In this half-day summer camp participants get to…
- Explore incredible “what if” astronomy simulation worlds like earth with a colder sun, exoplanets or even a black hole!
- Learn about what scientists do and how we know what we know about the world
- Work in teams to build mars habitats that deal with real-world challenges like lack of atmosphere and radiation
- This year we will be working with custom-built AI-driven non-player characters
We got funding for one more year! 🎉WHIMC (QRF) camps are open for enrollment for summer 2026 at the University of Maine in Orono.
Begin your signup here
Camp Information
Versant Power Astronomy Center & Jordan Planetarium
University of Maine, 167 Rangeley Rd
Orono, ME 04469
July 27 – 31, Monday through Friday
Mornings 9am – 12pm AND afternoons 1pm – 4pm
Ages 9 to 14
We will likely have younger learners in the morning and older learners in the afternoon.
Participants must join for all sessions!
To Enroll
Before we get started, we want to let you know about three important requirements:
- This camp is about science and learning, not just Minecraft. Make sure your child understands this – we won’t have any player-vs-player (PvP violent play) and won’t be joining any big game servers like Mineplex or Bedwars. We provide Java edition Minecraft accounts and computers for all students and everything is free.
- Students are expected to attend all sessions in full.
- Returning camper? That’s great! We’re welcoming participants who’ve done this camp before, it will be different than last time but include similar components.
- This camp is part of a research study funded by the National Science Foundation run in collaboration with the University of Illinois, University of Pennsylvania and University of Maine. To fully enroll your child, you will need to fill out the Research Consent, Talent Release and Emergency Contact Information form and email us with a cloud link (to prevent attachments from getting removed).
Once we have your information we will send you an email verifying enrollment! If you don’t hear back from us or have questions send a message to ginger@illinois.edu.