Summer Program for Students in Grades 5 – 12

Gifted Education Research and Resource Institute

Every summer, for over 40 years, GER²I has engaged gifted, creative, and talented students from across the country and around the world in residential camps designed to stimulate their imagination and expand their abilities. Students who have completed grades 5 through 12 live in campus residence halls, take challenging courses, and participate in engaging recreational activities. GER²I offers three programs each summer.

What will you experience at GER²I Summer Camps?

Intellectual Challenges
Personal attention from talented and caring staff members
Outstanding Purdue University facilities: residence halls, dining halls, classrooms, and labs
Friendships with others from around the world who share similar interests
Enjoyable learning and social experiences

Summer Residential Classes

In-person residential camp is back!*

Download the 2022 GER²I Summer Residential Camps Brochure

Select a Grade

Grades 5-6

Grades 7-8

Grades 9-12

Grades 5-6

Comet I

(July 3-9, 2022)

Residential – $1200
Commuter – $900

Crime Scene Investigation (C.S.I.)
Explore the skills used by criminal investigators to solve crimes through hands-on activities in observation, fingerprint analysis, DNA, “blood” spatter, and handwriting analysis. Build critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will enable you to investigate crimes and determine the appropriate methods needed to crack the case.

Curious and Creative Thinking
Spark your creative and divergent thinking and rekindle your ability to be a deeply curious thinker by learning strategies that stretch these capacities of your brain. We will learn why curiosity and creativity are not fixed abilities and how everyone can become more curious and more creative.

Fun Filmmaking
Have you ever wanted to produce your own film? This course will explore the fundamentals of filmmaking and how to use recording and editing equipment to tell stories and wow your audience! The course will cover basic film production and equipment, editing, and story development.

Math Games Around the World
They say math is a universal language, but do kids around the world learn math the same way? Let’s take a math journey around the world to play math games from four different continents! Develop your winning strategy for each game as we analyze the math involved. Then, use what you’ve learned about these challenging games to design a math game of your own!

What’s Your Impact on the Environment?
Have you ever wondered what natural environments need to function properly or how humans impact these environments? Let’s explore basic environmental components using terrarium simulations to measure human’s impact on different environments and to develop our own solutions to reverse these effects.

Comet II

(July 10-16, 2022)

Residential – $1200
Commuter – $900

All About Air
Did you know that the average person breathes two gallons of air every minute? That’s 3,400 gallons of air each day! The study of air touches every branch of science, and scientists continue to learn more about air, from breathing clean air to climate change to renewable energy. Join us as we explore a wide variety of topics revolving around air, such as gas behavior, aerodynamics, atmospheric composition, cellular respiration, rain cycle, carbon cycle, greenhouse gases, rainbows, drones, and more through exciting activities and demonstrations!

Neurons that Fire Together, Wire Together
Activate your neurons to learn about what they are, how they function in the body, and how they communicate with other cells. You’ll construct your own 3-D model of a neuron to demonstrate how it functions in the body, including what happens when it misfires.

The Artistic Engineering
Let’s turn STEM into STEAM with art! Be inspired by famous artists to create amazing 2D designs and transform them into 3D masterpieces of artistically engineered structures. Challenge and expand your art and design skills through projects such as Op Art, Pop Art, Still Life, and structurally sound Skyscraper Cities. Don’t just STEM! Let’s get STEAMed!

Virtual World Tour
Let’s travel the world in five days! Using advanced technology, we will virtually explore the most amazing destinations across the globe, including the people, wildlife, and plants that live in these incredible places! Share your discoveries by creating a product to share our travels with friends and family.

Grades 7-8

Star I

(July 3-16, 2022)

Residential – $2400

AM Classes

Brain Games: Messing with Your Mind
Can your brain grow through gaming? Using concepts in cognitive psychology, interaction design, and artificial intelligence, let’s explore how our brains work and create unique strategies for getting the most out of our brains. Through playing and making games, we’ll build game-like interactions at the same time!

High-Speed Global Problem Solving
Race against the clock to solve real-world dilemmas with a STEM spin! Step into a company employee’s shoes and use collaboration and problem-solving skills to address case-based problems. Integrate several disciplines, including leadership, humanities, technology, management, economics, resource availability, globalization, and current events to plan and pitch your solutions to your company’s CEO.

