Sprawled across the dappled lawn at the Peavy Arboretum, a group of middle schoolers didn't seem distracted by the Frisbee playing and Popsicle eating going on around them.

They were too busy worrying about the public presentation they were going to have to make Friday to care that other people were having fun.

The lawn was dotted with these intense little groups, each one discussing days of research, Powerpoint presentations and speaking points, and nervously practicing what they'd say in front of their peers at the end of the week. The big presentation was the culmination of 12 days at Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp, a new program targeted at students who are often less represented in math, science and technology.

"It's giving them a sneak peek at what it's like to be in the scientific world," said OSU student teacher Jesse Roth, who was helping a group of five students prepare for their presentation by coaxing them to be conversational and enthusiastic as they articulated their research methods.

Across the lawn from him, Anthony Palmer, 14, of Ontario Middle School, was struggling to frame his discussion of invertebrates.

"I'm not shy," he said defiantly, after hesitating to put his ideas into words.

With a little coaching, he started to talk about what he'd learned in studying a duck pond at the arboretum.

Next to him, Isabel Goni-McAteer, 12, of Linus Pauling Middle School, was getting ready to present an overview of their project, which examined the effect of light and shade on plants, animals and oxygen content in a watershed area.

"I like the biological community class we had," she said, thinking over her time at the camp. "I think I want to do something with animals (in the future)."

Her friend, Vitsi Magaña, was more enamored of the afternoon engineering courses.

"It's been exciting," she said, and it has helped her think more about her future career, which right now is focused on bio-engineering.

More than 200 students from across the state applied for the camp from and 60 were accepted. All received full scholarships, which included tuition, field trips, food and lodging on the OSU campus. The scholarships were funded by an $80,000 grant from the ExxonMobil Foundation and the Harris Foundation.

A number of OSU groups have worked together on the camp, including the OSU Extension Service 4-H Youth Development program, OSU Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) program, and the science and math departments and College of Education.

Camp director Robin Galloway was happy with the success of the camp, which is in its first year.

"We want to create a sense of community and family," she said. And that, Galloway added, has helped homesick middle schoolers not only survive their first experience with dorm life, but also perhaps launched dreams of a college education and, just maybe, the exciting life of a scientist.

If You Go

The public is welcome to attend the public presentation of 60 middle schoolers' research during this year's Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp at Oregon State University. Starting at 8:30 a.m. Friday in the LaSells Stewart Center, students will be showing their posters and Powerpoint presentations in the main auditorium.