Science & Technology
Classes vary from term to term. Please check current program schedule for activities available this season.
3D Design & Minecraft Storytelling
Budding designers will combine 3D art, Minecraft block-building, and creative writing to craft heroes, stories, and worlds in Minecraft and Tinkercad. As we build, collaborate, and innovate, we’ll develop skills in 3D design, art, writing, and presentation. Dreaming it? Build it!
• Skills Learned: 3D Design, Minecraft Engineering, Story Crafting, Hands-On Engineering, Animation, Creative Arts, Game Design
Beginner Bots
Explore the world of robotics through art and games! We’ll create hand-drawn, art-based computer programs using colors and shapes to guide our robots to solve exciting daily challenges. We’ll navigate mazes, race in the arena, and face off with friendly bot battles. We’ll build robots, cars, unicorns, flying cars with gears, wheels, pullies, and engineering sets from Lego, Hexbug, Brio, Bee Bot, Ozobot, Squishy Circuits, and Educational Insights to practice motor, critical thinking, problem-solving, and engineering design skills.
• Skills Learned: Robotics, Coding, Hands-On Engineering, Story Crafting, Creative Arts, Game Design
Junior Engineers
Students will build bridges, skyscrapers, catapults, Rube Goldberg machines, and Lego demolition derby cars in this creative, hands-on introduction to design, physics, computational thinking, and engineering. We’ll explore concepts such as energy, gravity, elasticity, and pressure through cooperative problem-solving in these fun-first and creative science-based projects. What will today’s building challenge be? Let’s solve it, plan it, and build it together!
• Skills Learned: Hands-On Engineering, Design Thinking, Creative Arts, LEGO Engineering, Problem Solving
Game Design and Animation
Create the toys and games of our dreams! We’ll start with our favorite book, game, and movie heroes and stories and then design, code, animate, and play our games in Scratch, MIT’s block-based programming language for kids. We’ll 3D design and build our toys, games, cars, rockets, robots, castles, and circuits in Tinkercad, the 3D design tool where you can create anything you can imagine. We’ll brainstorm our inspirations with clay, foam, and paper prototypes, then we’ll use 3D printing pens to create 3D objects. If you can imagine it, you can create it!
• Skills Learned: Coding, Game Design, Animation, 3D Design & Printing, Story Crafting, Creative Arts
Lego Robotics, Art Automata & 3D Design
We’ll build snap-together LEGO robots with obstacle courses we design ourselves from geometric jello blocks and play-dough straws. We’ll use 3D printing pens to create character jewels and cardboard automata to discover mechanics and physics. We’ll 3D design obstacles for our bots to navigate in Tinkercad and print that 3D art with the 3Doodler pen. We’ll also explore the fundamentals of AI and machine learning that are integral to how these robots work as we design and build a greener world. Hands-on creativity for advanced fun and learning.
• Skills Learned: Robotics, Hands-On Engineering, Coding (MIT Scratch), 3D Design & Printing
Minecraft Mod Makers
Let’s take our Minecraft world-building and coding to the next level with MCreator, a great tool for learning Minecraft modding and software programming. We’ll start by building a basic block, then create custom biomes with mods that do whatever you wish by customizing their AI. We’ll create ore extension and forging mods and advanced technology mods that include a custom sustainable energy system. Projects use design wizards and WYSIWYG editors. All to make the Minecraft game just the way you want it!
• Skills Learned: Minecraft Modding, Coding, Game Design, Engineering Design, Animation, 3D Design & Printing, Story Crafting, Creative Arts
Science Explorers
Join ‘Brainy Bill’ in an exploration of the strange, the soaring, and the slimy world of science! From rockets to rainbows, students will learn to test hypotheses through hilarious, hands-on experiments. Each session features a different topic from chemistry, earth science, physics, or engineering, and finishes with an awesome take-home experiment to keep your student science-ing! PLEASE NOTE • The science curriculum changes from season to season so children can attend Bill’s workshops throughout the school year.
