By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

dobrien@dailynews.net

Graham Potter said he learned about Newton's laws of motion and the different properties of air.

He also learned trees love to snatch rocket parachutes out of the air.

The 9-year-old came from his hometown of Hill City this week to hang out with his Hays cousins and participate in the Kansas STARBASE summer academy at Fort Hays State University.

On Thursday afternoon, he was among the first group, along with 11-year-old Trenton Potter and his younger brother, Mason Potter, 10, to launch rockets they had made during the camp this week.

Following their launch, the campers got to run out and retrieve their rockets as a souvenir of the academy.

Two of the Potter cousins came running back with big grins on their faces and rockets in hand.

Graham was empty-handed but had a smile on his face nonetheless.

"It's OK," Graham said, knowing his rocket would be remaining behind in Hays. "It's on the top of a real tall tree."

Twenty students from the area who just finished fourth through sixth grades worked on team projects and experiments for four days while learning about science and technology in STARBASE, which stands for Science and Technology Academies Reinforcing Basic Aviation and Space Exploration.

The STARBASE program started in 1991 in Michigan, and Kansas jumped on board the next year through the Kansas Air and Army National Guard.

There are four permanent locations in Kansas -- Kansas City, Wichita, Salina and Topeka -- and from those, four-day summer academies take place in other parts of the state.

This marks the third year Fort Hays has played host to one of the academies.

Year 3 was deemed a success.

"The group dynamic is so different every year," said Erin Norton, camp director for FHSU's Science and Math Education Institute. "The kids this year were really interested in what they were doing and had such a great time doing all the activities that it made for a really good week."

Trenton Potter said he liked the extra educational experience, even in the summer time, especially since he will be entering middle school as a sixth-grader at Felten Middle School this fall.

"We learned a lot about airplanes and other air vehicles," he said. "I loved it."