About 12 second- and third-graders stretched and pulled Starbursts like taffy-pulling machines, then splashed water around as they dumped rocks into bowls filled to the brim while learning about rocks, earthquakes, fossils and other elements of Earth’s geology in the Rock Stars class during Kids Camp this week at the High Desert Museum.

For Rhianwen Hornsby, 7 and in second grade, the Rock Stars class was one her favorite parts of the summer, she said Monday as she tested to see which rocks were pumice by placing them in water. If they floated they were pumice, but if they sank they were “regular rocks,” she said.

“Here is a little pumice,” Rhianwen said, pointing to small, spongy-looking piece sitting in a pile of rocks. “We’ve been learning about the rock cycle and about metamorphic rock and igneous rock and sedimentary rock. Playing with Starbursts was my favorite part today.”

Glynis Bawden, the instructor of the Rock Stars class for second- and third-graders, said Monday that she created an activity using Starbursts to help students better understand the rock cycle, a scientific model used to explain the formation, disintegration and re-creation of minerals that make up rocks, by letting them build a model out of the malleable candy.

“Today we’re investigating different rocks and learned about the rock cycle,” she said. “We played ‘The Incredible Journey’ game where they became rocks and ran around and learned about the different parts of the cycle.”

Hazel Laws, 8 and in third grade, said she also enjoyed playing the game and explained the rock cycle using her Starburst model as a reference.

“We made these squished Starbursts,” she said, pulling the candy in between her fingers. “So this is the igneous rock and it’s the magma that turns into the lava, and then it turns into metamorphic rock. And then this is it like breaking up into sediment and then it goes to the sedimentary rock. And then it falls into the ocean and there is heat and pressure, and it turns back into metamorphic and then to magma and then igneous. And the rock cycle starts over.”

Hazel said writing stories is what she enjoys most about school, but she thought the class was fun and wants to learn more about geology when she goes back to school.

The High Desert Museum has been offering Kids Camp to kindergartners through fifth-graders during the summer months for years, said Carolyn Nesbitt, the curator of education at the High Desert Museum, on Monday. The weeklong camp provides young kids the opportunity to spend time outdoors and learn.

“I think it gives a nice blend of free play and project-based learning, as well as an introduction to the museum and what the museum has to offer in a fun and educational way,” she said.

This week the museum had two other classes: Now You See Me, Now You Don’t for kindergartners and first-graders, and Prints and Paintings for fourth- and fifth-graders. High Desert Museum also has about 40 to 50 teen volunteers throughout the summer who help during Kids Camp, Nesbitt said.

“A lot of our volunteers are former kids campers, so they come up through Kids Camp then they become teen volunteers,” she said. “Our teen volunteers have been their role models, and that’s what they’ve been aiming for as they’ve gone through Kids Camp.”

Sydney Plass, 14 and an incoming freshman at Summit High School, said she has been volunteering at Kids Camp for two years and plans to continue volunteering next year. She said it is nice to have younger kids looking up to her as a role model, but the job does have its challenges.

“There are definitely certain kids that are hard to work with and you have to get over all the hardness of working with them,” she said. “I prefer to work with older kids just because they’re old enough to know what they can do and what they can’t do. But my experience has been amazing. All the kids are super amazing to work with and are so nice.”

Drew Mendel, 8 and in third grade, said the Rock Stars class was his third Kids Camp. Last summer, he said, he learned about animals and wildlife and made a project about rattlesnakes. He was excited when a museum employee visited the classroom and brought a snake to show each class on Monday.

“The venomous kind of snakes freak me out,” he said. “We saw a snake today, and it was a corn snake. It was kind of reddish-yellowish. He felt like slime.”

— Reporter: 541-382-1811, hsanchez@bendbulletin.com