Posted at: 07/11/2012 6:38 PM
Updated at: 07/11/2012 6:44 PM
By: Brianna Long

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Student STEM Camp

(ABC 6 News) -- Some elementary students spent one day of their summer vacation learning about math and science.

"I got to figure out a mystery about animals and I just love animals, they're so cool," said Jacelyn, a 4th grader from Owatonna.

Some Rochester and Owatonna kids went from students to forensic scientists Wednesday.

"We're trying to investigate what animal did the crime scene," said Austin, a 6th grader.

The scene was a tipped-over garbage can, and the students' job; figure out who did it.

"I think it so cool because you get to investigate and that kind of stuff," said Ashli, another 4th grader from Owatonna.

It was all part of the STEM program, or science, technology, engineering, and math, at UMR.

"Those areas are sometimes areas that a lot of students stray away from, because they can be seen as a little bit more challenging," said Molly Olson, with UMR.

So while the kids were using microscopes and investigating, organizers say it was all about getting them excited.

"Science is to be shared. We want to teach them to be observant of the world around them, to keep track of what's going on and to share that to be able to communicate what they find with other people," said Jessica Holm with the Science Museum of Minnesota.

"Hopefully something they can take a way is, maybe I can be a scientist some time or I can be a mathematician, or they will consider those in their their careers in the future," said Olson.

"It's good because you can learn, and then when you go back to school, you can have better grades," said 4th grader Alexis.

Wednesday's event was a put on by UMR, the Science Museum, and IBM.