Redesigning Our Future

By: Delaney O'Connor Campers enjoy geocaching at the Stanback Ecological Preserve. Students got to kayak after completing all of the geocaching stations.  Julia Vaughan and Makayla Utt present their group's ideas for a more efficient dryer. In her off time, camper, Lexie Burns enjoys giant sized Jenga. Camper, Robby Cogburn, pulls a cage out of the water hoping to find turtles for focus group, A Backbone for Conservation. Dr. Poston explains to the campers how to determine whether the turtle is male or female. (Campers: Shauna Hendrie, Patrick Lowder, Evan Dorsi, and Dr. Poston) Focus Group, A Backbone for Conservation, caught turtles to examine. 

By: Julia Vaughan Learning how to tell the difference between types of turtles, as well as male and female turtle differences. Notching the turtle to track it. Robby Cogburn holding a turtle that was caught by A Backbone for Conservation. The beautiful Stanback nature preserve. Beautiful pond in the preserve. Campers enjoyed geocaching in the Stanback Ecological Preserve   Station three in geocaching: Acid filled barked can be used for headaches and injuries. Julia and Makayla reinventing the washing machine. Courtney Fairbrother sharing about a whole system. Ninja! being played by: Mei Lander, Evan Dorsi, Lexie Burns, and  Payden Mitchell. Sincere and Carolyn explain their new inventions on the washing machine. James Dunbar and Evan Dorsi explaining their solution to dirty clothes. Rocky Mountain Institute sharing their projects which address national and international environmental issues.

Campers enjoyed a fun time kayaking and canoeing on the lake at the ecological, wildlife preserve behind the Center for the Environment at Catawba College in Salisbury, NC. Read more about hands-on geocaching with "Green Ink" (blogger group) camper Kayla Blackburn in her educational article on geocaching from earlier in the week. Here are some great photos of the event provided by summit counselor, Payden Mitchell.

By Kayla Blackburn Campers prepare to exit kayaks after geocaching on the pond in the preserve. During the 5th annual National Environmental Summit for High School Students at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina, student campers began their Wednesday morning with an exploration of the college's 189-acre ecological preserve . Armed with GPS navigation systems and several bottles of bug spray, the 46 campers went geocaching to learn about biomimicry , or the innovation used by humans when they model nature's behavior. For example, students learned that phytochemicals found in the inner bark of black willow trees can often be used in medical advances. Salicyclic acid is involved in both aspirin and acne medications, with its use beginning among Native Americans hundreds of years ago. Some types of salamanders excrete a fluid that provides defense against leeches, and they also have the ability to regenerate lost limbs. Scientists could eventually use these me...

 By: Payton Coleman and Alia Dahlan We started the day off yesterday morning with a beautiful morning hike exploring bio-mimicry in the preserve. Showered in bug spray and sunscreen we explored the 189-acre ecological preserve looking for resourceful clues placed to teach about how we can look to nature for design and engineering solutions. Geocaching in the Fred Stanback, Jr. Ecological Preserve Having Fun in the Preserve Later that day we were visited by the Rocky Mountain Institute , and they taught us about the 5 types of activism which are political, educational,organizational,economic and lifestyle activism. Splitting into groups we talked about  the different types of activism and how we use them in our everyday lives. Followed by a 30 second group discussion with one person from each group sharing their experience with the rest of the group. We then read a story about the side effects of DDT when used to cure malaria in Borneo for the Dayak people. Then...