Phantastic Physics
Newton, Bernoulli, Archimedes, and Einstein—these are just a few of the physicists we will learn about as we apply their ideas in the creation of hot air balloons, cellulose coasters, elastic racers, hollow rockets and gliders, automated sorting robots, power boats, and a whole lot more. Use your imagination, creativity, and construction skills to build your physics expertise!

The Art of Costume Design and Hat Making
Let’s go center stage into the world of costume design and hat making! You’ll use the elements of design, costume history, research, and drawing techniques to design costumes for a fairytale. Once designed, we will dive into the art of millinery and make hats to correlate with your previous design. Let’s get artzy!

World of Spies: Keeping Secrets
Privacy and information protection is a major concern. Explore the reasons why by examining various ways information is collected and used and how to protect your own information. Test your spy skills by creating and deciphering secret messages, solving puzzles, and exploring techniques used by hackers to steal your information.

PM Classes

Acting with Wonder and Insight
Are you dreaming about the bright lights of Broadway? What does it take to make it there? This course is a great first step! Join the 2022 GER²I cast destined for the stage as we engage in theatre exercises that involve movement, improvisation, and beginning acting techniques. Combine these techniques and add your imagination to create and perform your own monologue!

Boiler Bug Encounter
Studying insects is a great way to learn about the natural world! Join this hands-on course to learn about insect biology (entomology), collect and examine bugs safely, conduct mini-experiments, and present your findings in a fun Bug Symposia. By the end of the course, you’ll be a budding entomologist! Campers with insect and/or pollen allergies of any kind should not enroll in this course.

STEAM LABS^TM
Students, engineers, artists, and hobbyists around the world design and build Rube Goldberg-style machines to satisfy society’s fascination with these creative contraptions. Apply the engineering design process to construct STEAM Machines (i.e., chain reaction machines that run on STEM and Art concepts) using everyday objects and technology such as motors, sensors, and micro-controllers. Gain experience with systems thinking and multi-team collaboration as you learn real-world engineering skills and explore pathways to engineering careers.

The Evolution of Fairytales
We all know fairytales, but have you ever wondered where and why the popular stories began? Many tales have some relation to real historical figures and events! From Grimm and Disney to popular Young Adult novels, let’s explore how fairytales have evolved over time.

The World of Creative Media Production
Sharpen your innovation skills and talent by creating and manipulating properties of media including audio, video, and graphics to tell (or enhance) a story. Learn more about how creative media production has the power to influence public opinion and consumer behavior in both helpful and harmful ways. Create your own content and projects using and combining the basic elements of creative media and learn how to use and combine those elements for creative projects and content creation.

Star II

(July 17-30, 2022)

Residential – $2400

AM Classes

Art and Science of Color and Design
Did you know that science has uncovered the ways in which color affects daily decision-making and moods? What does it mean to choose a “favorite” color, and what does that color say about you? After learning about the science of color, we’ll analyze the function of color in design and art.

Science Fiction or Reality?
Sci-fi movies are fascinating, aren’t they? Ever wondered if you could be an engineer who turns sci-fi into reality? Take the first step into decoding and applying hands on engineering skills for the future. Through hands-on activities, we will explore artificial intelligence, computer aided design and automation, and sustainability that are changing the core of engineering. Let’s start now for a better tomorrow!

PM Classes

Acting Up and Acting Out: Constructing Cultures of Peace
Bring your unlimited imagination to this active, spontaneous, unscripted course featuring theatre games, pantomime, role plays, simulations, storytelling, and improvisation to challenge your thinking about freedom, justice, and peace. Together, we’ll construct a vision of a better world where peace is not just an idea, but courageous action.

Good Vibrations: Engineering for Your Ears
Have you ever muted the soundtrack watching a scary movie? Amazingly, it doesn’t seem as scary! Sound effects and music play central roles in productions involving elements of audio. Apply your musical and technical creativity to core audio concepts and practices in audio production and engineering. Learn about real-world studio projects that involve acoustics, audio signal flow, recording, mixing, microphone technique, and more.

If You Give a Scientist a Cookie…
Why do apples turn brown? Why does swiss cheese have holes? Why is sourdough bread sour? Food science can answer all these questions and more with chemistry, microbiology, and many other disciplines. Let’s think like food scientists as we cook, test, and of course, EAT our science experiments!

