Larissa Rollins has kept busy since school let out in June.

She’s been to soccer camp, vacation Bible school and, last week, she crash-landed on the alien Planet Zak with 58 other students from Coeur d’Alene.

“It’s been a blast,” Rollins said Tuesday, after weathering a “storm” on the alien planet, actually a classroom at Fernan Elementary.

She and others at Camp Invention created spacesuits from garbage bags, bubble wrap and duct tape to protect themselves and hid beneath shelters made from classroom tables and overturned chairs. A camp counselor flicked the lights on and off to simulate lightning while another ran around the room with a spray bottle to make rain.

“I hope that’s not acid rain,” squealed one student.

The lights were turned on and students emerged from their shelters to see how they had held up. In another room, campers talked about Newton’s Laws and the safety features of cars.

Teacher Terry Wright held a paper cup in her hand with a Styrofoam ball inside and twirled. When she stopped, the ball flew out of the cup.

A camper named Kevin explained what happened: “The force was going then, once it stops, the thing, the force that was going, it keeps going.”

It’s just like what happens when a car suddenly stops or crashes, Wright explained. Using Kevin as a model and a chair as a pretend Ford pickup, she showed what happens when a driver’s involved in an accident with a lap belt versus a lap and shoulder restraint.

Campers were then turned loose to design their own safety measures to protect colorful water-filled balloons, representing passengers.

Alyssa Lyn Fortier, a Hayden Meadows student, and Alex Walker, visiting from Washington, sandwiched their passenger between two Styrofoam trays, tucking cotton balls in between for additional padding. Alex tied the two trays shut and added tape for reinforcement.

At another table, Dalton Elementary’s McKinley Dixon rolled his balloon in Bubble Wrap.

“It’s kind of like an air bag,” McKinley said as he taped the Bubble Wrap in place. “This guy’s definitely not going to die.”

Moments later, the campers gathered outside to test their designs. They stood across from one another and tossed the padded passengers back and forth, slowly moving farther apart.

McKinley’s Bubble Wrap burrito didn’t hold up too well, hitting the pavement and exploding into a soggy mess.

“I think we should have made it tighter or something,” he said. “And we should have covered his head.”

Alyssa and Alex’s design held up a bit longer, eventually splashing down the front of Alex’s body – luckily she was still wearing the garbage bag ensemble from the earlier storm on Planet Zak.

Glenda Armstrong, the Coeur d’Alene School District’s advanced learning coordinator for grades K-5, served as director and helped bring the camp to Coeur d’Alene. The weeklong program, under the umbrella of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, emphasizes imagination, hands-on learning and teamwork, she said.

Accelerated reading tests

Students involved in the Coeur d’Alene School District’s Accelerated Reading programs can do testing through July 29 at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 201 E. Harrison Ave.

School librarians will be at the library four days a week to oversee testing during the six-week program, a joint-effort of the library and the school district. Computers in the library’s Youth Department will be used for the testing. Students can sign up for testing online at www.arsummer.com.

Accelerated Reading tests can be taken from 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays, 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, 1 to 5 p.m. Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays.

The library is also having a summer reading program called Dragons, Dreams and Daring Deeds, with weekly programs for children up to age 16. Children can earn prizes, even if they don’t attend the weekly programs, if they pick up a reading log at the library to track books they read or listen to during the summer months.

For information, call 769-2315.