MOBILE, Ala., June 16 -- University of South Alabama issued the following news release:

On Lake Shelby at Gulf State Park, a group of young campers worked through a question that lay right at their feet: What fraction of this water is salt? What fraction is fresh?

It was a moment that captured exactly what "Beach Brain" is meant to do: Merge science and math and let kids search for answers by asking real questions about a place they thought they already knew.

The program, a summer day camp funded by an Alabama State Board of Education grant and run by the University of South Alabama College of Education and Professional Studies, in partnership with Gulf Shores City Schools and the support of area businesses, links rising fifth and sixth ...