Serious Gaming for the 21^st Century
Did you know that “serious gaming” refers to any game that does more than simply entertain? Exercise your teamwork, problem-solving, and goal-directed muscles as you engage in competitive and collaborative electronic or tabletop games with a greater purpose. Consider how serious gaming can enhance skills and future career possibilities in computer game technology, media and communications, and education.

STEAM LABS ^TM
Students, engineers, artists, and hobbyists around the world design and build Rube Goldberg-style machines to satisfy society’s fascination with these creative contraptions. Apply the engineering design process to construct STEAM Machines (i.e., chain reaction machines that run on STEM and Art concepts) using everyday objects and technology such as motors, sensors, and micro-controllers. Gain experience with systems thinking and multi-team collaboration as you learn real-world engineering skills and explore pathways to engineering careers.

Grades 9-12

Pulsar I

(July 3-16, 2022)

Residential – $2400

AM Classes

Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation
Have you wondered how a Fitbit works or how a hospital patient’s monitor can detect a heart rate and other vital systems? Let’s explore the medical terminology and designs that bring these instruments to life and develop them ourselves with hands-on, project-based learning. Learn how engineering design can improve everyone’s health!

Brainiacs Unite!
Want to be a neuroscientist? Let this be your first giant leap! Using a number of mini experiments and interactive activities, we’ll explore many aspects of neuroscience, including brain structures and functions, the nervous system, brain scans, and neurological disorders.

Game Theory and Global Politics
We need gifted leaders like you to promote world peace and international cooperation. Learn and use game theories such as Nations as Actors, Resource Wars, and Hard Power vs. Soft Power to understand how and why nations make decisions on foreign policy. Apply these principles to current events and to your own international policy strategy through playing strategic games.

Physics Without Math? Well, almost.
Ever wondered why water from a tap ‘tapers’ (pun #1) or why planets are always spherical? Let’s test some laws of physics through fun-filled demonstrations and amazing experiments and have thought-provoking discussions on ‘cool’ scientific concepts such as heat (pun #2), buoyancy, sound, waves, and mechanics.
Prerequisites: High school algebra and enthusiasm to learn physics.

PM Classes

Design & Prototyping of Smart Toys and Robots
Build upon your knowledge of electronics, programming, sensors, and design to create smart toys and robots. Create technologies you control from your cell phone using everyday recyclables, circuits, and more, and work in collaborative teams to design and build a creative final project. We’ll also explore the Internet of Things (IoT), the ever-growing network of physical objects for internet connectivity. If you’re serious about engineering and technology, the skills you learn and the products you create at GER²I will be especially useful when applying for engineering and technology-based college programs.

Python^® Programming for the Future
Do you want to be a 21st-century programmer? Here is the opportunity you have been waiting for! Python is a 21st century, powerful, open-source programming language that is also fast, friendly, and easy to learn! Jump right in with scripting, game development, website designing, and data analysis using Python. Solve real-world problems by mining big data in this hands-on and project-based exploration.

Pulsar II

(July 17-30, 2022)

Residential – $2400

AM Classes

Leadership 101
Do you want to make a difference in your own community, become the CEO of a multinational company, or become the president of a country one day? If so, you are going to need a toolbox of essential, well-developed skills all leaders must possess. Participate in interactive scenarios and other activities that will launch you on a journey to discover the leadership potential inside of you.

PM Classes

Dark Side of Data and Social Media
Why has social media been in the hot seat lately? Secret algorithms and shady practices have created a world where your personal information, thoughts, and actions are sold for profit. Your seemingly harmless online activities today can affect future opportunities for career, college, and more. Solve puzzles, debate ongoing social issues, and complete an escape room to test your knowledge. We will discuss current social media issues and solve puzzles to understand how social media and data collection can be used to steal information. The class will culminate in an espionage escape room focusing on data collection used for nefarious purposes.

Future of Transportation
Did you know that the concept behind Elon Musk’s hyperloop was developed in 1845 by a British engineer named Burnel, or that the technology for electric vehicles was invented in 1832? The latest developments and trends in transportation have deep roots that needed time and modern-day technology to come to fruition. We’ll explore new developments in transportation such as electric vehicles, autonomous (self-driving) vehicles, and alternative modes of transportation and discuss their broader impacts on society, for better or worse, including the pace of technological advancement, equity and access, economic and environmental impacts, and social mobility.

*With the availability of a vaccine, we remain hopeful to conduct in-person programs, but we will also prepare for an online experience if Purdue’s campus remains closed to visitors.