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Theme: Environment and Climate Change

The Institute of the Americas Summer Camp on Science and Innovation for Latin American high school students will be held from July 16-27, 2012, on the University of California, San Diego campus.

Across Latin America, high school science instruction is not up to international standards. This is especially true in public high schools. The result is a lack of graduates going into science and engineering, small R&D budgets and low numbers of locally created patents.

The 10-day program in Spanish is designed for motivated high school students who have demonstrated an interest in the sciences but who need encouragement and incentives as well as up-to-date instruction by faculty members.

The central focus of the camp this year will be on environment and climate change, with engaging projects designed for examining the science, understanding the controversies and testing the scientific principles in the lab. It will also focus on innovation with students creating and evaluating technological responses to climate change and other challenges of our times.

During the students’ stay at the Institute, they will learn about the effects of ocean acidification by working with sandcrabs and will produce biodiesel. They will build solar cars and investigate advanced informatics. Finally they will focus on how science can serve society, especially through innovation in Latin America.

In the past two years, 35 youngsters from 12 Latin American countries and the US received scholarships to participate in two camps.