SPARK - Science for Middle School
Program Dates:
One-Week Sessions:
July 15-20, 2012
July 22-27, 2012
Two-Week Session:
July 15-27, 2012
July 15-20, 2012
July 22-27, 2012
Two-Week Session:
July 15-27, 2012
Eligibility:
For students entering 8th and 9th grade in Fall of 2012
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SPARK is a science program for curious middle school students who seek to spend one or two weeks at Brown’s Ivy League campus and immerse themselves in exciting science subjects, and gain the foundations necessary for further scientific inquiry.
The SPARK Experience
SPARK brings together students with similar abilities and diverse backgrounds. Through the study of science, students build confidence and grow as individuals in an environment that is safe, challenging, and most of all, fun.
SPARK Program Goals:
- Introduce students to complex scientific topics in a manner appropriate for academically talented middle school students;
- Promote a better understanding of science and its relevance to everyday life, including how research results are applied in the world around us;
- Provide students with an opportunity to participate in inquiry and experimentation through course and co-curricular activities; and
- Engage students in the process of thinking as scientists – where they develop scientific questions, experiment, analyze and interpret data, and come up with sound conclusions.
The Courses
The courses of the SPARK program expose students to the intellectual concepts and processes of science topics that are taught at Brown University. The courses are inquiry-based and experiential- students conduct their own experiments, learn science through guided inquiry, and engage in critical thinking.
SPARK students learn science in by first focusing on the basics, and build their knowledge until they reach a deep understanding of the more advanced concepts.
In addition to spending three hours per day in classes, students take part in extra-curricular activities where they interact with students from other courses. The extra-curricular activities include field trips, other more general science experiments, and lectures on diverse topics.
All students who successfully complete their course will receive a certificate of completion.
Summer 2012 SPARK Courses:
- Forces of Nature: Hurricanes, Global Warming, and the Science of Weather
- The Laboratory Detective
- From Brain to Sensation
- So You Want to be a Scientist?
- Exploring the World of Marine Science
- Conservation of Endangered Species
- Astrobiology: The Search for Life in the Universe
- Understanding the Human Body: An Exploration of Anatomy
- Nanotechnology: The Small Wonder from Atom to Space
- Understanding the Human Body: An Exploration of Anatomy
- Can You Dig It?! Exploring Archaeology
- Areospace Engineering and Rocket Science
- Mercury, Mars and Beyond: Exploring the Planets in our Solar System
- Everyday Mechanics and Special Relativity: How did we get from Newton to Einstein?
The summer program for students in Grades 7 to 9 combines academic instruction with field trips to scientific, cultural, and educational sites. In addition to visiting the planetarium and various museums throughout NYC, the group has visited the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC and the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, MD. and 
New students are admitted to the program twice a year, before the fall session and before the summer session. It is recommended that students apply at the end of Grade 6. But applications from students preparing to enter Grades 8 to 10 will be considered depending on space availability in these grades. We do not usually accept new students in Grades 11 or 12.
