From left, twins Madalyn and Evelyn Fodor, 11, of Summerhill, and Avery Hanlon and Caitlin Myers, both 11 and of Lilly, observe the effect of caffeine on daphnia water fleas during the Driving STEM Forward Science Camp at the Young Peoples Community Center on Monday. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

EBENSBURG — Flowers, bugs, snails and more look completely different under a microscope, something students taking part in the Driving STEM Forward Camp found fascinating.

“It was really cool to see the heartbeat of something so small,” said Evelyn Fodor, 11, of Summerhill, after watching the hearts of water fleas beating.

That exercise and more were part of the one-day camp held Wednesday at the Young Peoples Community Center, in partnership with Cambria County Child Development, PA CareerLink Cambria County and the Pennsylvania Society of Biomedical Research.

The free camp was geared toward sixth and seventh graders who are on the cusp of entering high school and making plans for their future.

Careers in STEM abound, organizers said.

“It is a STEM world — almost everything and any occupation you go into has some kind of STEM built into it,” said Pat Harrington.

Harrington, the youth program manager for PA CareerLink Cambria County, said the camp introduces STEM concepts with hands-on experiences such as DNA modeling, microscopy and flies on ice.

During the event, students collected a variety of items in the gardens around the center and used a microscope to get a closer look.

All activities were biomedical-based, said Hunter Angle, an outreach educator with PSBR’s SPARK branch, which aims to build interest in STEM careers and the biomedical field.

“We are here to show the kids that there are jobs in places such as the medical field or working with animals,” he said.

Students had the chance to compare brains from different animals, looking at the different shapes and sizes, and learned how those shapes affect animals’ behavior and cognition.

Looking at insects and flowers under a microscope gets them acclimated to how to use the device, he said.

There was also a flies on ice demonstration, which showed the campers how the body reacts when it gets cold.

Hailey Faight, 12, of Ebensburg, found the experiments fun and interesting.

“I liked testing how long it would take the flies to recover from being on ice,” she said.

Faight said she likes STEM and nature and is considering a career in technology.

More than a dozen students attend the camp, Harrington said.

“The kids really seem to be enjoying it; they are really attentive, cooperative and I think they really enjoy looking at things under the microscope,” she said.

Hunter agreed, noting the students were enthusiastic.

“I think they’re having a great time,” he said.

After lunch, students had a chance to try out DNA modeling, with Angle introducing the subject and briefly explaining how it works before helping them build a model of DNA from pieces of candy.

At the end of the day, Hunter said he hopes the students leave with some basic scientific knowledge and the desire to learn more.

That’s true for Raelynn Fletcher, 12, of Nanty Glo. She had fun using the microscope, noting “it was cool to see what things look like up close.”

Fletcher said she loves science and now wants to learn about the other areas of STEM.

Mirror Staff Writer Cati Keith is at 814-946-7535.