bunnies?
Water Defying Gravity: If you give the vampire bunnies lots of salty food, maybe you can lure them into a trap with a cup of cold water as the bait. Make water go uphill, stay in a jar that is upside down over your head, and squirt out of a fountain all by itself.
Mountain Rescue: Use rock-climbing equipment to lift each other off of the ground so that you can get up into the vampire-bunny-eating trees.
Dynamic Friction: Evil Mister Fred has a magic carpet that has slid itself under every building in Goodville. His minions are going to pull on the carpet and drag the whole town down into the vampire bunny cave. How can Jack and Jill save them?
Sunken Ships: Since vampire bunnies love cheeseburgers, try to find a cheap way to float one billion cheeseburgers out to their island.
Static Levitation: Use invisible forces to make ghostly shapes float through the air and scare off the vampire bunnies.
Water-Powered Rocket Car: This is literally a drag-racer. Try to find a way to make your rocket car go the furthest while carrying a cheeseburger.

Outsmarting Evil Mister Fred
Each day we will select two or three experiments from the following list, depending on weather and ability of the students. We reserve the right to change the subjects as necessary to meet the needs of the children. The age group for all programs is 5 - 11. All students will be together for the opening part of the lesson. Then we randomly split them into two groups for the story and the hands-on experiment.

Flash Paper: Jack and Jill need to scare away a horde of rampaging minions riding on kangaroos with only ping pong balls. How can they do it?
Secret Sand: Jack and Jill have to jump into a pond and jump back out without getting wet. How can they do that?
Cartesian Divers: Evil Mister Fred has sent his minions riding on sharks to attack Jack and Jill’s underwater city. How can they stop the sharks from getting there?
Glow Sticks: Of course, evil Mister Fred makes his trapped prisoners eat dinner in the pitch-black darkness of the dungeon. Is there any way the prisoners can scare evil Mister Fred so badly that he will let them have the lights on?
Fiber Optics: Evil Mister Fred bought a death star equipped with laser cannons. Can Jack and Jill save their planet with just clear plastic rods?
Destructive Testing: Evil Mister Fred lets his victims choose the material that would be used to tie them up dangling from the branches of a tree in the jungle. Can you guess which material would give them the best chance to escape?
Dry Ice: Evil Mister Fred has spies everywhere. How can Jack and Jill sneak chocolate ice cream, cakes, and hacksaws into his dungeon to help the prisoners escape?
Cylinder & Sphere Race: Jack and Jill are racing against evil Mister Fred’s minions down the side of a steep mountain. Should they roll down inside of a ball or inside of a big pipe?
Popcorn Volcano: The clouds have been changed by evil Mister Fred so that it is raining elephants. How can Jack and Jill protect themselves and the elephants?
Helium Balloons: Evil Mister has trimmed the feathers on the wings of the flying whales. How can Jack and Jill help them land safely?
Foosh! and Boom!: Evil Mister Fred commanded his minions to sneak up on an unsuspecting village and tickle the people there mercilessly. Is there any way Jack and Jill can warn them?
Oscillating Pendulum: Tarzan is swinging through the jungle on vines, but evil Mister Fred has taught trees to jump right smack in front of Tarzan. How can Jack and Jill keep Tarzan from going splat?
Mirror Maze: Jack and Jill have to capture a vampire deep down inside of a dripping, dreary, dark, dank, depressing, dreadful cave. How can they do it without getting bitten?
Rolling Forever: Evil Mister Fred has cursed the Jack-and-Jill-O’Lanterns so that if they stop rolling, even for two seconds, they will turn into pumpkin pies. What shall they do?
Burn Money: Evil Mister Fred made a new law that everything had to be bought with burning money, but the stores would not accept money while it was burning or after it was a pile of ashes. How can Jack and Jill outsmart him?