Day Camp

Our Day Camp is more than a place where children simply play. We are a group of devoted educators who long to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children. 

Sailfish

Entering 3rd & 4th Grades

Sailfish groups are separated by gender(性别) and enjoy intramural(校内的) sports with a greater emphasis placed on teamwork and sportsmanship. Sailfish group also enjoy all of the aquatic(水生的) activities our waterfront campus has to offer, along with a daily schedule of activities that enrich the mind and body. 

Tadpoles

Entering Kindergarten

This group of campers have their own learning facility(设施) and take part in age-appropriate specials throughout the day. The Tadpoles swim twice daily in our in-ground swimming pool. A certified teacher and counselorsc指导老师) arganize and monitor the day's activities, helping the Tadpoles to prepare for the fun of the upcoming school year. 

Minnows

Entering lst & 2nd Grades

These campers are grouped by gender and have the chance to play sports-centered games, explore art and saence and become acquainted with the excitement of sailing on Stony Brook Harbor. Daily swimming lessons are also included, and trips to the beach are a favorite of the Minnows. Both certified teachers and senior counselors work with these campers to provide a safe and enriching experience. 

Dolphins

Entering 5th & 6th Grades

These campers participate in a wide variety of sports and activities. Same-gendered grouping allows flexibility for the groups to choose their favorite games during meeting times. Dolphins also spend time sailing on the Harbor, swimming in our in-ground swimming pool and participating in adventurous activities. 

D

With the completion of the Human Genome（基因组）Project more than 20 years ago, and the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA enjoying its 70th birthday last year, you might assume that we know how life works. Think again!

Evolution has a 4bn-year head start on us. However, several aspects of the standard picture of how life works-the idea of the genome as a blueprint, of genes as instructions for building an organism, of proteins as precisely tailored molecular（分子）machines and more-have wildly reduced the complexity of life. 

In the excellent book How Life Works, Philip Ball explorers the new biology, revealing life to be a far richer, more delicate affair than we have understood. Ball explains that life is a system of many levels-genes, proteins, cells, tissues, and body modules-each with its own rules and principles, so there is no unique place to look for an answer to it. 

Also, How Life Works is a much more appealing title than the overused question of "What is life?". We should be less concerned with what a thing is, and rather more focused on what a thing does. Defining a living thing implies an unchangeable ideal type, but this will run counter to the Darwinian principle that living things are four-dimensional, ever changing in time as well as space.

But it's an idea that is deeply rooted within our culture. Ball points out that we rely on metaphors（比喻）to explain and explore the complexities of life, but none suffice. We are taught that cells are machines, though no machine we have invented behaves like the simplest cell; that DNA is a code or a blueprint, though it is neither; that the brain is a computer, though no computer behaves like a brain at all.

Ball is a terrific writer, pumping out books on incredibly diverse subjects. There's a wealth of well-researched information in here, and some details that are a bit chewy for the lay reader. But the book serves as an essential introduction on our never-ending quest to understand life.