James Cameron's Pandora has got nothing on the virtual world created by students of Camp Invention last week.
The 75 first-sixth-graders attending the week-long day camp, hosted by Minden Elementary School, not only made their own avatars for the imaginary world known as "Hatched," but also built shops for their respective tribes to create vibrant marketplaces and sustain the fantastical economy.
"It's thinking, but it's fun thinking," said MES teacher and Camp Invention Director Lauren Spires. "These are things the kids wouldn't normally get to do."
"We're making shops and then supplies for the shops," Scarselli fifth-grader Sydney Clark, 10, said of the planet's new markets. "We sell stuff, and the other tribes buy things."
Adam Daniels, 10, said his spiny avatar, named Skouripi, likes to eat meat.
"We need a butcher shop where you can buy a whole bunch of food," he said. "We're making money from the stores and trying to beat the economy."
"Now, we have cars on the highways," added Jacks Valley fifth-grader Erik Pichon, who was showing off his styrofoam automobile with spool wheels and straw axles. "I'm trying to think of ways to make the wheels higher so they don't hit the tray."
Like his peers, Erik was also looking into retail.
"My store is basically a Walmart where you can buy anything," he said.
MES counselor Mary Garcia, who was overseeing the Hatched project, reminded students who their customers were.
"Remember, you're building an economy, and the only way you're going to do that is to make products that the avatars want to buy," she said.
Hatched was only one of five stations at Camp Invention. Throughout the week, the B hall of Minden Elementary was slowly transformed into a vast depot of raw resources from which students derived their materials. Recyclables, from cardboard boxes to plastic milk jugs, lay heaped on the floor. On a nearby table sat defunct electronics and appliances that students had brought in for the invention station.
With the help of his father, Pinon Hills third-grader Josh Herup, 8, had gotten his hands on a lawnmower engine, which he proceeded to meticulously disassemble.
"I'm going to take it all apart and find stuff to use in my invention," he said.
Josh described his invention as "a kind of robot that walks across the room and gets stuff for you."
"I'm not sure of the name yet," he said.
Josh admitted that the idea of a servant robot might sound a little far-fetched to the uninitiated, but he had strong notions of how to utilize lawnmower technology in such an invention.
He pointed to the exposed piston in the engine.
"Of course, I might use some of the bolts," he said, "but the piston could be used to move the robot's arm."
In another classroom down the hall, students of the "Power'd" station, described as a secret laboratory, already had their inventions up and running.
Max Smith, 7, made an unusual creature with a styrofoam body, wine-cork legs, and two antenna-like eyes (golf tees). In stationary mode, the monster was interesting enough, but a tail propellor connected to a small, battery-powered motor suddenly brought the creature to life.
"This is my favorite part," Max said, watching his creation scuttle across the desktop.
He showed how a simple rubber band held the battery and motor in place.
"Instead of having to hold it all day, the rubber band holds the wires for you," he said.
Max then pointed to the monster's tail propellor, comprised of cork and toothpicks.
"It's like on a boat," he said. "I get to make something that actually moves."
For more information about Camp Invention, visit www.campinvention.org.
