The 5- and 6-year-olds at the Casper Planetarium's astronomy camp were convinced one thing was responsible when blue ink disappeared off executive director Michele Wistisen's white lab coat.

"Magic," they cried, leaning forward in their chairs.

"No," Wistisen said, "it's science."

Casper Planetarium offers a variety of summer camps for students of all ages. For the past week, the camp's youngest students have been learning about matter and its properties.

"We're trying to introduce them to basic science principles," Wistisen said.

Camp activities are aligned with Natrona County School District's Essential Curriculum and reinforce what students learn during the school year, Wistisen said.

A grant also pays for two instructors to work at the camps and gain knowledge about teaching science to students.

On Tuesday, the campers were learning that color is a property of matter. Strips of heat-sensitive paper were passed out, though the children weren't sure what to do just yet.

Wistisen and two pre-service teachers encouraged the students to try different ways to change the paper colors. Soon, all seven children were tapping, blowing on and waving their strips of paper.

"You can pull on it like this."

"I changed it to yellow!"

"I'm pulling off all the orange."

And just like the disappearing ink, there was only one explanation for how the thin strips managed to changed colors.

"Probably the papers are magic," one little boy said.

Reach education reporter Jasa Santos at (307) 266-0593 or at jasa.santos@trib.com. Read her education blog at tribtown.trib.com/JasaSantos/blog.

Want to learn about matter?

The Casper Planetarium offers a variety of summer camps for students. To learn more about upcoming camps, call 577-0310. The following are the dates, age ranges and fees for the planetarium's upcoming camps:

July 13-17: Ages 9-10, $40

July 27-31: Ages 11-13, $45

Aug. 3-7: Ages 14-16, $45